\n\tHarlem has itself another rap star.<\/p>\n
\n\tLiim seemingly came out of nowhere and dropped a critically acclaimed project in Liim Lasalle Loves You<\/em>, a coming-of-age, genre-bending debut that has caught the attention of the likes of Tyler, The Creator<\/a>. Signed to veteran record exec Sickamore\u2019s three times LOUDER (IIIXL) label, Liim\u2019s rise has been fast.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Harlem rapper grew up in a strict Muslim household where secular music wasn\u2019t allowed to be played. This made him curious which then led to him discovering his natural calling. He\u2019s been putting out music since about 2022, with the release of his single \u201cPupils,\u201d while also doubling as a model for Supreme \u2014\u00a0and was noticed in 2023 by an IIIXL A&R in one of the skate brand\u2019s ads. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he answers, after being asked what made the upstart label sign him. \u201cBut I know one of the A&R\u2019s, Ezana [Atakli], said he seen me in a Supreme thing, and then he clicked on my s\u2014t and heard my music. I had a song called \u2018Mary J\u2019 at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tAnd while he\u2019s been actively putting out records for the better part of three years, it wasn\u2019t until he began making this particular project that he found his sound. Producer Shamshawan DM\u2019d Liim wanting to work and the two hit it off immediately. \u201cFrom there, I started recording everyday,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was crazy, because I never been in that type of mentality with music. I wasn\u2019t struggling at all. I didn\u2019t have to write nothing. I was just spitting. It was just working out for me.\u201d He\u2019s now found himself among the new rising talent here in the city that started this rap thing, alongside the likes of his labelmate Laila!<\/a> and sexy drill aficionado Cash Cobain<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tLiim stopped by the Billboard<\/em> office in New York City with his management to talk about his influences, the crafting of his debut album, and growing up in a city full of opportunity for a kid like him.<\/p>\n \n\tCheck out our convo below.<\/p>\n \n\tI peeped that Tyler co-signed you \u2014\u00a0and let me know if I\u2019m buggin\u2019, but I hear his influence in this album. Is that true?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tHow do you feel like you hear the influence?<\/p>\n \n\tJust some of the melodies, like \u201cWhy Why<\/a>\u201d reminds me of some of his R&B stuff.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI feel like what it is \u2014\u00a0[from what] I\u2019ve seen from Tyler\u2019s interviews<\/a> or whatever \u2014 when he talks about his influences in music, we got pretty similar ones. And if not me and him having similar ones, him and my producer, Shamshawan, they both love the Neptunes and s\u2014t. So the production is kind of in that world. I f\u2014k with a lot of bossa nova music and s\u2014t like that, so the first track is kind of bossa nova, then it goes into a kind of Pharrell-y vibe. I don\u2019t think I take direct inspiration from him.<\/p>\n \n\tWell, I mean some of the tracks just reminded me of some of his. You\u2019re also into Max B, so it\u2019s a mix of all these influences that you have. And what\u2019s interesting is that you say you grew up not being able to play certain music in your house because your mother is Muslim. Can you talk about that?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNo music. All you heard was the Quran playing in the crib.<\/p>\n \n\tDid that make you more curious about music?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tFacts.<\/p>\n \n\tSo, how does she feel about you career choice?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tShe\u2019s proud of me. As I got older, I was like, \u201cThat don\u2019t make no sense.\u201d And my mom is on her D\u012bn and whatnot, but she\u2019ll listen to my music just to support.<\/p>\n \n\tYou had told Kid Mero that Max B reminded you of your late father because he was a Harlem dude. How did you get put on to Max?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s funny, even though growing up in Harlem and s\u2014t, I never really heard kids my age listen to Max B ever. But when I started skateboarding, it was them n\u2014as \u2014 the older skaters were fans, and always had Max B playing.<\/p>\n \n\tSkaters are an underrated subculture within rap music. A lot of them have good taste when it comes to music and style. I also noticed that you use a camcorder aesthetic in some of your videos. You used to run around with a camcorder?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI used to film skateboarders sometimes before I was making music. I just know how to use that camera. A lot of my earlier videos I shot by myself type s\u2014t, or I would tell my homie to hold the camera like this. My goal is to do high-budget videos, but the camera\u2019s mad cheap.<\/p>\n \n\tYou must be a fan of that era because you\u2019re hella young and dress like you could be in Dipset, and even though you\u2019re not making \u201ctraditional\u201d New York music, I can still tell that you\u2019re from the city.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI don\u2019t know. I feel like the music that was coming out as I was getting older, like the drill and all that s\u2014t\u2026 I\u2019ve made a few drill songs and s\u2014t like that, but I was like, this s\u2014t is kind of ass, bro. Everybody\u2019s saying the exact same thing. And then I was thinking about it, and all my music really changed. I don\u2019t know how n\u2014s want to call it? Woke? I don\u2019t know, just conscious of my people, Black people and s\u2014t like murder music, and where that came from. We didn\u2019t make murder music. That\u2019s lowkey some s\u2014t white people say, and that\u2019s not really us. We had Marvin Gaye. We had Stevie [Wonder], all these n\u2014as that sing about love. I feel like I\u2019m trying to bring love back into music.<\/p>\n \n\tOh, okay, so you\u2019re a lover boy?