“Lala (Unlocked)” by Alicia Keys (ft. Swae Lee)

The title of this track (“Lala (Unlocked)”), which is in fact a love song, can be taken in different ways. For instance, if you’re in the ‘hood and make a statement like you’re “getting lost in the la la”, some people may interpret that as a reference to getting high since la la, or sometimes la alone serves as a slang for weed. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Alicia Keys's Lala (Unlocked) at Lyrics.org.

Indeed in the chorus, Swae Lee makes mention of “smoking zaza”, which is more or less a derivative of ‘smoking la la’.

But overall, it appears that the titular term “la la” is meant to be taken in the “la la la” type of way, since the latter is featured prominently in the chorus. Alicia Keys is a singer who is well-known for her ability to actually harmonize, and such seems to be her main purpose of using the expression in this case.

But “la la la” also serves a symbolic role in the narrative. And what it alludes to is the love between the characters, i.e. the romantic couple that the vocalists are portraying. 

Whereas there are some intricacies involved, by and large the story being relayed is pretty straightforward, i.e. Alicia playing hard to get at first but eventually falling in love with Swae. 

And going back to the “la la la” motif, it seems when the two of them do get it on physically they like to do so in a mellow environment, complete with “incense”, “vodka” and of course the “zaza”

Ultimately, even though Swae Lee is known as a hip-hop artist, this track comes off as the type of duet one would expect between Keys and a fellow R&B singer.

Alicia Keys' "Lala (Unlocked)" Lyrics

Facts about “Lala (Unlocked)”

With RCA Records releasing “Lala (Unlocked)” on 9 September 2021, it was the first single from Alicia Keys’ album which itself is entitled Keys

To note, “Unlocked” is not the song’s subtitle per se but rather points to the part of the album the track is derived from. The Keys album is actually split into two sections, Originals and Unlocked. Most of the songs on the album’s playlist have both an Originals and Unlocked version. However, some tracks, like “Lala”, belong exclusively to one side or the other.

Alicia first teased the forthcoming of “Lala” on the first of September, 2021. And apparently the song debuted shortly thereafter, on 12 September, via its first live performance at the 2021 MTV VMAs, with both Keys and Swae Lee being involved.

Alicia, the songstress from New York City, expressed a high level of admiration for Swae Lee, a very-successful rapper from Inglewood, after working with him on this track, with this being their first collaboration.

The two vocalists wrote this song along with the following:

  • Paul Richmond
  • Ruben Locke Jr.
  • Mike Will Made-It

And it was also Mike and Alicia who produced the track.

“Lala” appeared on two Billboard charts, Adult R&B Songs and Hot R&B Songs, performing relatively humbly in both regards considering the vocalists involved.

This track’s music video was directed by the pair of Sing J. Lee and Sylvia M. Zakhary, both of whom are affiliated with an outfit called Mamag Studios. And a plethora of primarily music stars – Snoop Dogg, Khalid, Gunna and more – make appearances, in addition to NBAer Russell Westbrook and actress Lena Waithe. And of course also featured therein is Alicia Keys’ celebrity husband, Swizz Beats and Swae Lee’s fellow-rapper sibling, Slim Jxmmi.

What Alicia Keys said about "Lala (Unlocked)"

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