- 14 hours ago
Billboard cover star, RAYE, has a candid conversation about healing, hope and the making of her new album, ‘This Music May Contain Hope.’ She opens up about the personal struggles that shaped her journey, how faith helped pull her through some of her darkest moments, and why she believes music can be a source of real comfort and medicine. RAYE also reflects on mental health in the music industry, the pressures artists face behind the scenes, and the message of love and light at the center of her latest work. She addresses the Amy Winehouse comparisons she’s faced, talks about finding her voice through it all, and shares why creating music that helps people feel seen matters more than ever.
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00:00Same with SZA, who I actually DM'd her and was like, please, can I open for you?
00:04She was like, what?
00:05Yes, and so kind and supportive and gave me such an amazing platform.
00:10You know, and those things can make all the difference.
00:17Ray, hello.
00:18Hi, Hannah.
00:18Welcome.
00:19I was just watching your band rehearse and that it seems like a lot of moving parts.
00:24Yes.
00:24Is that kind of overwhelming, by the way?
00:26It's more just a beautiful challenge.
00:28I definitely keep my band busy.
00:30Yeah.
00:30You know, I definitely keep my MD really busy.
00:34I love it.
00:34I love that musical challenge and that pushing ourselves and exciting ourselves through our arrangements and what we share and
00:39perform.
00:40So, yeah, we work hard.
00:42Yeah.
00:43How else do you take care of yourself on the road or just in general in your life?
00:47How are you maintaining balance these days with things getting super crazy for you?
00:51There's just comes a time in your life where, like, you have to or you choose to prioritize something over
00:58another.
00:59So I think in my case, like, work has really been my life for, like, the last year, two years,
01:04three years.
01:05But I think this last year with this album and the amount of touring and just the vibe in general,
01:12I've really definitely pushed myself to, like, my limit.
01:15I've worked really, really hard and I'm really happy to, like, finally let this album go and, you know, be
01:23able to just have a little bit more balance.
01:25So I think now it can just be shows and rest time.
01:31Right.
01:32Whereas before it was shows and then studio and writing and editing and production.
01:36And so I'm excited to, like, have finally just handed this off because I think also it can allow a
01:41little more space.
01:43Right.
01:43And by the way, like, I was the one who chose to make an album like this and I was
01:47the one who had all these ambitious goals and ideas for it and things I wanted to do and achieve.
01:53And I also wanted it to all be analogue.
01:55So it meant, you know, recording days, different musicians in and out.
01:59It was a lot of heart, but also a lot of energy.
02:02Like, my goodness, I'm actually exhausted but proud at the same time.
02:05Yeah.
02:06What things do you do to just, like, keep yourself grounded and to keep myself grounded?
02:10I play my Nintendo, my Switch.
02:13I write in my book.
02:15I started a diary.
02:16I really enjoy that.
02:19I've started really enjoying walking and, like, hiking.
02:22I used to hate walking.
02:24I don't know why.
02:25Like, I still hate standing.
02:27I'd rather sit on the floor.
02:28I don't know why I'm telling you that.
02:29But I really like walking.
02:32I like long walks and I really appreciate, like, nature and just being out in nature.
02:36I think I find it really good for my head.
02:39Yeah.
02:39What do you play on Nintendo?
02:41I play, what do I play on Nintendo?
02:44Right now I'm playing Super Mario Galaxy.
02:46And I nearly completed that.
02:48And then I'll do Super Mario Galaxy 2.
02:50I just finished Donkey Kong, which was so good.
02:53My favorite Switch game of all time is Odyssey.
02:56Super Mario Odyssey.
02:57I'm, like, a huge Super Mario fan.
03:00I just love it.
03:01Your first album was grounded so much in different struggles, anxieties, things like that.
03:07And those aren't absent from this new album, but it's much more grounded in hope and the pursuit of love
03:15and light and those good things.
03:17Did you feel like it was important to follow up the first one with a message like this?
03:21I guess so.
03:23I think hope is such a, like, commonly used word, but, like, something that, like, even in my existence, in
03:33this little life of mine, I need an abundance of it.
03:38You know, I think we just do as humans.
03:40Yeah, music helps.
03:41Yeah.
