Lelo Shares New Single “XP”
Following the release of last month’s single “Banksy“, Detroit breakout star Lelo has released his newest single “XP” – out now via 10K Projects, alongside a new music video. Following the stripped-down “Banksy” and the gritty, braggadocious flexes of “Big League“, “XP” is the latest in a run of singles from Lelo that follow his breakthrough, critically-acclaimed debut album New Detroit (7.8 from Pitchfork), released in July, as he continues to add depth and diversity to the “New Detroit” sound and movement that he’s pioneered.
Built on a mix of piano-backed Detroit drums, 808s, and electronic influences, “XP” finds Lelo leaning into layered vocals and delivering clever wordplay –– “she popped the XP, said she tryna get experience”. The accompanying video continues the visual thread woven through his last few videos with fast-moving, collage styled scenes. The new release of “XP” also follows Lelo’s sold-out four-city headlining New Detroit Tour (Chicago, New York City, Atlanta, Detroit), and paves the way for his next, quickly-approaching era. With fiercely regional sonics at its core, Lelo’s “New Detroit” movement has been growing its reach with each release throughout 2025, and culminated in instant critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, The FADER and Hypebeast off the back of his debut album New Detroit, after being co-signed by XXL for The Break and Pigeons & Planes as a Best New Artist during his run of singles earlier this year.
After turning heads in the Detroit regional scene with early singles like “Hughes” (6M+ Streams) and “Daybreakers”, Lelo has gone on to re-imagine Detroit rap with his own twist through each new release, using experimental production of 80s Detroit House music with the likeness of modern cloud rap to provide a soundscape built on the Motor City’s luxury colliding with its grit. The New Detroit sound culminates in a way that sounds both rooted and borderless, consistently supported by production from Lelo’s in-house producers C Dub and Shogun.
After spending the first half of 2025 dropping singles like the Sade-sampling “Main Event“, which earned him a co-sign from Earl Sweatshirt, he’s gone on to earn nods from Pi’erre Bourne, LUCKI, and Brent Faiyaz, as well as TiaCorine and Danny Brown, surpass the 1 Million monthly listeners before ever putting out a song with a feature, and emerged as a voice leading the charge for a new sound bred from a storied city.