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMost definitely. I\u2019m going on a date tonight.<\/p>\n \n\tHow would you describe your sound? How did you land on this for this specific album? How did it come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIf I\u2019m being real, I kind of just let the beats dictate what I was saying. I freestyled most of the song and whatever came out came out. I wasn\u2019t thinking too hard about it. I wasn\u2019t listening to any music similar. The whole time this album was being made, I was listening to Saaheem<\/em>, SahBabii\u2019s album. I was listening to that just now before I came in here. I feel like I wouldn\u2019t know how to really describe my song. I just feel like, I don\u2019t know, It\u2019s kind of like introspective, coming of age music.<\/p>\n \n\tHow involved was Sicamore, in terms of helping you put this together?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe way Sic works\u2026I feel like he\u2019s not the most hands on, like, \u201cYo, you should do this, you should do that.\u201d He\u2019ll drop in suggestions, but he\u2019s mostly a supportive n\u2014a. He\u2019ll be like, \u201cYo, you about to be a star.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe lets you do your thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYeah, because he\u2019s trying to help you build the trust in yourself, that you don\u2019t need too much help. He helps when I gotta figure out how I\u2019m gonna shoot this video or get my music to people.<\/p>\n \n\tHow old were you when you decided that you wanted to be a rapper?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tHonestly, bro, like young. I always had a desire for music because I didn\u2019t have it around type s\u2014t. I could show you a video right now of when I was a little n\u2014a freestyling. There was this challenge on YouTube called #The10ToesDownChallenge.<\/p>\n \n\tI wanted to ask you about that.<\/strong> You mentioned the video in the Mero interview. How old are you there? Like f\u2014kin\u2019 14?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYounger than that. Probably like 11. You already had that bug in you. Exactly. You can\u2019t really hear what I\u2019m saying because I\u2019m recording off the \u2018droid and for YouTube at the same time. [Laughs.<\/em>]<\/p>\n \n\tSo, how long did it take you to make this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s funny because when I signed in 2023, I made an album with concepts and all this s\u2014t, and I scrapped the entire thing. There were like 20 songs and I was like, \u201cD\u2013n, what am I gonna do now?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhy did you scrap it?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI just didn\u2019t like it. It was ass, bro. It just sounded basic. I don\u2019t even know if I even have any of the songs. <\/p>\n \n\tI\u2019m assuming it sounded way different from your most recent project. Were there any remnants of this project in there?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tNone. It was completely different. I just didn\u2019t know what I wanted it to sound like. It wasn\u2019t too far from my sound but it was kinda boring, you know? I felt like it wouldn\u2019t change anybody\u2019s life or anybody\u2019s perspective. I was working on music for a long ass time, maybe about a year just working on random s\u2014t. I was out of the studio for a while, I had gotten a job managing a warehouse, bro, like a real job [Laughs.<\/em>] <\/p>\n \n\tWhen was this?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI quit in August of last summer and and after I quit, I started going back to stu again, then I met up this n\u2014a Sham who produced most of the album. He DM\u2019d me about getting in the studio and for some reason all the beats he sent me just hit. I had an idea for everything. I was roughly done with the songs in maybe six months? The mixing process took mad long. So, in terms of recording, it took like six months to make the album and in terms of it being ready to be released, it took a full year.<\/p>\n \n\tI peeped that you mentioned that your studio is aesthetically pleasing. Walk us through that. What does that mean? What\u2019s in the studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGot the nice warm light. I\u2019m into my spaces. I don\u2019t f\u2014k with the studios that have the f\u2014king LED lights and all that bulls\u2014t. Some suave s\u2014t.<\/p>\n \n\tWhat do you want to get out of your career?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI just want to make an impact, bro. That\u2019s really it. I just want to make an impact in the youth to where they make music that\u2019s not bulls\u2014t. I want to make passionate music. Another artist I feel like I see doing that is Nourished by Time. He makes like \u201980s-influenced R&B. You should check him out.<\/p>\n \n\tThe name of the album was inspired by Stevie Wonder?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYeah, facts. \u201cSteve Wonder Loves You.\u201d I saw a shirt he had that said, \u201cStevie Wonder Loves You.\u201d I was like, \u201cI want to do that for my merch.\u201d And then it went from a merch idea to being the name of the album.<\/p>\n \n\tAre you already plotting out your next project?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tYeah, facts. I got the name already, bro. I got concepts down. Has the response to this tape inspire you to to keep working? I mean, definitely, but I was already working on this s\u2014t before this. I\u2019m grateful. I\u2019m just glad n\u2014s like it, but I really made it for myself at the end of the day. I\u2019m just happy with the music. I can actually listen to it and be like, \u201cOh, this hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLiim is heading out across the pond for a \u201cEuropean Excursion.\u201d You can find tickets here<\/a> and can check out the dates below.<\/p>\n\n
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![\"Billboard](\"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/2HpFicp.png\")