03:42And I wanted to make something that for anyone who might need an album like this, that it might help.
03:47Click Clack Symphony is a masterpiece.
03:49I love that song.
03:54I was really struck by how bluntly you called out, like, the Amy Winehouse comparisons and people weaponizing those against
04:01you.
04:02Why did you feel like you needed to do that on this album?
04:05And in what ways have you noticed patterns repeating?
04:12I think I chose to say that so viscerally because it just strikes me, like, as so funny.
04:21to me, not funny, but, like, darkly funny to me, that someone can rip into me in the most evil,
04:28horrible way, defending Amy or being like, you know, you're, you're this, you know, you're this, you'll never be this.
04:39How dare you even think that you could, you just disgust me.
04:42As if you ever said that.
04:43You disgust me.
04:44La la la la la la.
04:45The irony of what you're saying to me and the way you're saying it to me is a microchasm of
04:49what, what Amy went through.
04:52Amy went through being berated and annihilated through words by the press, by the public, by everyone, like, to a
05:03level that was so disgusting that I don't know how any human would be able to make it out alive
05:08out of what, you know, Amy had to endure.
05:10You are not just billboards cover star, you're billboards indie issue cover star, I've seen you talk about struggling in
05:18your professional life at that time, struggling with your mental health, struggling with drinking and using drugs and, again, to
05:25whatever extent you're comfortable answering this question.
05:27I don't know if I've ever seen you explicitly talk about how all those things were connected. What do you
05:32remember about that time in your life? And was there like a cause and effect? Do you think of feeling
05:37overworked or underappreciated professionally and these other things that you've gone through?
05:43I think probably just an all round combination of all of it, really, you know, that whole time just wasn't
05:48great or healthy. And some of that I don't remember. And it just wasn't who I was. And I'm really
05:53grateful. I think, actually, I found faith that really,
05:58pulled me out of some of the deepest depths of someone I once was, which was, you know, it wasn't
06:05a nice time.
06:06I'm just very grateful that, you know, when I when I was realising that was really important, I needed to
06:12break some of these habits and stuff, then I realised vividly just how not great things really were. And then
06:19that's when I kind of went on Twitter and I was just like, I'll just rather be a songwriter than
06:24live this way,
06:26which was seven years of a very tumultuous and complicated relationship with life and my purpose in life and what
06:35I was creating and who I was and also the way I was working.
06:39So you would say that these things were in many ways related to each other?
06:43Yeah, of course. Yeah.
06:44What feelings come to you now looking back at that chapter of your life?
06:48A sense of pride at the person I am now, the person I am now and the person I am
06:53now that's so different. I really like who I am now. I didn't like who I was then.
06:58Also a lot of putting out a front and then behind closed doors, it being another way where it's a
07:03lot, it was like this and I feel like it's a lot more like this now.
07:06So yeah, I'm really grateful for that. I also have a great bunch of people around me. My team is
07:12very, very small, family led, and then just a bunch of girls and then poor Mikey, my dad and Mikey.
07:19Flash forward to 2025, you get nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys. Chapel Road ends up winning and
07:25she uses her speech to urge labels to take better care of their artists, specifically where healthcare and their well
07:33-being is concerned.
07:34Knowing what you went through, is that something that really resonated with you and what are your thoughts on that
07:39topic?
07:39Yeah, I think in all walks of life, mental health is an afterthought. I actually think that's one of the
07:44focuses on my album and something that's been really important to wanting to discuss also in my shows is mental
07:52health and the importance of just having a space to figure out, I don't know, I've been talking a lot
07:59with the guys, with the men in my band about this specifically.
08:02We've made a song called I Know You're Hurting and actually the song was originally inspired by kind of even
08:09trying to attempt to look through things through a male perspective.
08:11It's interesting because I'm very passionate about women and I love women and talking about, you know, the female perspective
08:19and I am very passionate also about the things that women enjoy in this weird life.
08:25I think I was really also moved about men and mental health and men and how there's a real thing
08:32of like, you know, the guys in my band, like especially in the UK, right, it's very like their self
08:37-expression is like going to the pub and like having a drink and like laughing with the lads, but you
08:42may be going through something hard or feeling a little low, but you won't say it and you won't express
08:46it.
