Raye on the fight to release debut album My 21st Century Blues: ‘It’s been a real wild journey’
Raye is gaining her power back. Not just from the industry that made her feel “mediocre” for so many years, but over past traumas she kept bottled up for a long time.
“Some of my closest friends didn’t even know some of the stuff I’m discussing on my album,” she tells Sky News. “It’s probably the most honest I’ve been. It’s deep and it’s real.”
Raye, real name Rachel Keen, is only 25 but already a music industry veteran; a platinum-selling performer and a songwriter with credits for everyone from Charli XCX and Little Mix to John Legend and Beyonce.
She was just 15 when she released her first song and 17 when all her dreams came true, in the form of a four-album contract with record label Polydor. But after years of what seemed to be a successful career as a vocalist collaborating mainly on other artists’ dance hits, in 2021 she posted a string of tweets claiming the label was holding her back from releasing her own album.
“I’m done being a polite pop star,” she wrote, her frustration and anger palpable. The singer says after years of “trying to make it work”, she had reached the point where she had nothing to lose. “You get to that breaking point, really.”
Shortly after her tweets, it was announced she and Polydor were parting ways, with the label saying the decision had been “amicable and mutual” and wishing her “all the very best for the future”.
Raye claimed her first number one with Escapism at the beginning of 2023. Pic: Official Charts
Fast-forward 18 months or so and Raye is in a very different place; now an independent artist, earlier in January she topped the UK charts for the first time with viral hit Escapism. In February, the debut album she fought so hard to make, My 21st Century Blues, will finally be released. No longer pigeonholed or stifled, this is the real Raye, she says, and it’s been a long time coming.
“The album is discussing a lot of different topics… the deepest depths of really ugly stories about assaults and body dysmorphia and environmental anxiety. I think there’s no limit on what I’ve really spoken on in terms of my perspective on my blues as a woman in the 21st Century.”
‘It’s things I’ve been silent about for so long’
Always outspoken, Raye is not an artist who sticks to trotting out lines of approved PR-speak when she’s being interviewed, and this candidness is evident throughout her music. “Being real and transparent is really important to me, to skip out metaphors and similes and cut straight to the point of what I’m talking about,” she says. “Some of these things I haven’t also entirely healed from.
“It’s definitely going to be a rollercoaster for sure, but one that I’m making the decision to go on. That’s kind of the artist I like to be, transparent, honest. I think that’s what I’m like in real life.”
One song, Ice Cream Man, deals with sexual assault. “It’s things I’ve been silent about for so long and swallowed for so long and self-managed for so long in non-constructive ways,” she says.
“I’ve written pretty transparently about sexual violence… multiple things that occur in a life that you just bury, bury down, hide in a box, don’t tell anyone. And it just festers and manipulates itself into something quite ugly.”
As with Escapism, a dark electro banger about using alcohol, drugs and casual sex as coping mechanisms for dealing with emotional pain, the album is a contrast of often melancholy or dark lyrics, with beats that will fill a dance floor, as well as a range of genres.
“You’ve got songs with a contrasting sonic landscape,” she says. “I find it really exciting to tell a story and then the music feel the opposite so I think there’s a lot of juxtaposition there.”
Irony in its ‘most hilarious and ridiculous form’
Escapism’s success feels ironic to Raye. “With the previous music, not in a bad way, but it was more about the song than about the artist. The big dance songs or whatever, they don’t necessarily say anything about me as a person. I never necessarily wanted to be someone who did huge, huge hits, but without depth and substance or discussing things I’m passionate about, or breaking a couple of rules.
“Escapism is such a personal story. It’s kind of dark. It’s extremely explicit and honest and raw… I really told myself on the beginning of this next chapter, I’m not creating music with the intent or purpose to sell loads of copies, it’s about integrity and telling these uncomfortable stories that I think are really important.
“I had all the preparation in the world for building a small, steady fanbase bit by bit, and to not expect anything in terms of mainstream reflection. So this is like irony in its most hilarious and ridiculous form, that this is the biggest song of my entire career.”
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Despite it not necessarily being the plan, she admits topping the charts does feel like vindication.
“[I feel] like anything is possible and I was right to back myself,” she says. “Never give up on your dreams. For someone who [felt] so, like, mediocre and… such a disappointment, actually, for so long, to just receive all the affirmation in the world that I was right to back my music is just…”
She doesn’t need to finish the sentence. “For someone who puts words together for a living, I don’t necessarily really have the best words to describe how crazy this is.”
