DEELA DROPS HER NEW “WICKED” MIXTAPE

Nigerian rap talent DEELA has released her long-awaited mixtape Wicked, marking a defining moment in her evolution as one of the most compelling young voices reshaping the sound of contemporary African rap. The seven-track project, out now, is a showcase of her sharp delivery, experimental energy, and the raw confidence that has been building her cult following in Lagos and beyond.

On Wicked, DEELA taps collaborators 3Monzo and Fetish, but the tape’s strongest moments come when she stands alone, anchoring tracks with a tone that swings between gritty determination and playful bravado. Her Lagos roots sit firmly at the center of the project, in its rhythms, its attitude, and its insistence on bending genre lines without losing identity.

The rollout for Wicked has been deliberate. In October, DEELA shared “Why Always Me?”, produced by Twitch Papii, an assertive, chest-out anthem about ambition and self-belief. Earlier, she previewed the project with “Slide,” a fast-paced, no-apologies banger built alongside Genio Bambino and Dëra. Both singles signaled that DEELA was crafting something darker, sharper, and more layered than anything she’d put out before.

Her growing momentum has also travelled with her, she’s performed on major UK stages, including joining Little Simz during tour stops, but DEELA has remained vocal about how deeply her music is rooted in Nigeria’s creative pulse. In a Wonderland interview, she described her sound as “Wicked Babe Music,” a phrase that captures the duality she wears proudly: soft and sharp, grounded and global.