08:46And it's this thing of, I really wanted to create music, when I say this music may contain hope, like
08:52music that can provide some sort of space for maybe those emotions to have to force them, force their way
08:59to the surface and kind of be addressed or feel seen in some sort of way.
09:03What Chappell said there was very important, very important and I think on a large scale, not just in music,
09:10but in all walks of life.
09:12Is there a world where you ever sign to a label again?
09:15I doubt it, you know, I doubt it.
09:18I'm working with a distribution company called Human Resources who are so great.
09:24I have a really small team.
09:26Like I said, it does take more work in ways.
09:29It does take more manpower.
09:30With labels, you have more manpower.
09:32You have a bigger team, you have more support, but I don't know.
09:37I just feel like times are changing.
09:39I don't know.
09:40I also think like the positive thing about a record label back in the day was, you know, there were
09:47a lot of gatekeepers in play, I think.
09:49And I think gatekeepers just hold less power now.
09:52It's just the way of the world.
09:54Thank God for artists, you know, like myself or for all artists, really.
09:59It kind of evens the playing field.
10:01It means art is fair game.
10:03You know, everything has an opportunity to find its audience.
10:08You could have a label spend a million pounds trying to break a song, but if people don't like it,
10:15people don't like it.
10:16Whereas back in the day, maybe you had leverage over, you know, you had control over things that now, you
10:23know, if people connect to a song, radio will play it, you know, whereas it used to be the other
10:28way around.
10:29Do you know what I mean?
10:29Yeah.
10:30Maybe I'll be like, there's a bag and I can negotiate a great deal.
10:34I don't know.
10:35Yeah, but probably not.
10:36Well, would you characterize it as starting over or starting new when you did leave?
10:42Okay.
10:43So when you did first, like start over, what was step one for you?
10:49Step one was to make an album.
10:53I had initially been working on an album with my previous label called Dark Dance Songs because, you know, in
11:02the UK, EDM and like dance music at the time was huge.
11:06So that's kind of the lane they wanted me to create within.
11:09So that's the kind of music I was making.
11:11Obviously, for said reasons, which I was public about the album, they said, no album.
11:16It was kind of like coming out and just being like, okay, what album do I want to make?
11:21What album would I want to make if no one was telling me what album to make?
11:26And it was kind of a mix mash of just kind of going through all the songs I'd written since
11:33I was young and whatever and songs I loved and believed in and putting them together to make a body
11:38of work.
11:39So it was just kind of that process of starting from scratch.
11:43So the music was step one.
11:45Yeah.
11:45Which makes a lot of sense.
11:46Yeah.
11:46But then what about building everything back up on a business sense?
11:52We put the album together and then we were like, okay, the next step is we need to find a
12:00partner to help us release this album.
12:03So we went round to all the record labels, anyone who would take a meeting with us.
12:08We went to everyone who would take a meeting with us.
12:10And it was so humbling because all the feedback was similar.
12:16You know, some people were like, we love Ray, but just this album, we can't support it or we need
12:21to go again or, you know, this isn't right for us.
12:24What were the reasons?
12:26Is it just because it's such an ambitious project or did they not give you?
12:30It was just not safe, maybe.
12:34I think labels are just risk averse.
12:39Is that averse, risk averse?
12:41Does that make sense?
12:41Yeah, it does.
12:42Yeah, like avoidant of risk.
12:43Like I understand it from a business perspective, you know, you spend X amount of money and want to make
12:49a profit.
12:50And I guess they were listening to the album and they were like, I don't hear how this could make
12:54us money.
12:56So half the people were like, we'd be down to sign you, but not with this album.
13:00Basically, every door closed.
13:03And it's funny, you know, I believe in God and I prayed about it.
13:06I was like, and sometimes this thing happens where like every door closes and only one door was open and
13:11it was literally like the case.
13:13Every door closed in my face.
13:15No, no, no, no.
13:16And the one person who was like, I love your album.
13:20I would love to, you know, be your distribution partner and support you was Human Resources.
13:26It was a really real time.
13:28I sat down with my dad and it was like, OK, we're going to do this the independent way.
13:32We're going to do this with our little business.
13:35Yeah.
13:36Our little family thing.
13:38We're going to give it our best shot.
