Deela is the kind of artist you notice first for her audacity and second for her unapologetic originality. British-Nigerian and embedded in the fresh, fiercely independent alté scene in Nigeria, she’s part of a narrow vanguard of female rappers carving space where swagger, style, and story converge into something arresting. Deela’s approach is both nostalgic and forward-looking: her sound — a medley of dreamy, buoyant nostalgia with a sharp modern twist — hums with a sense of familiar playfulness, but it keeps you on your toes. She’s a chameleon, moving from playful to powerful with a voice that can melt over verses as easily as it can hit hard. And her visual aesthetic is just as compelling. Think early 2000s Nollywood mashed with an Afrobeats technicolor palette; her world is one where brazen self-assurance and a carefree spirit steer the ship, no apologies or explanations required.

On her latest EP, Good Girl No Dey Pay, Deela pairs up with some of Nigeria’s alté scene favourites, none more impactful than Genio Bambino. Among the standout tracks is “Big Deel,” a song that revels in its own bounce and blurs the lines between drill, trap, and something unmistakably Deela. Built on Bambino’s production, the track is alive with pulse and swing. Deela and BXKS weave their verses with an instinctive fluidity — here, they’re sparring, dancing, moving with the kind of confidence that feels as liberating as it is commanding.

This track, like Deela herself, operates in its own lane; it borrows from established sounds but reshapes them into something singular. If Good Girl No Dey Pay is a roadmap, “Big Deel” is the mile marker that says Deela’s only just begun.