In an era where hip-hop often feels caught between reverence and reinvention, BLK LT$ emerges with Honey: The BLK LT$ Meets The Killa Bees – a genre-bending, soul-baring homage to Wu-Tang Clan that feels both like a love letter and a manifesto. The Toronto-born, Grammy, and Juno-nominated engineer and producer steps from behind the boards to deliver her own reinterpretation of one of the greatest legacies in hip-hop, guided, in part, by none other than RZA himself. Today she drops the latest single from the album, "NTFW", we caught up with her for a deeper dive into her back-story and the forthcoming album.
Though known in industry circles for her engineering credits alongside artists like Drake, Future, and DMX, BLK LT$’s roots run deeper than the console. Her musicality blossomed not through formal gatekeepers but via curiosity, hustle, and an M-Box.
"I love creating. I started inquiring about how to record myself," she says, recalling her early days with a massive Roland VS-2480. "That thing was so huge lol I hated bringing it to sessions. A few months later I traded it in for a laptop with Pro Tools. My friend Noah ‘40’ Shebib and his mentor helped me set it up, and I must have stayed locked in my basement for a week figuring it out."
That foundational hunger led to years of engineering, vocal production, and co-writing; skills she sharpened in the background before emerging with a voice and vision entirely her own.
Her introduction to Wu-Tang was cinematic, literally. "I must’ve been six or seven at summer camp. My sister’s friend played Return to the "36 Chambers" by ODB. I stopped in my tracks. I had never heard anything like it," she recalls. "I made a copy on a blank disk and kept it hidden, listening to it OVER AND OVER."
That hidden copy planted a seed that would grow across decades. The result is Honey, a record that doesn’t just sample Wu-Tang—it rebuilds their spirit in her own image. It’s gritty, elegant, introspective. Songs like “Stuck” reimagine classics like “Triumph” not just sonically, but thematically – pulling the past into the present without ever letting go of her own narrative.
"It was like a Rubik’s cube, figuring out how to flip that song. Genius. That process really pushed me and my co-producer Yonatan Watts to reimagine RZA’s entire approach."
Initially meant as a personal SoundCloud drop, Honey caught the attention of the Wu-Tang mastermind himself. "When RZA got a hold of it, he felt it needed a larger audience. I expected direction and critiquing, but he just told me to be myself. He’s given me full creative control."
That freedom gave rise to a record that feels both archival and avant-garde. BLK LT$ doesn’t try to out-Wu the Wu—she reinterprets them through her experience as a Black woman raised on bars, bass, and boundary-pushing.
Though her technical chops are undeniable, the core of BLK LT$’s artistry comes from her pen. Her first love was poetry, and it shows in the album’s wordplay and emotional weight. "I started writing poems at eight. By eleven, my dad—who’s also a musician—encouraged me to start writing songs. I’ve always been obsessed with lyrics, double entendres, all of it."
It’s this lyrical fluency that makes Honey more than a tribute. It’s an excavation—a study in how one generation’s blueprint can become another’s launchpad.
As an advocate for women in production and engineering, BLK LT$ is just as passionate about education as she is about creation. "Having a mentor is everything. I wish I was encouraged earlier on to explore all the things I was interested in. I started producing in my teens but hid it—back then, I was told to ‘let the guys produce.’"
Now, she’s vocal about the importance of self-sufficiency and learning the full anatomy of a career in music—from the law to the mic. "There’s so much progress tech-wise. If you're serious, there’s no excuse for not making great music. Learn how to record yourself. Learn the business. Take vocal therapy. The more you know, the less you need to rely on others to bring your vision to life."
For BLK LT$, success didn’t come overnight—it came through years of quiet work and relentless study. "Social media has made it seem like everything’s instant, but this is a full-time job. Sleepless nights, learning, failing, trying again. That’s how you build longevity."
She references “clocking a million hours” in her lyrics—and she means it. From engineering other artists’ Grammy-winning records to balancing entrepreneurship with songwriting, it’s all part of the same motion. "I split my time. Some weeks I’m just making beats, some weeks I’m designing clothes. I’ve learned to create balance, so one thing doesn’t suffer at the expense of another."
With Honey, BLK LT$ doesn’t just honor a legacy—she expands it. The record proves that homage doesn’t have to mean imitation, and that true influence is measured in evolution. “Even though this is an album of interpolations and references, the best advice RZA gave me was to make sure BLK LT$ shines through on every track.”
She took that advice to heart, and in doing so created possibly one of the most compelling hip-hop projects of the year. Stay tuned to her socials to not miss a beat of what she has coming up.
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