AYLØ Rediscovers His Magic On New Mixtape, ‘dnt’dlt’

Since the start of the year, self-proclaimed project artist, AYLØ has been teasing the release of his third body of work, dnt’dlt. Well, it’s finally here, and the outstanding 10-track mixtape — a worthy follow-up to Insert Project Name — is a testament to him rediscovering himself.

dnt’dlt commences with AYLØ’s characteristic musings over soft keys, before he begins serenading the latest girl on his mind. Oscillating between singing and rapping, AYLØ’s vocals on “I listen to you…” are sexy and alluring — a wonderfully enticing start to the tape.

With slow keys signing out the stunning album opener, Odunsi and Le Mav’s captivating percussive beat on “Paris!” offers a brilliant contrast to the mellow “I listen to you…”. After “Paris!”, comes another familiar number: the Psycho YP and Fasina-assisted “Sassy”.

With the two lead singles done, AYLØ guides us into uncharted territory with the trap-leaning “Pretty Mama!”. Produced by AYLØ himself, it seems the multi-hyphenate handles the production work on the project’s most dynamic tracks — “xozhu”,”City on Lights” and “IMWTWOTF”.

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When it comes to featured artists, AYLØ gets it all right. Although he doesn’t enlist big names, guests such as Fasina (“Sassy”), Myquale (“Pretty Mama!”) and MOJO (“Indo Smkn”) all offer indelible assists, with the standout being Sugarbana on “City on Lights!”. 

Opening with a news broadcast of the heartbreaking Dana Airlines plane crash in 2012, the powerful “City on Lights!” is a deeply moving track that touches on death, as AYLØ’s mourns the loved ones he’s lost — a stark contrast to the love songs that litter this tape. 

The uplifting final track of the project, “Alive and Breathing (dnt’dlt)”, also veers off AYLØ’s usual romantic course, as he talks about all the trials he’s been through — and with Cheso’s spirited chorus, “I know I’m a champion, just ’cause I’m alive”, AYLØ’s affirms that he is a conqueror.

Speaking with Konbini about how the name of the mixtape came about, AYLØ explains:

“dnt’dlt is inspired by how I delete everything, literally and figuratively — whole projects, whole identities.

I forget the totality of my being; I delete ideas, I delete friends, plans, twitter accounts, online publications, my old catalogues… All [the] things I’ve done. But at some point you have to stop don’t you? You have to stake your claim or whatever they say.”

Rediscovering his magic through this mixtape, the project’s final track, “Alive and Breathing”, is a proclamation that he has gotten to where he wants to be. AYLØ continues:

“So, in the end, the name reflects the idea of a journey back to self, after having lost all confidence. So when I get to “Alive and Breathing” I’m exclaiming that yeah, I am no longer trying to delete myself.”

With such a hypnotic and authentic tape, we are incredibly pleased to hear that AYLØ has finally overcome his habit of deleting all his works. We’re hoping that this means we’ll be getting more frequent singles and projects from the immensely gifted star from now on.

Listen to dnt’dlt right here: