It’s been a while since South London singer Raye was a supporting act for another artist. And honestly, she admits, the experience has been humbling at times. With two critically acclaimed studio albums and world tours of her own under her belt, the 28-year-old has racked up countless hours on stage. But opening for pop heavyweight Bruno Mars on his Romantic Tour means she’s facing stadium crowds of around 70,000, a scale that still intimidates her.
—Art Direction and Set Art by Jana Frost for TIME; Photography by Stefano Giuliano for TIME
Her determination was forged during years of early-career setbacks that tested her confidence. Raye, born Rachel Agatha Keen, was a teenager when she signed a four-album record deal with Polydor in 2014. She spent the next seven years struggling to release her debut through a label she says stifled her creativity and voice. In the meantime, she wrote songs for global superstars like Beyoncé, Charli XCX, and John Legend while yearning for her own moment in the spotlight.
Reflecting on that pivotal moment during an interview on a scorching hot July day in east London, Raye recalls how her pain drove her to speak out. “The catalyst came when I just had no fear of the worst case scenario anymore,” she says. “Genuinely, I had zero expectations. It was spur of the moment and impulsive, and I was very, very, very emotional and very hurt, and in a lot of pain.”
The record offered an unflinching look at her struggles with substance abuse and heartache. In one track, "Ice Cream Man," she details the sexual assault she experienced as a young woman in the music industry. The song resonated with audiences worldwide and won the Harry Belafonte Best Song For Social Change Award at this year’s Grammys. “A lot of my first album was very cathartic,” she says. “We touched on some heavy stuff. We were able to create a space of emotion and reckoning.”
A sense of home also permeates the record. In “Beware.. The South London Lover Boy,” she cheekily warns other women about the smooth-talking, Lime bike-riding “strange creatures” lurking on the streets where she grew up. The humor gives away to heartache in “Nightingale Lane,” a ballad she introduces as documenting the “greatest heartbreak I have ever known.” Named after a road in Balham, South London, the song follows Raye through familiar places that hold memories of a former love.
—Art Direction and Set Art by Jana Frost for TIME; Photography by Stefano Giuliano for TIME
Yet, in the months leading up to the album’s March release, Raye worried about how it would be received. During what she describes as a “silly moment,” the singer even wondered if she had already peaked. Her debut album had set what felt like impossibly high standards and she wondered if she’d “ever have a No. 1 again.” Everything fell into place once she chose “Where Is My Husband!” as the lead track. She had a feeling fellow “single girls” would relate to her frustration with waiting to find a worthy partner, a hunch that turned out to be right. The song topped the U.K. charts in January and became the soundtrack to countless engagement videos and dating chronicles across social media.
This fusion of traditional and contemporary extends to Raye’s live shows. She performs with a big band, but at one point in her set, giant lightbulbs that spell out “RAYE” are tweaked to spell “RAVE.” (A drunk fan pitched her the idea at a festival a few years ago.) “I love having a nightclub segment in my shows and I love jazz,” she says. “Those are two polarizing genres, they're not supposed to be allowed to coexist, but it's really exciting to be able to get on stage and sing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ with a seven-piece brass section and then go into letting everyone jump and have green lasers. Why not?”
Raye’s close-knit network is with her on set. Her mother is present, as is her teenage sister, Katelyn, who dutifully captures behind-the-scenes photos throughout the day. “She’s got a great eye,” Raye says with pride. Her other sisters, Absolutely and Amma, are emerging musicians in their own right; both feature on her album and have previously joined her on tour. Raye’s grateful for the close bond they share, especially because it hasn’t always been that way. “I navigated a whole journey very distant from my family, and it just wasn't ideal for me,” she says. “This job and career path is so weird, in the most amazing way, but also confusing. We're put on pedestals and I’m treated as ‘Raye the artist.’ If you nurture that too much, you can lose your way. My family really helped ground me.”
The singer is still learning to show herself grace as she navigates life’s complexities in front of an audience. Some days, it’s a harder task than others. “I had a tough gig the other day, where I had a lump in my throat from before I even went on stage. You know when you get that lump and it’s just gonna take one little thing to just set you off?” Afterward, Raye apologized for the “bad vibes” in a group chat with her band, who reassured her that being open about her emotions is a good thing. “Some days we’re smiling and some days it’s hard,” she says. “And that day I wanted the ground to swallow me and I wanted to run off the stage, you know? But I told the crowd, ‘I’m having a hard day.’ And I did my best.”
Raye also protects her mental space by limiting her social media time. She doesn’t know the password to her Instagram account, for example. Instead, she approaches her team when she wants to log in for a short amount of time. “Them things can have me scrolling for hours, and then I'll start deep diving and looking at stuff I don't need to be looking at, so it's just better for my head and my heart,” she says.
—Art Direction and Set Art by Jana Frost for TIME; Photography by Stefano Giuliano for TIMEEven as she welcomes these new opportunities, music will always take top billing. But a third album will have to wait. “I’m falling in love first!” she quips, before we part ways.
Art Direction and Set Art by Jana Frost for TIME; Photography by Stefano Giuliano for TIME; Hair by Alex Price at Eighteen Management; Makeup by Olly Fisk at Stella Creative Artists; Nails by Angel at A-Frame Agency; Styling by Eniola Dare; Cover: Harris Reed corset and skirt, Audemars Piguet watch; Ladder look: Schiaparelli dress, Audemars Piguet watch; Instrument look: Alexander McQueen dress, Sonia Petroff earrings, Audemars Piguet watch; Boat look: Dreaming Eli dress, The Hirst Collection earrings, Audemars Piguet watch.
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