Hard Out Here (Raye song)

Last updated

"Hard Out Here"
Hard Out Here - Raye.png
Single by Raye
from the album My 21st Century Blues
Released30 June 2022 (2022-06-30)
Genre
Length3:11
Label Human Re Sources
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Mike Sabath
Raye singles chronology
"Waterfall"
(2022)		"Hard Out Here"
(2022)		"Black Mascara"
(2022)
Music video
"Hard Out Here" on YouTube

"Hard Out Here" is a song by the British singer-songwriter Raye from her debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues (2023). Human Re Sources independently released the song on 30 June 2022 as the album's lead single. Raye wrote it with Justin Tranter, Brandon Colbein, and its producer Mike Sabath. Musically, "Hard Out Here" is an R&B, pop, and dark pop track with elements of hip-hop. Written in parallel to Raye's departure from Polydor Records, the label she was signed to until 2021, the song sees her confronting misogyny and patriarchy in the music industry.

Contents

An accompanying music video for "Hard Out Here" premiered on the same date as the single's release. It depicts the things Raye was allegedly pressured to do by Polydor. Commercially, the song appeared on the UK Independent Singles Chart. Raye included it in the regular set list of the My 21st Century Blues Tour (2023–2024).

Development and release

In 2021, Raye started writing "Hard Out Here" after declaring that Polydor Records, the label she was signed to at the time, prevented her from release her debut studio album for seven years. [1] She later agreed to depart the label, and continued working on the song. [2] Raye said that "it was an old track that [she] took the beat from and wrote a completely new song over". [2]

The distribution company Human Re Sources released "Hard Out Here" on 30 June 2022 as Raye's first solo independent single after her departure from Polydor, [1] [3] [2] and served as the lead single from her then-upcoming debut album. [4] It was included as the third track on My 21st Century Blues (2023). [5] Commercially, it reached number 32 on the UK Independent Singles Chart issued for 14 July 2022. [6] Raye included it in the regular set list to the My 21st Century Blues Tour in 2023 and 2024. [7] [8] In March 2024, she performed it in a one-off concert at The O2 Arena in London. [9]

Composition

Raye, Justin Tranter, Brandon Colbein, and Mike Sabath wrote "Hard Out Here", while the latter was in charge of its production. Sabath additionally was the engineer and string arranger, and played drums and synthesizers. Chad Gordon also engineered the track and played strings. The other musicians that played instruments are Jacob Braun (cello), Charlie Bisharat, and Paul Cartwright (violin). Franky Fox, Jonathan Castelli, and Josh Deguzman were the mixing engineers. Dale Becker served as the mastering engineer, while Jenna Felsenthal served as the vocal engineer. The assistant engineers include Nick Noneman, Katie Harvey, Noah McCorkle, and Michael Harris. [10]

"Hard Out Here" is an R&B, [11] pop, [2] [12] and dark pop [13] track with a length of 3 minutes and 11 seconds. [10] It also contains elements of hip-hop, [14] and interpolates the 1991 song "Give It Away" by the band Red Hot Chili Peppers. [15] The lyrical content of the song is a criticism to misogyny and patriarchy in the music industry. [16] [17] [18] Raye confronts male executives and "white men CEOs", implying that she has been silenced by them. [15] [19] She mentions struggles with drug addiction and suicidal thoughts. [4] [2] In an interview with Consequence , the singer stated that "Hard Out Here" represents her fight to have her own voice and decisions, without the permission of the "men in charge". [1] According to The New York Times ' Jon Pareles, Raye "switches between hard-nosed rapping and gospel-charged singing". [20] Cat Woods for The Telegraph compared it to FKA Twigs' "empowered sexiness". [11]

Critical reception

Critics praised Raye's performance as powerful; Alex Rigotti of Clash compared it to a "fresh war veteran". [21] [22] Alex Gonzalez of Uproxx believed that Raye "proved her a promising act" with the track, [18] while Dork 's Abigail Firth wrote that it is "an immediate indication of what she's capable of". [13] When adding it to a list of the best pop songs of its release week, Billboard 's Lyndsey Havens said that "each lyric is more eviscerating and empowered than the last". [12]

