Ray BLK

Last updated

Ray BLK
Ray BLK 2 - splash! Festival 20 (2017).jpg
Background information
Birth nameRita Ekwere
Also known asRay Blizzy
Born (1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 29)
Nigeria
Origin Catford, South East London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
Years active2015–present
Labels Universal Island Records

Rita Ekwere (born 2 August 1994), [1] better known under her stage name of Ray BLK (pronounced "Ray Black"), is a British singer and songwriter who was born in Nigeria, and grew up in Catford in London. [2] She won the BBC's Sound of 2017, and was the first unsigned artist to do so. [3] On 28 October 2016, she released her debut mini-album, Durt, and in January 2018 signed to the UK branch of Island Records. Her debut full-length studio album, Access Denied, was released to critical acclaim in October 2021. [4]

Contents

Background

Ray BLK, whose real name is Rita Ekwere, [5] was born in Nigeria and moved to London when she was about four. [6] She grew up in Catford. [6] At the age of 13 she formed a music group with her school friend MNEK called "New Found Content". [6] She studied for a degree in English literature at Brunel University, and her dissertation was on post-colonial Nigerian literature, focusing on the novels of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Adichie. [6] She worked in an advertising agency to sustain her music career in its early days. [5]

Her stage surname BLK stands for Building Living Knowing, which she describes as her three main values. [7]

Career

Ray released her first recordings while studying for her English degree. [5] Her debut EP Havisham was released in 2015. [6] Inspired by Miss Havisham's story in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations , it told the tale of a girl who turns against men after having her heartbroken. [6] According to Ray "I felt like Miss Havisham was like a lot of women around me, who got their heartbroken and turned cold and began to hate men." [6] Ray releases music on her own label and has avoided signing a record deal to retain the rights to her music. [6] In 2016 she self-released her debut mini-album Durt, featuring collaborations with Stormzy, Wretch 32 and SG Lewis. [7] Her single "My Hood" is a song about her home town of Catford. She wrote it at a time when she had just been robbed, and she felt like she just wanted to leave. [6]

She was nominated for best newcomer at the 2016 MOBO Awards. [8] On 6 January 2017, Ray was announced as the winner of the BBC's Sound of 2017. [5]

In 2019, Ray BLK was the opening act for the UK leg of The Nicki Wrld Tour, the headlining tour by American rapper Nicki Minaj. [9]

In November 2019, she released a song called "Action" with rapper Chip, then went on to teasing more music with 3 snippets on Instagram from her upcoming debut album which will be released in 2021. [10]

In July 2021, she released a single "MIA" featuring American singer Kaash Paige and announced that her debut album Access Denied would be released on 17 September 2021 through Island Records, later delayed to 1 October. Upon release the album attracted critical acclaim and was listed as one of the best albums of 2021 by NME . [11]

In 2023, she made her acting debut as Honey on the BBC One musical drama series Champion . She also served as music executive on the soundtrack alongside Ghetts and the show's creator and writer Candice Carty-Williams.

Discography

Studio albums

TitleDetails
Access Denied

EPs

TitleDetails
Durt
  • Released: 28 October 2016 [13]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download
Empress

Mixtapes

TitleDetails
Havisham
  • Released: 15 March 2015[ citation needed ]
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download

Singles

As a lead artist

TitleYearAlbum
"5050" [15] 2015Durt
"My Hood" [16]
(featuring Stormzy)		2016
"Chill Out" [17]
(featuring SG Lewis)
"Patience (Freestyle)" [18] 2017Non-album singles
"Doing Me" [19]
"All Or Nothing" [20]
(with Naughty Boy & Wyclef Jean)		2018Bungee Jumping
"Baby" [21]
(with Yogi & Maleek Berry featuring Kid Ink)		Non-album single
"Run Run" [22] Empress
"Empress" [23]
"In My Bed" [24] 2019Non-album singles
"Action" [25]
(featuring Chip)
"Lovesick" [26] 2020Access Denied
"Games" [27]
(featuring Giggs)		2021
"Dark Skinned" [28]
"MIA" [29]
(featuring Kaash Paige)
"Mine"
"Over You" [30]
(featuring Stefflon Don)
TitleYearAlbum
"The Apprentice" [31]
(Gorillaz featuring Rag'n'Bone Man, Zebra Katz & Ray BLK)		2017 Humanz
"Flat Champagne" [32]
(Dan Caplen featuring Ray BLK)		Flat Champagne – EP
"Scared of Love" [33]
(Rudimental featuring Ray BLK & Stefflon Don)		2019 Toast to Our Differences
"Daily Duppy (Relate)"
(Big Tobz featuring Ray BLK)		2020Issa Vibe
"Need You Tonight"
(JP Cooper featuring Ray BLK) [34] 		2022She