13:40So it was a lot of self-funding, a lot of like, it was so funny.
13:46The Escapism music video.
13:48It was just so funny.
13:50I remember like, first of all, I don't know how many music videos we shot in my house.
13:54Like we shot so many music videos in my house.
13:57Bin bags on the windows, you know, like rent, rent lighting.
14:00Like I remember getting 070 Shake like in my living room and shooting her part.
14:06And we had this like weird circle light.
14:08And we're like, I did a free gig for one of my mates who then in exchange lent me his
14:15club
14:15that we use for the, it was a lot of like hustling, you know what I mean?
14:19Like trying to just cash favours and like, you know, proper DIY.
14:22But like, but also there was an aspect of, you know, real fun to that, real groundedness
14:31to, you know, not having a huge amount of money and a machine behind you, but, you know,
14:38making it work.
14:39And it was, it was a funny time.
14:42I just have to ask because we're both Scorpios.
14:46And I know I would be like, I told you so.
14:49Like I would feel so vindicated to have had the success that you had.
14:55Is that a feeling you share?
14:57Is that not even a place your mind goes?
14:59The result of just like that year and a half of hard work and just feeling, you know,
15:05that number one that we got in the UK for me was, I cried that whole day.
15:10I sobbed that whole day because, you know, the narrative was that I was done.
15:16The narrative was that, you know, the whole UK music industry was like raised on, no one
15:21cares, what a shame, you know.
15:23It was this whole thing that there's only so much you can protect that narrative, but
15:27obviously you're hearing it.
15:28Yeah.
15:28More than anything, it's just gratitude, you know, to just feeling like, wow, I feel so
15:35blessed that, you know, I've been able to make it work.
15:41And then as an understatement, you know, it's been like a miracle.
15:47Was there like an official like handshake of mom, dad, like you are my managers now or
15:52did it just like naturally happen?
15:54No.
15:54So a couple of years back, I was working with a manager for quite a long time who was a
16:00really lovely guy and really meant well.
16:02But I've realized we were kind of on different pages with what maybe they saw for my career.
16:08And we went through a management breakup and I remember just not knowing what to do next.
16:15I sat down with my dad and I was like, dad, can you help me out for a bit?
16:18So kind of the idea was it would be a temporary help.
16:21He'd always been like a support, big support for me, you know, and really good dad.
16:27So it was just supposed to be temporary.
16:29It was supposed to be temporary.
16:30When did that change?
16:31That changed when he just started doing such a great job.
16:37And also I loved it and I was like, oh, I need this.
16:41This is good.
16:42You realized there was an extra layer of like something that having your family involved
16:48that way?
16:48It was just so right.
16:49And I think also from going through so much as a young girl in this industry, like, you
16:55know, in terms of just being unprotected and, you know, in all walks and the personal and
17:02the mental side.
17:03And I was really quite traumatized from my childhood experience.
17:08And as soon as my dad started working with me, I just immediately felt safe and protected.
17:15And it was like the first time that I was like, OK, this is what I want and this is
17:19what
17:19I need.
17:20And over the years now, I've managed to kind of create this just bubble of safety, just
17:25feeling like really protected and like held down.
17:27To what extent did your family know about what the things that you were struggling with?
17:33They didn't.
17:34Actually, it was Ice Cream Man that I sat down with them and was like, here's a list of stuff
17:40that I've gone through and enjoyed and just not told you about.
17:44You just played them the song and then?
17:46Yeah.
17:47We just like spent a day crying.
17:50Wow.
17:51It's deep.
17:51You're going to go on tour with your sisters and your sisters are also artists and working
17:55in the industry.
17:56And I saw you say that you feel very protective of them, understandably so.
18:02Can you think of any ways so far that you've like stepped in or can you give examples of
18:08times where you acted as their protector that you wish you had?
18:12I'm such big sister energy.
18:14Do you know what I mean?
18:14I'm the oldest of four girls.
18:15I want to get involved on behalf of my sisters and just make sure that they're getting like
18:19the credits that they deserve.
18:21It really annoys me and really upsets me when I just see the way that particularly
18:27that labels don't pay for songs and that just really annoys me a lot.
18:31So they've already walked into situations where they've worked on music and then there's
18:35been a threat of them not being credited for it?