Music video

The accompanying music video of "Hard Out Here" was filmed in one of Henry VIII's hunting lodges; Raye said that he was "renowned for his disrespect and disregard of women in history". [1] The video depicts the early stages of a rising artist. [23] According to Raye, it felt like her "done being a nice polite pop star". [24] She represented all the things she was forced to do allegedly by Polydor, such as different outfits and musical identities. [24] At the end of the video, she takes off her wig, which Rolling Stone 's Tomás Mier considered an act of liberation. [24] Mary Siroky from Consequence described the video as "powerful and evocative". [1]

Personnel

The credits shown below are adapted from Apple Music. [10]

Charts

Chart performance for "Hard Out Here"
Chart (2022)Peak
position
UK Indie (OCC) [6] 32

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Siroky, Mary (1 July 2022). "Raye Shares Origins of New Track "Hard Out Here": Exclusive". Consequence . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Levine, Nick (5 July 2022). "RAYE: "I Became a 'Rent-a-Verse'. People Knew My Songs, but They Didn't Know Me"". NME . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Kenneally, Cerys (1 July 2022). "RAYE Returns with New Single "Hard out Here"". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 Nugent, Annabel (29 June 2022). "Raye: 'I'm a Young Woman of Colour Who Is Fed Up with Being Controlled and Manipulated'". The Independent . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Wilkes, Emma (5 January 2023). "Raye Reveals Tracklist for 'My 21st Century Blues'". NME . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  7. ↑ Kaplan, Rachel (5 October 2023). "Raye Brings '21st Century Blues' To NYC With Sold Out Show". iHeart . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  8. ↑ Empire, Kitty (24 February 2024). "Raye Review – the Sweet Sound of Revenge". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  9. ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (18 March 2024). "Raye Live in London: A Simply Sensational, Career-Defining Performance". NME . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 "Hard Out Here. — Single — Album by Raye". Apple Music (US). Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  11. 1 2 Woods, Cat (3 February 2023). "Best Albums of the Week". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  12. 1 2 Havens, Lyndsey (5 July 2022). "10 Cool New Pop Songs to Get You Through the Week: Jxdn, Raye, Rina Sawayama & More". Billboard . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  13. 1 2 Firth, Abigail (2 February 2023). "Raye: 21st Century Blues". Dork . Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  14. ↑ Reece, Adrianne (26 January 2023). ""Escapism" Is Just a Taste of What Raye Has up Her Sleeve". Elite Daily . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  15. 1 2 Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (3 February 2023). "Five Stars for Raye's Exhilarating Debut My 21st Century Blues — Album Review" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on 5 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  16. ↑ Savage, Mark (1 February 2023). "Raye: 'My Drug Use Got Pretty Deep and Really Dangerous'". BBC News . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  17. ↑ Mylrea, Hannah (2 February 2023). "RAYE – 'My 21st Century Blues' Review: A Triumphant, Hard-Fought Debut". NME . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  18. 1 2 Gonzalez, Alex (9 February 2023). "With 'My 21st Century Blues,' RAYE Is Finally in Control of Her Own Narrative". Uproxx . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  19. ↑ Bell, Crystal (9 February 2023). "Raye's Perfect Blues". Paper . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  20. ↑ Pareles, Jon (1 July 2022). "Cardi B's All-Star Team-Up, and 9 More New Songs". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  21. ↑ Rigotti, Alex (20 January 2023). "Raye – My 21st Century Blues". Clash . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  22. ↑ Milross, Hayley (31 January 2023). "Raye Opens Her Heart on Her Long-Awaited Debut My 21st Century Blues". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  23. ↑ Richards, Bailey (1 July 2022). "Raye Shares Exclusive BTS Look at 'Hard Out Here'". Paper . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 Mier, Tomás (1 July 2022). "Raye Is 'Done Being a Nice Polite Pop Star' As She Debuts Unapologetic Comeback". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
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