‘Fear is the driving factor of secrets’
Emboldened, Raye says artists need to speak out more about the inner workings of the industry. And despite moves to improve diversity and equality making headlines in recent years, she says misogyny is still rife.
“We do need to be telling these stories more,” she says. “I think things that happen in the darkness have so much more power than they do when they’re brought out to the light, you know? Fear is the driving factor of secrets, and truths and stories being withheld. But there is still that very sad view that women need to be guided and controlled and taught and given instructions to follow and meet these requirements.”
She sighs. “I don’t know… I think it’s probably the same for all artists but especially for women, especially for everything I’ve witnessed in 10 years in the industry. I think a lot needs to change, but I don’t think anything will truly be equal and fair until we’ve got the same amount of female CEOs as we do male CEOs, we’ve got the same amount of female staff working a video shoot as male staff, the same amount of female A&Rs, and the same amount of, you know, different ethnicities in these same roles.
“Balance overall is so important, and until we have that, there’s always going to be issues and problems when you have men deciding what they think is best for women.”
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‘Seven years old, wide-eyed with a dream’: The album cover for My 21st Century Blues
Raye is looking to the future. She says she has had little communication with her former label bosses since she left, but wants to make it clear it wasn’t all bad. There were “some great people there who really believed in me… but obviously it came down to the big people making big decisions”, she says.
I ask her about the artwork for My 21st Century Blues; it features a little girl, dressed for the workplace but teetering in red stilettos hanging off her heels, standing atop a pile of instruments and recording equipment bearing the names of her songs, grabbing hands reaching out from inside. It feels poignant.
“That’s actually my baby sister on top of that big structure we built,” says Raye. “But that little girl up there is me, you know, seven years old, wide-eyed with a dream, not realising what the next 10 or 15 years of my life would be like.
“All the different life – in the industry and out of the industry – that I’ve had to navigate, process, understand, learn in my transition to being a woman, to being an artist, to being an independent artist. It’s been a real wild journey.”
Raye’s debut album, My 21st Century Blues, is out from 3 February
Entertainment
Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez jailed over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set
The weapons supervisor for the film Rust has been jailed for 18 months following the fatal shooting of the film’s cinematographer on set.
Hannah Gutierrez, 26, was sentenced today after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, following a trial.
She was in charge of weapons during the production of the western film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died following the incident, while director Joel Souza was injured.
Hannah Gutierrez during her sentencing hearing. Pic: Eddie Moore/Reuters
Jurors sitting on Gutierrez’s trial reached their verdict after a two-week trial during which they heard evidence from dozens of witnesses, including eyewitnesses, FBI evidence analysts and an ammunition supplier to Rust, as well as Mr Souza, during a 10-day trial.
A statement from Ms Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, was read aloud to the court during Gutierrez’s sentencing.
In it, she said her life had been split in two and that time didn’t heal, rather it only prolonged her pain and suffering.
“It’s the hardest thing to lose a child. There are no words to describe,” Ms Solovey, who is from Ukraine, said.
Halyna Hutchins. Pic: Shutterstock
‘You turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon’
Handing Gutierrez the maximum sentence, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said a conditional discharge was not appropriate and that leaving the weapons supervisor in a detention centre would “bring you a pass you do not deserve”.
“I did not hear you take responsibility in your allocution, you said you were sorry but not you were ‘sorry for what you did’. It was your attorney that had to tell the court you were remorseful,” the judge said.
“The term remorse, a deep regret coming from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, that’s not you.”
She said Gutierrez’s actions amounted to a “serious, violent offence” that was “committed in a physically violent manner”.
“You were the armourer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” the judge added.
“If not for you, Ms Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother.”
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set where it was prohibited and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
They had urged the judge to impose an 18-month sentence and designate Gutierrez-Reed as a “serious violent offender” to limit her eligibility for a sentence reduction later.
But defence lawyers said the weapons supervisor will forever be affected negatively by intense publicity associated with her prosecution in parallel with an A-list actor, and has suffered from anxiety, fear and depression as a result.
After the verdict, her legal team had requested a new trial and asked for her to be released from prison.
What is happening with Baldwin’s case?
Alec Baldwin pictured on the set of Rust
Baldwin, 66, a producer for the film as well as its star, is also charged with involuntary manslaughter and faces a separate trial on 10 July. He has denied any wrongdoing.
