Laila! rose to fame on social media with the songs 'Not My Problem' and 'Like That!'
The Future of Soundcloud for Music Producers
What do Shaboozey, Teezo Touchdown, Odetari and Kenya Grace all have in common? They were part of SoundCloud’s global artist development program “Ascending,” which has been in pilot mode since March 2023.
“Ascending” initially launched as a pilot in the United Kingdom with Grace, before expanding to the United States with Odetari in August 2023. SoundCloud publicly debuted the program for the first time on Monday, with singer and producer Laila! as September’s spotlight artist.
Laila! was discovered last year by SoundCloud’s A&R Talent Identification team and signed to a joint venture with Sickamore’s IIIXL Studio. SoundCloud reports that Laila!’s global weekly streams have increased from 1.6 million to 6 million since April 2024, with her latest single, “Not My Problem,” amassing 44 million streams globally across all streaming platforms since its release in June 2024.
