This month’s feature artist is Raye due to her debut album release, “My 21st Century Blues”. With the explosion of her song Escapism featuring 070 Shake, Raye propelled to over 3 billion streams. After facing years of rejection, Raye striked out on her own to create her most recent project that truly is one of the most vulnerable and striking albums out now. The album consists of 15 songs that vary in style and direction. Follow along this month while we cover our favorites of Raye and more.

Before hearing My 21st Century Blues, I had only known a few songs by RAYE–mostly her dance hits like “Secrets” and “You Don’t Know Me.” “Escapism.” eventually caught my attention all over again, and I ended up being extremely impressed with RAYE’s debut album. I admire her vulnerability and rawness throughout the entire album, detailing previous traumas and hardships she has faced. I’m very excited to see more from RAYE in the future.

As a new listener, I am deeply intrigued by RAYE’s energy. The album is loaded with healing trauma titles like Body Dysmoprhia and Hard Out Here. I am obsessed with how all the track titles end with periods because she is not here to play! RAYE is aggressive and candid–in the best way possible. She empowers other women oppressed by the music industry and anyone who faces adversity like she did.

My 21st Century Blues carries depth with each song. RAYE tells a complete story with each of her tracks especially with Ice Cream Man. What starts off as a heavy intro builds into this beautiful anthem for anyone who has been taken advantage of. RAYE sings about body issues, societal expectations, grabby men, falling into the spiral that’s partying all with an incredible voice that demands to be heard. Standing as a now independent artist she demonstrates how it can be done.

Similar to everyone on the planet, Escapism by Raye and 070 Shake became an immediate staple in my playlists. When listening to the album for the first time, Raye created vulnerable and intense anthems like Ice Cream Man that evolve into songs like Black Mascara with striking synths and an almost club-like mix. As Raye takes her past trials and deeply rooted issues with herself, she creates an album that is overwhelmingly emotional and complex. I am able to say whoever rejected Rayes work in the past is truly awestruck now.