It’s been a while since South London singer Raye was a supporting act for another artist.
asserted
Raye → support → artist
And honestly, she admits, the experience has been humbling at times.
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experience → admit → 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.
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old → rack → 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.
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that → open → her
“I think people know ‘Where Is My Husband!’” she tells me on a Zoom call from New Orleans, the 12th stop on her leg of the tour.
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she → think → tour
The hit single has surpassed a billion streams on Spotify since its release a year ago, and she recently performed it at the 2026 MTV VMAs.
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she → surpass → VMAs
But that recognition only goes so far when the audience has come to see someone else.
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audience → go → someone
“It’s that taste of humility, where you’re like, ‘Right, this person is just staring at me like they are bored out of their mind,’” she says.
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she → ’ → mind
“But it encourages something within you that’s like, ‘I need to put on a good show for this person!’
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I → encourage → person
It’s quite funny, but also healthy.”
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It → ’ → ?
Her determination was forged during years of early-career setbacks that tested her confidence.
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that → forge → confidence
Raye, born Rachel Agatha Keen, was a teenager when she signed a four-album record deal with Polydor in 2014.
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she → bear → 2014
She spent the next seven years struggling to release her debut through a label she says stifled her creativity and voice.
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she → spend → creativity
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.
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she → write → spotlight
She reached a breaking point in 2021, making a public plea on social media: “I’ve done everything they asked me, I switched genres, I worked 7 days a week, ask anyone in the music game, they know.
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they → reach → game
I’m done being a polite pop star.
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I → do → ?
I want to make my album now, please that is all I want.”
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I → want → album
At the time, a Polydor spokesperson said the label was "saddened" by Raye’s posts and had contacted her management team “to discuss and offer [its] full support.”
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label → say → support
Soon after, Raye was released from her contract and began a new era as an independent artist, co-managed by her parents, Sarah and Paul Keen.
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Raye → release → parents
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.
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pain → reflect → her
“The catalyst came when I just had no fear of the worst case scenario anymore,” she says.
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she → come → scenario
“Genuinely, I had zero expectations.
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I → have → expectations
She channeled the trauma of those difficult years into her 2023 debut album, My 21st Century Blues, which has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify.
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which → channel → Spotify
The album’s breakout single, “Escapism,” a raw depiction of a young woman lost in a cycle of avoidance and addiction, went viral on TikTok, fueled by fans’ sped-up versions of the track.
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single → lose → track
Raye embraced the trend, releasing a sped-up rendition of her own.
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Raye → embrace → own
The original reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts nearly three months after its release.
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original → reach → release
A record-breaking six wins at the 2024 Brit Awards, followed by three Grammy nominations later that year, was a sign of her growing global appeal.
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wins → break → appeal
The record offered an unflinching look at her struggles with substance abuse and heartache.
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record → offer → abuse
In one track, "Ice Cream Man," she details the sexual assault she experienced as a young woman in the music industry.
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she → detail → industry
The song resonated with audiences worldwide and won the Harry Belafonte Best Song For Social Change Award at this year’s Grammys.
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song → resonate → Grammys
“A lot of my first album was very cathartic,” she says.
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she → say → album
“We touched on some heavy stuff.
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We → touch → stuff
We were able to create a space of emotion and reckoning.”
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We → create → emotion
If Raye’s first album documented her unraveling, her sophomore record, This Music May Contain Hope, captures her piecing herself back together.
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her → document → herself
The album, which has been shortlisted for a Mercury Prize, covers a whole spectrum of emotion, with hope at its center.
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which → shortlist → center
Songs titled “I Will Overcome” and “Happier Times Ahead” are infused with powerful affirmations, the kind one might repeat in the mirror before they face the day: “Happier times are coming, alright?/
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times → title → day
The sun exists behind the clouds/ It's right there, just hold onto happier times, alright, darling.”
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It → exist → times
That determination and resilience runs through the 17-track record.
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determination → run → record
“In the wild and difficult times the world is in right now, I just wanted to make something that had hope laced in it,” she says.
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she → want → it
“I knew I needed some, and I knew from playing so many shows that the audiences needed some, too.”
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audiences → know → some
…and 64 more, not listed.
The Aporia
