Stop what you’re doing and get to know Raye, the chart-topping pop star all over your FYP

If you have so much as been on TikTok for 10 minutes in the past few months you will have heard the iconic track which is Escapism by Raye. Raye has recently reached number one with her song after becoming an independent artist and said to fans in an emotional video: “This is proof. Back yourself!” Raye has been around for years, featuring on songs with Mr Eazi and Jonas Blue, but since splitting from her label she has dominated the charts and the hearts of TikTokers everywhere. Here’s everything you need to know about who Raye is and her career up to now.

Raye is 25 years old and is from London

Raye is a 25-year-old singer and songwriter from Tooting in London. Born to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother and English Father, Raye began singing in 2014 and at 19 years old, she rose to fame by featuring on Jaz Jones’s You Don’t Know Me which later peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.

Raye moved to Croydon at a young age and studied at Woodcote High School before she was accepted to attend the BRIT School for two years. Raye later dropped out after she felt she was “confined despite learning an extensive amount.” In 2017, Raye was shortlisted from the BBC Music Sound of… award and came in third place.

Raye had featured on a bunch of songs and has had a number of charting hits

Over the years, Raye has featured on a number of songs including Jonas Blue’s By Your Side as well as having Stormzy feature on one of her songs on her EP. In 2018, Raye released Cigarette with Mabel and Stefflon Don which peaked at number 41 on the UK Singles Chart. In the same year, Raye collaborated with Kojo Funds and released Check which reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

In July 2021, Raye departed from Polydor Records and began working as an independent artist

In June 2021, Raye revealed that her record label, Polydor Records, had been withholding her debut album for a number of years and she went on a hiatus. A month later, the singer announced she had left Polydor Records and began working as an independent artist. She has since risen to higher levels of fame since her releasing Escapism.

She has a new album coming out in February

Just days in the 2023 new year, Raye announced her debut album was imminent and released the full tracklist and release date. Raye’s album is called My 21st Century Blues and it has 15 songs which will be released on February 3rd 2023. She is also going to go on tour with her album later on in February, touring across Europe and North America.

She went viral on TikTok in 2022 with Escapism

She recently went number one on the charts, her first number one with Escapism. After the song began to do the rounds on TikTok, everyone fell in love with the catchy song and it became her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. As well as charting in the UK, Escapism has charted internationally, making Escapism Raye’s best charting single of her career to date.

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Featured image credit via Instagram @raye.