2018 was an extraordinary year for Lil Berete. The Toronto based artist released his debut mixtape Icebreaker to global fanfare at just 17. Written entirely by himself, including features only from his local STN crew, it was a brilliant introduction to Regent Park’s next break-out artist and as Complex noted, “a powerfully reflective peek into the young artist’s world, one in which he balances being a rising star determined to reach success, while at the same time still dealing with the realities of life inside one of Canada’s oldest and largest housing projects.”
“Lil Berete is one of Toronto’s best new rappers” – Passion of Weiss
“Toronto’s most important rapper” – The FADER
“trap anthems that are as catchy as they are hard” – XXL Mag
“Berete is currently one of the hottest rappers coming out of the 6ix right now.” – HotNewHipHop
But in January of 2019, Berete received a letter from Toronto’s Community Housing banning him from shooting any more music videos in his housing estate. Not only was he prohibited from filming in the neighbourhood that raised him and that he documented so closely in his lyrics, the area was hit with a string of violence that resulted in Berete losing some close friends. So as he began to work on his next mixtape, he reflected on the time he spent as a young boy abroad in Guinea, and realized that he once again needed to go international to seek solace and find peace of mind.
The result is his next mixtape, due November 1 on NEW GEN, titled 1 Way Out which tackles the strain of growing up all too fast, being faced with the realities of your future and the hustle it’ll take for Lil Berete to make a better life for himself and his family. With production appearances by Street Certified Beat Cartel (Migos, Travis Scott), Drumm Section (21 Savage), Bricks (Drake, Young Thug, Lil Baby, Gunna, Migos) ADP (Yxng Bane, Krept & Konan) and 169 (Dave) amongst others and again lyrics written entirely by Lil Berete, 1 Way Out it an invincible follow-up to Berete’s debut mixtape Icebreaker, the 2018 mixtape that put the young rapper and singer on the map and has over 14 million global streams to date.
Icebreaker was a tremendous debut from an ambitious young artist who has used his adversity as fuel for his fire. With the release of 1 Way Out, Lil Berete shows a more international, mature side of himself as the playfulness of his youth subsides to make way for a young rapper who’s about to cement his status as Toronto’s most important new artist.
Lil Berete – 1 Way Out tracklist:
- Goat Cheese (Prod. by A.R. Musik)
- Go N Get It feat. Loski (Prod. by 169)
- Iffy (Prod. by Dnny Phntm)
- Money Moves feat. Headie One (Prod. by ADP & Bricks)
- Sixteen (Prod. by Street Certified Beat Cartel)
- Chase Cash fest. Deno (Prod. TK The Producer & The Writers Block)
- Mama Papa feat. Calboy (Prod. by Dnny Phntm and Ambezza)
- Dumb Dumb (Prod. by Drumm Section)
- Walking Dead (Prod. by Jaegen and Kookoo)
- Crackers (Prod. by Dnny Phntm)
Lil Berete
