By Elliott West
“I wrestle with true peace”.
Raye
Introduction
Once in a while, you come across a music artist that touches your heart and soul. Someone whose lyrics who transport you to another place with the sheer depth and meaning of their lyrics and bring a tear to your eye with their words of joy and pain. I have felt that with artists such as Sinead O’Connor, Annie Lennox, Amy Winehouse and Tina Turner but have waited patiently for someone to fill their space. This eclectic moment arrived when I started to listen to the music of Raye. A 26-year-old from Croydon who has a rich heritage of British and Ghanaian roots. Her life story is stamped on her songs, her struggle with narcotics, sexual abuse from those who were supposed to manage and promote her and the rollercoaster of emotions that have taken her from then to now.
Rachel Agatha Keen is no ordinary woman. I can identify with her because, like any writer, she has a swirl of ideas and thoughts that have to be transformed into musical words. Raye feels the music as she writes it. The rhythmic beat works in tandem with the spoken words. Often performing barefoot, she can feel the beat through her body and produces a voice that is soulful, a gift from the gods that transfixes you and permeates your body and soul. A devout Christian who uses her faith to heal the scars of her past and someone who is very family-oriented, having a deep love for her parents, her Ghanaian-Swiss mother Sarah and her father Paul from Yorkshire who is also her manager. A pair who found young love in the church and Paul proposed to his soulmate 4-6 months after the start of the relationship.
Soulful and Delightful
Raye is like a rose that continues to bloom. Her multi-layered work comes from a young woman who has a mature mind but I feel she needs to be more open with her emotions. She hides the pain of her past and could be using that life experience to help others going through similar ordeals. Her music is her therapy that is so raw that it often reduces her to tears. I can not begin to explain how brave this woman is by splitting from the constraints of her record label Polydor after 17 years to go it alone and write the music that makes sense and purpose. Raye knows that the gift she has has to be cherished and the opportunity not squandered.
When you listen to Ice Cream Man, you feel this lady’s raw emotion. Her pain of abuse is brought to life through her lyrics and body language. Her colourful, lacquered hair and precision makeup hides a vulnerable woman who now teaches others to always bring a friend when they go for any audition or interview. The beauty of her brown eyes masks the hurt and pain behind them. She treads an unknown path, producing pieces of musical art with blistering vocals that have you on the edge of your seat and sucked into the vortex of her music. The fear of the unknown is always on her mind and she knows that this success may not last forever. A musical force that will never give up and is constantly nurturing her craft in a recording studio. A gifted producer and solo artist who knows that you can not force your music down someone’s throat but her works such as Escapism prove that she has a massive fanbase who revel in her words and music.
In Your DNA
Rachael gets her gift probably from her Grandfather who was also a songwriter and a musician. A genius who crafted her art at Brit School at the age of 14 where she studied music and dance. However, like any great artist, she left after only two years because she felt confined. A move that led to her releasing her first album ‘Welcome To The Winter’. A musical journey that made her realize that her calling was music that had power. No wonder that Drake fell in love with her music.
A lady who loved nothing more when growing up than to hang around her corner shop. A myriad of food and drink that made you feel like a child in a sweet shop. This innocence and vulnerability has followed her into adulthood. A woman who can appear anxious and sometimes distracted with a fear of burning out too soon. A musical force that however moves slowly and maps out priorities in life through her maze of tattoos that adorn her body. Her music is glittered with her influences of gospel, jazz and neo-soul. A singer with a bright future and a captivating voice.