His trial is being overseen by the same judge who sentenced Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting. Those charges were dropped a few months later based on evidence the hammer of the revolver might have been modified, allowing it to fire without the trigger being pulled.
The star was then charged again in January this year.
Baldwin has said he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – and the weapon fired.
His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped once again. Prosecutors responded to this last week, filing a 32-page document which claims that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.
Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.
Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’ widower an executive producer.
Entertainment
Hannah Waddingham hits back at photographer over ‘show leg’ request on Olivier Awards red carpet
Olivier Awards presenter Hannah Waddingham has made headlines for hitting back at a photographer who appears to have asked her to “show leg”.
In a video posted by a fan on X, Waddingham, 49, was heard scolding a photographer over a comment which cannot be heard but is inferred to have been a demand for her to show more skin.
“Oh my God, you’d never say that to a man, my friend,” the Ted Lasso actress said, before adding: “Don’t be a dick or I’ll move off. Don’t say, ‘show your leg’.”
Waddingham walks off before turning around and pointing her finger saying: “Have some manners”.
The incident happened as Waddingham posed on the red carpet ahead of the Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night.
According to the person recording the incident, “Hannah was being her gorgeous self” when the photographer “made some comment about her leg”.
They added: “Well, the video speaks for itself. This woman is a role model. Always, always call pricks out on their bullshit.”
‘What a queen’
Fans heaped praise on the actress, with one commenting on the video saying: “What a queen – just when I thought I couldn’t love her more!”
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One Ted Lasso fan commented on Waddingham’s rebuke of the photographer’s apparent demand saying: “This is boss.”
Another X user praised the actress for her “class” saying it “will always stand out, well done Hannah”.
Waddingham, whose own work on the West End received three Olivier award nominations, presented the prestigious theatre awards for the second year in a row.
Olivier award winners
Sunset Boulevard dominated the Olivier awards, winning seven of its 11 nominations at the star-studded ceremony on Sunday night.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Among the show’s triumphs were the best actor and best actress in a musical awards for its leading duo Tom Francis and Nicole Scherzinger, the former Pussycat Doll and Britain’s Got Talent judge.
The Best actor award went to former Sherlock and Game Of Thrones actor Mark Gatiss for his role in Jack Thorne’s The Motive And The Cue.
Succession star Sarah Snook beat fellow nominee Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker to take home the best actress award for her West End debut performance in The Picture Of Dorian Gray.
It started with a gentle “I need your participation, please”, as Blur frontman Damon Albarn sought an audience singalong during a Coachella performance.
But as the British rock band were consistently met with near-silence, an increasingly frustrated Albarn eventually remarked: “You’ll never see us again”.
The English band have released nine albums since its formation in 1988, seven of which reached No 1 in the charts, including their latest record, The Ballad of Darren, which was produced following an eight-year break.
But some of their hits did not seem to resonate with audiences at the world-famous Coachella festival, held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, over the weekend.
During their Saturday slot, the group, part of a star-studded line-up, performed a host of their hits including Song 2, Beetlebum and Tender.
As the band struck up the chords to their 1994 hit Girls & Boys, lead singer Albarn, 56, tried to encourage the crowd to sing along to the chorus, saying: “I need your participation, please.”
In videos shared on social media, he can be seen attempting to engage the concert-goers a number of times, telling them “you can do it better than that”, but his efforts continued to receive a lacklustre response from the US crowd.
Damon Albarn of British band Blur performs during the Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California in 2013. Pic: Reuters
The musician appeared to get increasingly frustrated until he told the audience: “You’ll never see us again so you may as
well f****** sing it.”
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Dressed in a white suit and a black T-shirt paired with a pair of black sunglasses, Albarn led the band, which also includes guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree.
Blur have released nine albums in total, including 1994’s Parklife, 1995’s The Great Escape, 1997’s Blur, 1999’s 13, 2003’s Think Tank and 2015’s The Magic Whip – which all went to number one in the charts.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The group helped pioneer the Britpop genre, fiercely competing with rival band Oasis in the charts over the years.
They went on hiatus after their 2015 Magic Whip tour, but came back last year with their first record for eight years, titled The Ballad Of Darren, which soared to number one.
Singer-songwriter Raye and dance outfit Jungle were also among the British acts who took to the Coachella stage over the weekend.
London-born Raye teased her next music project during her set, the follow-up to her award-winning debut album My 21st Century Blues.
Last month, she overtook Blur, Harry Styles and Adele by picking up the most Brit awards in one year during the 2024 ceremony.
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