18:37Yeah.
18:37So it's deeper than credit.
18:39Like credit, yes, is important.
18:40But like if you if you do work, you should get paid for your work.
18:45It's just like simple as that.
18:46You know what I mean?
18:47Yeah.
18:48Absolutely.
18:48There's a thing where master royalty points are songwriters don't get that, but producers
18:54do.
18:55But then Abby even comes in as a producer and then wasn't getting her point.
18:58It was just the whole thing just annoyed me.
19:00Yeah.
19:01And it happened over and over again.
19:02And I was like, hold me back.
19:05It was so awesome to see you and Taylor Swift reunite at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
19:10Yes.
19:10Like a couple of days ago from when we were filming this.
19:12Yeah.
19:12You obviously opened for her and then you've opened for SZA comes to mind.
19:17Halsey comes to mind.
19:18Artists who are not necessarily independent artists, but they're very indie minded in a
19:23lot of ways and like the way they advocate for themselves and what they want out of their
19:27careers.
19:27Yeah.
19:28And also just like railing against different industry standards that don't serve artists.
19:33Yeah.
19:33Can you share any ways that they've inspired your trajectory from touring with them or even
19:38if there's like advice that they gave you?
19:40I just think it's, you know, especially when you're up and coming and you're like, it's
19:44a product of just kind of feeling inspired and being in a space where you can look at
19:48something and be like, wow, look at someone and be like, wow.
19:50And I'm just really grateful to all those girls and all the artists, I think female artists
19:54I've built relationships with in my life for just inspiring me in some way and encouraging
20:00me in some way.
20:01It gives you hope, you know, at the time like Halsey.
20:06Yeah.
20:06We had a couple of conversations and it just really inspired me and encouraged me.
20:10You know, just, I'm like, wow, she sees me and sees my art and listen to it.
20:14And like that little bit of affirmation can just go such a long way.
20:18Same with SZA, who I actually DM'd her and was like, please, can I open for you?
20:22And she was like, what?
20:23Yes.
20:24And was so kind and supportive and gave me such an amazing platform.
20:29You know, and those things can make all the difference.
20:30You know, I was able to really grow my fan base through their audiences and just that
20:37little time they took to pour into me just really affirmed me and made me feel really
20:42encouraged.
20:42So I'm really grateful to the girls.
20:45What advice would you give an aspiring artist who's trying to decide between doing it themselves
20:51as an indie artist versus signing a label deal?
20:54My genuine advice would be to build your own thing first before involving a label.
21:02Because I think it's really important for you to have leverage.
21:04You need to be able to have a product, because I'm saying product, because that's how a label
21:10is going to see it.
21:11You need to be able to have a product that allows you to leverage a deal that's fair, a
21:16deal that's correct.
21:18You know, the way it worked, at least for me, was the label got 85, I got 15%, right?
21:26So that's all your incomings.
21:28If you make £100, you're getting £15, sorry.
21:32Oh, you're getting £15, I was getting £85, sorry, math here, I'm trying to make the
21:37maths, math, flipping it.
21:39Math, math is math.
21:39Yeah.
21:40So basically, that means you have to have a monster, monster, huge song in order for you
21:47to make or see a penny.
21:49But then to make it matters worse, the way it works is everything they spend on you comes
21:55out of your 15%.
21:56So you have to recoup and pay them back everything they spent.
22:01But through your 15%, not through the 85% that they're collecting anyway, through your
22:0715%.
22:07So that's what is extremely damaging.
22:11Every makeup artist, because you're a woman, you can't just, well, some people, some girls
22:15like the makeup-less look.
22:17But for most of us, who need a flipping face, that's a makeup artist, a hairstylist, cabs
22:23for both of them, cars to the venue, you know, camera team, this, that, like a day of, you
22:30know, a music video shoot is going to put you in like deficit here.
22:34So even if you are having a huge song, which might take 10 releases, you are recouping
22:42out of 15%, which means the odds that you're ever going to see a penny outside of, from
22:48your record sales are like really low.
22:51Yeah.
22:51And that's really bad.
