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Ray BLK Releases New Single “Games” Featuring Giggs on Island Records/Universal Music 

Ray BLK Releases New Single “Games” Featuring Giggs on Island Records/Universal Music 

Watch “Games” directed by Nathan James Tettey via NYLON HERE

“Ray BLK is just a ball of raw talent and emotion” Clash

“The debut studio album from Ray BLK should already be on your list of things to look forward to” Complex 

“NO ONE is doing it like Ray BLK and that's facts" Buzzfeed

 

Today, Ray BLK, one of the realest, most challenging and important voices in music, drops her brand new single “Games,” featuring hip hop legend Giggs, through Island Records/Universal Music. The hard-hitting track and video, directed by Nathan James Tettey (Stormy, Burna Boy, Dave, Headie One and Fredo), is the next single from Ray’s forthcoming debut album which will be released in the summer. The essence of the title, “games” are played during four parties spanning four different eras; the 80’s, 90s, 00s up to the present and looks at the age-old issue of complicated relationships and the games men and women play. Speaking about the video concept, Ray says “Nathan and I wanted to highlight that as we transcend through time, the essence of relationships still stay the same, whilst also creating a nostalgic and stylistic music video.

In October, Ray released “Lovesick.” The first single off her new album, “Lovesick” is an anthem for newly anointed savages who have decided to no longer settle. “It really is just about reclaiming your power in a relationship where the person has made you feel like you need them and has made you feel not good enough,” Ray explains. 

Sonically and thematically, Ray’s new music is both a throwback to the rawness of her “Durt” days as well as a sleeker, slicker sound that ushers in what she refers to as her “gangster era.” “I'm really owning myself, where I'm from, what I feel and I'm just not giving a shit,” she says. In this album, Ray is embracing the realness we have become accustomed to; an elegant voice layered over a grittiness that thoroughly sets her apart from her peers.  

Ray has spent lockdown writing and recording her long-awaited debut album which promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the year, reminding everyone what a truly special and unique artist Ray is. She also wrote and performed “Warriors,” the lead track from the hugely acclaimed BAFTA-nominated hit film “ROCKS.”

Ray also hosted a 12-week run of the Apple Agenda Show with Mabel, Mahalia, Ghetts and many more. As well as this, she fronted a special Black History Blackout Radio show for Apple music which showcased her passion and knowledge about black women in music including interviews with legends Ms Dynamite and Estelle

Following her highly acclaimed Oxford University and TED talks, Ray was also invited by Cambridge University to discuss what Black History Month means to her and share her experience as a black woman in the entertainment industry with the Cambridge Union.

 

ABOUT RAY BLK

Known for her no-holds barred lyrics and straight talking, whether it’s on or off the mic, Ray BLK (real name Rita Ekwere) is going to speak her mind. “I always have to get everything off my chest,” says singer-songwriter. “As an artist and somebody who's been blessed with a platform, I feel like it is part of my responsibility.”

Born in Nigeria and raised in Catford, UK, Ray BLK’s music is heavily influenced by her upbringing. “I grew up with Grime music and clash culture in the playground,” she says. “As much as I don't make Grime music, I like hard hitting beats that you can sing over.” Aside from the apt characterisation of her hometown on songs like the 2016 breakout hit “My Hood” featuring Stormzy, South London has shaped her sound, which sees her marrying the candour and lyricism of a rapper with honeyed R&B vocals. 

Her musical journey began at the tender age of 8, scrawling lyrics in school notebooks. Even then her work was standout, catching the eye of a teacher who placed her on a music program for gifted and talented pupils. By 13, she was crafting her first body of work with school friend and future record producer and songwriter MNEK, forming the group New Found Content. It was during this time she would hone the introspective and sociopolitical writing she is so well known for. It took several years and a English Literature degree at university for her to release a mixtape of ripped beats entitled ‘Havisham,’ a hip-hop, R&B, and neo-soul hybrid inspired by the jilted Charles Dickens character. It was then she adopted her stage name, taking “Ray” from her surname and “BLK,” an acronym of her three most important values: Building, Living, Knowing. 

2016 saw the release of ‘Durt,’ Ray’s critically acclaimed first EP which featured collaborations with Stormzy, Wretch 32 and SG Lewis and won Ray a legion of new, non-local fans. Ray was also announced as the winner of the prestigious BBC Sound of Poll for 2017, becoming the first, and indeed only, unsigned artist to do so. She also received a best newcomer nomination at the 2016 MOBO Awards. In January 2018 she signed to Island Records and later released her eight-track project Empress, with a strong female empowerment message in the title track, “Got My Own" and "Girl Like Me." In the hard-hitting "Run Run," Ray references the youth violence that plagued her area, an issue she continues to be vocal on. 

Ray has also faced obstacles in the industry as a black, dark skinned woman - another topic she has frequently and openly discussed. “It's about being told no and always remembering to tell yourself yes.” 

Her discography has already seen her hailed as the queen of UK R&B, but the best is yet to come, with Ray leaning into a newfound sense of autonomy. After her BBC Sound Of 2017 win, she cites a pressure to fit into a poppier, more polished mould that she’s now free from. “I am still proud of the music I made,” she says. “But I'll be real and say it felt inauthentic to me, because it felt very polite and brushed up and I’m just ratchet!” 

Over the years, Ray has been dubbed “the Lauryn Hill of the UK” (who she cites as inspiration alongside female rappers such as Eve and Missy Elliott) but also grew up on a diet of her mum’s musical tastes: Whitney Houston, gospel music and Mary J Blige. Her writing is heavily influenced by the “realness and relatability” of Drake’s lyrics and her stateside contemporaries SZA and Summer Walker. Straddling different styles and genres effortlessly whilst borrowing from various global, generational influences, she creates something that is distinctively Ray BLK. 

 

RAY BLK ON THE WEB:

https://www.rayblkmusic.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/RayBLK_

https://www.instagram.com/rayblk/

https://www.facebook.com/RayBlkMusic/

For more information on Ray BLK, please contact Nina Lee (nlee@shorefire.com) and Auden Su (asu@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.