RAYE TO GO, GIRL
Inside Raye’s incredible rise from shock label row to Brit Awards record breaker
Seven Brit nominations... not bad for a singer who was told her tracks were not cutting the mustard
IN one of the biggest career U-turns in music history, singer Raye is celebrating a record seven Brit Awards nominations in a single year – three years after being told she wasn’t good enough to release an album.
Her huge haul, which beats the previous record of six held by Robbie Williams, Craig David and Gorillaz, comes since she parted from her record label after publicly shaming them.
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In the summer of 2021, Raye had reached breaking point with Polydor Records, who she signed with at 17.
She took to social media to write: “I have been signed to a major label since 2014 and I have had albums on albums of music sat in folders collecting dust, songs I am now giving away to A-list artists because I am still awaiting confirmation that I am good enough to release an album.”
Back then, the South London-born singer, now 26, was told by Polydor that the songs she had painstakingly created just were not good enough.
At that point she had already scored nine Top 40 successes with a series of dance collaborations.
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She wrote at the time: “I have been on a FOUR ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014! And haven’t been allowed to put out one album. ALL I CARE ABOUT is the music.
‘It was killing me’
“I’m sick of being slept on and I’m sick of being in pain about it. This is not business to me, this is so personal.”
Three weeks later she revealed she had split with Polydor. In a statement, the label said that their decision to “part ways” had been “amicable and mutual”.
Her release from the shackles of her lengthy contract proved to be a phenomenal turning point and she has since transformed into one of the nation’s most in-demand stars.
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She gave a triumphant performance on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in June last year, which aired on the BBC and was also included in Louis Theroux’s acclaimed documentary about her.
That followed her first No1 single with the dark and edgy Escapism in January 2023.
And in February that year, she received critical acclaim for her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, released on an independent label.
The record saw her turn her back on the mainstream dance pop she was known for, which, she says, her old record label pushed her into.
The change in direction has seen her speeding towards super-stardom, marked by her domination of the Brits nominations announced on Wednesday.
As well as being in the running for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Pop Act, R&B Act and Best New Artist at the ceremony at London’s O2 Arena in March, she also got two nods in the Song of the Year category.
Not bad for a singer who was told her tracks weren’t cutting the mustard.
With her soulful voice now being shown off in a completely different way, Raye is garnering comparisons to the late Amy Winehouse, who in her short life created music that has sold more than 23million records and won six Grammy awards.
Reflecting last year on her decision to speak out against her label, Raye acknowledged: “It was risky. They had my life in their contract.
“But I had spent too long hiding my feelings, turning up and doing my job. And it was killing me.”
That is no exaggeration, as her debut album lays bare.
The warts-and-all record details how bad things got for her on a personal and emotional level, with an eating disorder, spiralling drug use and a sexual assault.
She explained: “It got bad. When people are in pain they will turn to self-medicating because then you don’t have to process things real-time, in vivid HD.”
On one track, Ice Cream Man, she recalls in dark detail an assault by an unnamed producer in a music studio.
On another, Body Dysmorphia, she sings: “I’m so hungry I can’t sleep, but I know if I eat then I’ll be in the bathroom on my knees.”
She said: “The whole album is about things I’ve been keeping buried.
“It’s not necessarily considered attractive as a woman to talk about substance abuse, rape, body dysmorphia, but these uncomfortable subjects are the battles people are navigating through.”
The gritty subject matter, which has struck a chord with fans and critics alike, is something she claims she was forbidden from exploring in her mainstream record deal.
But the straw that broke the camel’s back regarding her wish to leave Polydor was the release of her No3 single Bed, with DJs David Guetta and Joel Corry, in 2021.
She explained: “Joel is a lovely guy, David is passionate about dance music, but it was a silly little pitch I made as a songwriter.
“I never wanted to put my name on it. It rejuvenated my career, and I’m thinking, ‘If people heard only this song from me, I’d be ashamed’.
“Making music that says nothing, means nothing, that’s not why I got into this.
“Music is medicine to me, but it was making me ill.”
Prior to that, Raye had written songs for a slew of stars including Beyonce, Little Mix and Ellie Goulding.
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But she was still not considered enough of a commercial prospect to release an album of her own.
It is hard to fathom how different things could have been if Amy Winehouse had been forced down a similar path of chasing streaming figures and TikTok hits.
But now Raye, who yesterday announced a one-off show at London’s O2 Arena for March in celebration of her Brits success, is inspiring a generation of artists to stick to their guns and release their music independently.
And she is also proving an inspiration for female artists, following last year’s Brit Awards controversy when the Artist of the Year category contained male acts only.
In 2021, Becky Hill, who has won Best Dance Act at the Brits for the past two years, opened up about how it took ten years before Polydor allowed her to release her debut album.
At the time of Raye’s comments, she diplomatically told one newspaper: “Polydor just wanted to make sure that she was at the peak of where she could be to release a debut album.
“(It has) done the same with me. I couldn’t have released this album any sooner because I hadn’t gotten to the point where I was getting into the Top Ten.”
And Jess Glynne, who split from Atlantic Records in 2022, has been a staunch supporter of Raye behind the scenes.
Raye is now a key part of a backlash within the industry, with artists standing up for themselves and fighting for their rights.
Taylor Swift has re-recorded her back catalogue after the masters of her music were sold against her wishes.
Several other female stars, including Zara Larsson and Rita Ora, have also bought their masters from their record labels for huge sums, determined that they should be in control of the music they have made.
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With the advent of streaming and social media, the industry has struggled to get to grips with what will sell in the modern age.
But with seven Brit nominations, a sold-out tour and a raft of die-hard fans, Raye is proving that sometimes it is not the experts who know best after all.
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