Lila Iké celebrates debut album with heartfelt J’can release party
Published:Monday | September 22, 2025 | 12:07 AM
Jamaican songbird Lila Iké expressed deep gratitude on Thursday night during the Jamaica album release party for her debut LP, Treasure Self Love.
“I feel blessed,” said Lila Iké, as she reflected on the significance of finally being able to share her debut album, a project she said had been more than three years in the making.
“I’ve been trying to put out the album for quite a while now, probably like around three to four years, so to be able to celebrate it in Jamaica [is great]. Because I’ve been getting love all over. I did a launch in London, I’m about to go do something in New York, but to have your own people support you is really special. And I never got to do anything for The ExPerience due to COVID... it is my first time doing anything like this. Trust me, people showed up and showed love, so I love it,” said Lila Iké.
She was speaking with Nationwide 90FM’s Honica ‘Honi-B’ Brown during a sitdown on the night of the event.
Asked if she had a favourite on the 11-track album, Lila Iké said it was definitely hard to pick just one. “I feel like every day or every time I listen, I connect deeper with something else,” she said. “I feel like Brighter Days has been my song for a minute now,” she added, referring to track 10 on the album.
Held at Di Lot, the event brought out reggae and dancehall stars, such as Protoje, Sevana, Naomi Cowan, Masicka, Jesse Royal and Jaz Elise and saw Lila Iké hit the stage for a fun jam session.
Lost in Time Festival
It was while giving fans a taste of All Over the World, the collaboration on the album featuring Protoje, that he announced that the next staging of the popular Lost in Time Festival would be in February 2026. The event was last held in 2024.
Currently on tour, Lila Iké heads to New York this week. “I’m going to do another launch in New York and then I have a show and then I come back to Jamaica, chill out for a bit and in October I go off on my Treasure Self Love East Coast tour,” she said.
Treasure Self Love was released on August 22 via Lila Iké ‘s Wurl Ike Records, Protoje’s In.Digg.Nation Collective and Ineffable Records.
It is her first full-length album, which follows the breakthrough 2020 EP The ExPerience.
Before returning to the island, and during an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang on August 29, Lila Iké said Treasure Self Love explores her mental health journey.
The deeply personal project features collaborators such as H.E.R. on He Loves Us Both; Joey Bada$$, Fry Plantain; Masicka, Romantic and Irish entertainer Maverick Sabre on All That and More and pays homage to icons, such as Peter Tosh, Patra and Garnett Silk.
It has been a big year for Lila Iké.
In August, she won her third consecutive Caribbean Music Award for Female Reggae Artiste of the Year. She’s the only artiste to win the category since the ceremony’s inception.
Speaking of the win in an article published in THE STAR, she said, “It’s amazing, because it’s something that people actually have to vote for, so the people chose me as their Reggae Female Artiste of the Year,” said Lila Iké.
“The first time I won, it was like ‘Wow’. It’s amazing that I won again. People are finally recognising the work that I’ve put in,” she said.
She made her Reggae Sumfest debut on July 19 in Montego Bay, St James, which marked a major milestone for her, as it was her first solo set at the island’s largest annual music festival.