Leila K is a Swedish Eurodance singer and former rapper of Moroccan descent.
She was discovered by the musical duo Rob’n’Raz when singing in a music contest. They liked her music and offered her a recording contract in 1988. Together with Rob’n’Raz she had her first hit in 1989 with the song “Got To Get” (#8 UK, #3 Germany).
During the first years of her career she had many chart-topping hits and her music was played all over Europe. She broke up with Rob’n’Raz and went on her own to Ibiza, where she was treated like a superstar and managed to set up concerts on her own. Her solo career started in 1991 with the single “Time” which she followed up with many other popular singles, such as her biggest hit “Open Sesame” (#23 UK, #5 Germany) and a cover version of the punk song “Ca plane pour moi” (#13 Germany). In 1993 she was the best selling female artist in Europe.
Leila K’s wild lifestyle led her into trouble; her motto was “life is just a party”. She did not make much money in 1994 and at the end of the year, she owed the Swedish tax collectors 122 000 SEK (about 17 000 USD).
In 1995 Leila K was back on the music scene with the hit single “Electric”. She kept releasing new music until 1997, but since then nothing new has been released by her.
In 1998, SVT made a documentary about Leila K’s claim for stardom called Fuck you, fuck you very much. The event focuses on an incident that happened during the 1996 Swedish Grammis awards.
In 2003, the newspaper Expressen reported that Leila K was living as a homeless person on the streets of Stockholm, having to steal in order to get food.
In 2004 she was reported as being in jail.
In 2005, the Swedish cartoonist Martin Kellerman conducted an interview with her for his own Comic book magazine Rocky.
