Released on June 1, Feefa’s debut album ‘Estilo De Vida’ takes you directly into the 29-year-old Angeleno’s lifestyle, while also proving that not all bilingual rap in Los Angeles has to fall into the Chicano gangsta category.
If you need some good music (no — not the one that comes with the G.O.O.D. acronym and hot takes on slavery), you may want to give Estilo de Vida, the debut album from LA’s Feefa, a listen.
For our non-Spanish speaking readers, the album’s title translates to “Lifestyle” in English. Most of its content would prove the title to be apt, giving us a glimpse of the experiences that made the street-baller-turned-rapper who he is today.
What can you expect from Estilo de Vida? Massive haunting, should-be-on-the-radio beats, bilingual rapping and singing, and cool-ass chill vibes throughout. As the clairvoyant rapper points out, “I call it traffic music. ‘Cause you’ll be sitting in traffic listening to it.” LA at its purest.
This album is the product of what happens when footballers take their creativity off the pitch and into the studio. Every track feels like a hit single — particularly highlights “Andale,” “Envidia,” and “Lo Bueno.” With booming beats and trap drums throughout, you better make sure your speakers have bass.
“I’m excited,” Feefa said. “It feels like it’s opening another road for me. I’m finally letting go of the project that I’ve been focused on for the past year. And I’m really hyped about it. It’s a whole bilingual album. It’s not considered anything — it’s just this lifestyle we created.”
We first learned about this lifestyle when we profiled the up-and-coming artist while he was in the midst of working on the project. He described his upbringing in South Central as a young man playing football, battling the pressures of LA, and striving to make it as an artist. All of his hard work over the past couple years has culminated in this project.
The nine-track album, whose listening party was hosted by UrbanFutsal LA at adidas‘ The Base LA, was produced by BRVO and My Rookie Year, and has features on two tracks from Harlay. All of the writing credits go to Feefa, with co-writing credits on “Encontrarme” going to Kevin McCall, who most notably had a writing credit on Chris Brown’s “Deuces.”
While the album release serves as a great personal achievement for Feefa, it is something that he doesn’t want the sole credit for. He is speaking his truths in order to shed light on a much larger group of people that he wants to help change perceptions of in a positive manner.
“I hope people get a better understanding of the Latino movement that we’re starting in LA,” Feefa said. “Like we talked about, when people bring up a hispanic rapper from LA they automatically picture an ese or a Chicano rapper. I want to change that perspective. I want people to see me as (not a stereotype), and to open up people and show them that they are able to do anything you want as far as their sound.”
The project won’t end here even though the musical component is finished. Feefa has big plans for more content surrounding the album, wanting to release a film to accompany it within the next year.
“It’s all a story, so I can’t wait to tell it,” Feefa said. “I’m telling it musically and now it’s time for me to do it digitally. We’ll get there.”
In addition to the album’s accompanying video, Feefa is busy working on other projects, including co-writing and composing Jackie Cruz’s newest single “La Hora Loca.”
You can stream “Estilo de Vida” and all of Feefa’s other music on Spotify, Apple Music, and SoundCloud. Be sure to follow Feefa on Instagram to stay updated with his future moves.