Promotional singles

TitleYearAlbum
"Mama" [35] 2018Empress
"LOVE." [36] Non-album single
"Paradise" [37] 2019Empress

Other charted songs

TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
[38]
"Rubber Bands"
(with Nines & Skrapz)		201861 Crop Circle

Guest appearances

TitleYearArtist(s)AlbumCredits
"Beautiful Day to Die" [39] 2015TE dnessApril Showers 2Featured artist
"Love's Intervention" [40] 2016 Kojey Radical 23Winters
"2Am" [41] CourageGet Some Courage, Vol. 1
"Busy" [42] 2017NEW GENNew Gen
"Not for The Radio"[ citation needed ] Tinie Tempah, MNEK Youth Background vocalist
"Rubber Bands" [43] 2018Nines, Scrapz Crop Circle Featured artist
"Crew" [44] Raye, Kojo Funds Side Tape
"Skr on Em"2020 Dutchavelli Dutch from the 5th

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References

  1. ↑ "Rita Ekwere". Companies House. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Bassett, Jordan (2 November 2018). "The Big Read - Ray BLK: "There is no better revenge than success"". NME. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Ray BLK named winner of BBC Music Sound of 2017 | Rap | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Ray BLK: 'Same artist, different person'". BBC News. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Mark Savage (6 January 2016). "Sound of 2017: Unsigned soul singer Ray BLK wins". BBC News.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Mark Savage (6 January 2016). "BBC Sound of 2017: Ray BLK interview". BBC News.
  7. 1 2 "BBC Music Sound of, 2017 – 1st Ray BLK". BBC Music.
  8. ↑ "Ray Blk bags a ticket to stardom with BBC Sound of 2017 award". London News Online. 6 January 2017. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Flash, Oprah (15 March 2019). "Nicki Minaj reviewed in Birmingham - technical issues and empty seats". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  10. ↑ "Ray BLK & Chip Team Up For "Action" Packed Visuals". www.newwavemagazine.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "On The Cover - The 50 best albums of 2021". NME. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ↑ "Access Denied by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 17 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Durt by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 28 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "Empress by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  15. ↑ "5050 - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 17 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "My Hood (feat. Stormzy) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 5 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "Chill Out (feat. SG Lewis) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 29 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "Patience (Freestyle) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 6 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Doing Me - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 8 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "All Or Nothing - Single by Naughty Boy, RAY BLK & Wyclef Jean". iTunes (UK). 18 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "Baby (feat. Kid Ink) - Single by Yogi, Maleek Berry & Ray Blk". iTunes (UK). 2 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Run Run - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 8 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Empress - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 13 September 2018.
  24. ↑ "In My Bed - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Apple Music. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  25. ↑ "Ray BLK links with Chip on new single "Action"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  26. ↑ "Lovesick - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  27. ↑ "Games (feat. Giggs) - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  28. ↑ "Dark Skinned - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  29. ↑ "MIA (Acoustic) - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  30. ↑ "Over You (Beenie Man Remix) - Single by RAY BLK". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "Gorillaz Release New Song 'The Apprentice,' Featuring Zebra Katz, RAY BLK & Rag'n'Bone Man". Billboard. 24 April 2017.
  32. ↑ "Flat Champagne EP by Dan Caplen". iTunes (UK). 30 June 2017.
  33. ↑ "Scared of Love (feat. RAY BLK & Stefflon Don) [Preditah Remix] - Single by Rudimental". iTunes. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  34. ↑ @JPCooperMusic (10 January 2022). "I'm very excited to announce that my final single from SHE, "Need You Tonight" features the incredible @RayBLK_. This is one of my favourite moments on the record.. first release of 2022.. let's gooooo! 😁 Out Friday, presave here" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2022– via Twitter.
  35. ↑ "Mama (Acoustic Room Session) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 28 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  36. ↑ "LOVE. (Acoustic Room Session) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). 28 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  37. ↑ "Paradise (Acoustic) - Single by RAY BLK". iTunes (UK). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  38. ↑ "RAY BLK - full Official Charts History". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  39. ↑ "April Showers 2 by TE dness". iTunes (UK). 19 April 2015.
  40. ↑ "23Winters by Kojey Radical". iTunes (UK). 1 March 2016.
  41. ↑ "Get Some Courage, Vol. 1 by Courage". iTunes (UK). 12 August 2016.
  42. ↑ "New Gen by NEW GEN". iTunes (UK). 27 January 2017.
  43. ↑ "Crop Circle by Nines". iTunes (UK). 20 April 2018.
  44. ↑ "Side Tape - EP by RAYE". iTunes (UK). 4 May 2018.
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