With the pen of a poet and the melodic sensibilities of a veteran composer, Brooklyn-born rapper SALIMATA’s soulful, swaggering style offers a modern take on New York City’s storied hip-hop tradition. A lifelong poet who found a passion for freestyling as a teen, she released her first single “I Can” in 2019, coming in hot with her float-like-a-butterfly, sting-like-a-bee flow. She kept up the momentum with a string of standout loosies, including 2021’s “Mock Me”, of which Pitchfork praised: “Sometimes you just want to hear someone talk shit, and SALIMATA has that down pat.” But things really took off after 10k label founder MIKE and close affiliate Niontay recognized her as a rising star and encouraged her to take things to the next level. She released her acclaimed debut, Salimata Presents – OUCH, on 10k Global in 2022, and shared her most recent project, the Risky Business-inspired and Pink Siifu-featuring Wooden Floors, in 2024.
Brooklyn-raised rapper SALIMATA has just shared her new album The Happening — out now via 10k Global. Stamping her third full-length release, the project was crafted primarily in Marseille, France, a far cry from the borough that raised her, and serves as both a coming-of-age moment and a diaristic showcase of the self-reflection, personal evolution, and stylistic freedom she’s grown into. The album arrives during a strong run for SALIMATA, coming off several high-profile moments that include her opening slot on MIKE‘s European tour and a viral On The Radar freestyle that drew widespread attention. Led by recent singles “Jackpot”, “SWEETTHANG”, “Moonlight”, “9-5”, and “foil”, The Happening finds her stepping into a fully realized creative identity with a renewed sense of self-definition and confidence that flows throughout the project’s fourteen tracks.
SALIMATA has always been a universe builder, incorporating fashion, painting, and even sculpting into her artistic practice. Her mother, who grew up in Côte d’Ivoire, introduced her early on to African music and aesthetics — to this day, she still hand-sews and styles the bulk of her daughter’s performance outfits, one of the many ways SALIMATA imbues ancestral wisdom and home-spun care into her work. She also credits her formative years on Tumblr, where she connected with a creative community that included Danii Phae and Ken Rebel, and early freestyles over diverse YouTube beats — from house music to UK grime to free jazz — as sharpening her flow and keen eye for storytelling. She first emerged onto the scene with her 2022 debut project Salimata Presents – OUCH and cemented a name for herself as one of the most promising new voices in independent rap with 2024’s Wooden Floors, which featured highlights like “u kno who u are” (feat. MIKE) and “Pootie Tang” (feat. Pink Siifu). Now with The Happening, SALIMATA is turning the page on this next chapter with precision — and bringing the new sound of her city to the world.
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