Who is Raye, the singer who won the Brit Awards before reigning over the pop world?

Author, composer, performer, Raye has seen her career explode since 2023 in complete independence, after years of wanderings and interference between several large record companies and their labels. At the 2024 Brit Awards, held on March 2, she broke not only the record for the number of nominations (7), but also that of the most awarded artist (6) in the history of the ceremony. Album of the Year, Song of the Year, British Artist of the Year, Best R&B Performance, Artist Revelation, Lyricist of the Year… But who really is this musical phenomenon who arrived from the United Kingdom to conquer world pop?

Who is Raye, English singer, survivor of the major record companies

Real name Rachel Agatha Keen was born in 1997 in London and grew up singing gospel songs in the local church where her father (English) was the musical director while her mother (Swiss-Ghanaian) was part of the choir. . She showed interest in music from an early age, she learned to play the piano and started writing songs at the age of 7. After two years at the prestigious art school BRIT School (which notably trained Adele, Amy Winehouse and FKA twigs) where the teenager felt her creativity was too limited, she left but continued composing songs and began dating producers. So much so that at the age of 17 she released her first EP in 2014, Welcome to winter (which contains in particular the titles “ flowers ” AND ” Alien “).

Then a second in 2016, with a sober name Second helps to get noticed even more, especially thanks to the title “ Ambition ” In characterized with the already well-known rapper Stormzy, or even “ I you we » whose music video is directed by Charli XCX. His label Polydor Records put him together characteristics for other artists, including David Guetta on “ Stay (don’t go away) » and above all the intoxicating “ You do not know me » with Jax Jones exploding internationally. While Raye releases a third EP, Side tapein 2018, Polydor had him write for other artists, such as “ Bigger » for Beyoncé (appearing on the soundtrack of the live action remake of Lion King). A consecration for Raye!

But her label still won’t let her release a solo album. She, however, continues to have to give her voice characteristics with DJs who are always a hit in the graphs but they move further and further away from his personal artistic universe. Not to mention the fact that she is forced to open concerts for artists who have nothing to do with her, further tarnishing her standing as an artist. If we guess more about her true personality through yet another EP of hers, Sad euphoric song in November 2020 (which includes the sublime “ Natalie Don’t do it “), the cup is already full.

How singer Raye found her artistic salvation in independence

In the summer of 2021, after many years of wandering with his label, Polydor Records, Raye publicly revealed that he was holding his first album hostage. After receiving support from other British artists such as Charli XCX, MNEK and Rina Sawayama, she released her first fully independent single in June 2022, “ Difficult here “. She mentions explicitly the sexism and racism she faced in the music industry. Musically, it’s a radical change from what he had released before: we finally hear his voice better, his tastes in jazz, RnB, hip hop, alternative, all mixed with precisely what he we need the electronics.

His next single continues this beautiful momentum of polished production, captivating vocals and strong lyrics from “ Black mascara “, she says she was drugged without her knowledge by a relative she thought she trusted. But this is the third Evasion », completely unstructured compared to the ultra-standardized pop songs we are used to, which made him explode in the eyes of the general international public, especially because the song went viral on TikTok. Enough to allow him to finally release his first album in complete independence and artistic freedom, My 21st century bluesin February 2024. If we put blues pioneer Mamie Smith, Amy Winehouse’s soul, and Lady Gaga’s sense of dramatic pop in a shaker, we would get a delicious cocktail close to Raye’s unclassifiable musicality.

Since then, nothing has stopped Raye, who has enjoyed immense critical and commercial success. The singer-songwriter puts together hits with a disconcerting sincerity in the lyricsas in the title ” Ice cream maker » which speaks directly about the rape she suffered at the hands of a producer, for example. Agrodolce, his first album My 21st century blues it seems like a diary that would sing to us with its particularly recognizable voice. All on musical productions that touch on jazz, trip hop, RnB and a touch of electro to give life to a unique dark pop. The artist accompanies his musical talent with a visual universe with a dark and distorted aesthetic that makes his clips so unique and exotic. His musical success represents the best revenge against his former label, as well as the racism and misogyny that plague the industryand the rest of society. In short, Raye has everything to become a pop star that the world can count on, cry, get angry and dance to.

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