But I also have my last semester of college, and readying myself for masters programs, and a capstone project I need to go well for the future of my career, and my social life looking for friends and even possible partners… You see the problem here?

But I also have a job, one that requires a lot of hours out of me, especially on the weekends. But I am also working on my own comic series (*cough* on Twitter, young_dumb_and_queer on Instagram), which at the pace I want to work on, means I have to have two pages completed and ready to queue by Sunday. But then you have to factor in that in the same month, I was starting my MWE series of blogs where I go in-depth about other unrelated albums and the artists as a whole. See, in any other circumstance, this isn’t really so bad for me! I really enjoy writing about these albums, and I have a lot to say about every single one on my list. Problem is, I gave myself way too much work and turned it into a lengthy Top 100 with two paragraphs for each album.

I had listened to all the albums I wanted to cover and wanted to use this list as a way to kick off the Substack. DeJ’s catalog leans toward one-off singles, mixtapes, and EPs instead of traditional albums, but no matter the format, you know exactly who’s on the mic the second you hear her voice.I started working on this list at the beginning of February. Though she is quiet and reserved in person, her lyrics can be raunchy (as heard on Jacquees’ “Want Your Sex”), disarmingly aggressive (“Problem”), or achingly tender (“No Fear”), while her sound incorporates influences like hip-hop stylist E-40 and R&B singer Anita Baker, two of her childhood favorites. The song exploded on social media, thanks in part to a Drake shout-out, and suddenly DeJ Loaf became an in-demand feature contributor, jumping on tracks by Lil Durk, The Game, and Tinashe.

Few artists emerge as fully formed on a debut single as DeJ Loaf did with 2014’s “Try Me.” From the jump, the Detroit rapper, born Deja Trimble in 1991, sounded utterly distinct, with a melodic rap cadence that wrapped her threats against all comers in a sparkling musical package.

Dej loaf try me cover