Lourdes Leon – 'You Better Pray'

What do you do when your mother's a pop icon? Lourdes Leon never thought her answer would be "drop a record."

- By Meaghan Garvey

Lourdes Leon, who likes to go by Lola, has gotten three separate "Wassup?"s from passing skaters in the hour we've been sitting by the open window of Kiki's, a Greek restaurant frequented by downtown kids and tourists in the Chinatown-adjacent wedge known as Dimes Square. (Heard of it?) "Oh my God, this area," she says, flashing a peace sign at the latest one and rolling her eyes. "I keep seeing people I know. Ugh!" She looks over at a gentleman clutching a hardcover book like a Greek dramatist at a nearby table of three. "Is that guy reading aloud?" she mutters. "I'm gonna throw up."

The model-choreographer-dancer and, more recently, singer—she just released her first EP, Go, under the name Lolahol— spent the past weekend in the Cayman Islands at a Halloween ball for the fashion set, where she performed her first-ever single, a moody drum-and-bass number called “Lock&Key.” Today, she arrived via subway. Our table is buried in plates of chicken and potatoes, eggplant dip, tzatziki, and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Leon scoops up dip with pita, three nails missing from her set of silver acrylics. She used to live around here, but she much prefers Bushwick, where she lives now: It’s chill, there are no influencers or paparazzi, and everyone leaves her alone. “There’s, like, trash everywhere. I don’t mind that it’s disgusting,” she says brightly between bites. “I can go on vacation, you know what I mean? I’m privileged enough that I can do that.”