22:52And I think maybe also the idea of spreading awareness of what these contracts look like
22:58and should look like might even help, you know, pushing for 50-50 deals, which labels
23:03will hate that I'm saying this, but pushing for 50-50 deals, which some big, big artists
23:10are allowed that.
23:11Yeah.
23:12And some really, really big artists can negotiate whatever they want.
23:14But I think even just the idea of 50% is not...
23:20It shouldn't be radical.
23:21It shouldn't be radical.
23:22No.
23:23So that's, you know, the real thing is I'm going to tell an artist who really wants to
23:29be an artist, I'm 17 and I just want to be a singer and I don't know how to do
23:32it.
23:32I don't have any connects.
23:34Label comes along, everyone's like, lawyers are like, well, this is what contracts are.
23:38This is what it looks like.
23:39This is how it works.
23:41Okay.
23:41Sign, sign, sign.
23:42Fast forward to like, am I just going to be in debt for the rest of my life?
23:47So you would just want them to understand.
23:49First, understand that.
23:51Two, labels nowadays want to see you build your own little following, you know?
24:01That's just inevitable whether you're with a label or not, you know?
24:04And if you can't build one, then it's just, you know what I mean?
24:08Yeah.
24:09They're just going to, I don't know, put you through the ringer and there's no rules
24:13or bandwidth to when a fan base can come and how long it might take for you to do that.
24:17It does take time.
24:18Like for me, it took me flipping years.
24:20Yeah.
24:21What about someone who's in the same situation you were years ago, stuck in a contract that
24:27they don't feel happy about?
24:28What would you tell them?
24:29I don't know.
24:31I honestly don't know.
24:32Yeah.
24:33Yeah.
24:34I don't know what I would say because I was very, very, very fortunate to be able to
24:40partner ways with them because your life is held in a contract.
24:43Do you know what I mean?
24:44I don't know.
24:44Trying to have a conversation.
24:46Yeah.
24:47With your label.
24:48If it's, I'm hoping, you know, if you were to be like, I'm really unhappy.
24:55Like, please, can we, I don't know.
24:59I don't know.
24:59I wish I had an answer.
25:00Yeah.
25:00I don't.
25:01I also love about this album, how open you are about looking for love and partnership.
25:08Do you feel like you could even date right now with how busy you are?
25:12Do you know what?
25:12It's just been genuinely so many years that it feels like so alien to me, but I definitely
25:18am somebody who like, I believe in love and I love love and love is beautiful and love is
25:23great and, you know, I do it like in a satirical, jokey way.
25:27Like, whereas my husband is like, obviously serious, but it's obviously like a bit of fun
25:32as well.
25:32Do you know what I mean?
25:33I'm not out here like, where?
25:34But some days I am like, where?
25:36Do you know what I mean?
25:37I think it's just like being a single girl.
25:39Like, sometimes I'm very assured and very confident and very happy with my life, you know?
25:45And some days I'm like watching a rom-com and watch Just Go With It and I'm like, where?
25:51When is, yeah.
25:52Where?
25:52So, yeah, I think, but it's not like serious.
25:55I'm not like, yeah, crying myself to sleep every night.
25:58Just some nights.
25:59Just some nights.
25:59Yeah.
26:00Just some nights.
26:01Okay, I have two like really quick, fun questions.
26:04Okay, brilliant.
26:04The first one is, which artists are you loving right now?
26:08Which artists am I loving right now?
26:09Absolutely, and Amma.
26:11Great answer.
26:11Yeah.
26:12Where can people watch them perform?
26:14They can watch them perform.
26:15Actually, they're both opening for me.
26:17Ah, how convenient.
26:19Yeah, that's so great.
26:21I don't know why I was inspired to ask you this, but if you were going to get another tattoo
26:25today, what would it be?
26:26Oh, I already know.
26:27It's going to be a trumpet.
26:29And it'll be like here, I think.
26:32And it'll be for this music may contain hope.
26:35The violin was for my 21st century blues.
26:39I think I'm going to get a trumpet here for this music may contain hope.
26:42Yeah.
26:42Do you want to tattoo her album?
26:44Maybe, yeah.
26:45Okay.
26:45Yeah.
26:46I don't know if that was like a plan.
26:47No, I think so.
26:48Yeah.
26:48Now you say it.
26:49I think so.
26:49Yeah.
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