Ray BLK

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Ray BLK
File:Ray BLK 2 – splash! Festival 20 (2017).jpg
Background information
Birth name Rita Ekwere
Also known as Ray Blizzy
Born (1994-08-02) 2 August 1994 (age 29)
Nigeria
Origin Catford, South London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
Years active 2015–present
Labels Universal Island Records
Associated acts

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]

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]

Music 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]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
Access Denied

Mini-albums

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

Mixtapes

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

Singles

As a lead artist

Title Year Album
"5050"[15] 2015 Durt
"My Hood"[16]
(featuring Stormzy)		 2016
"Chill Out"[17]
(featuring SG Lewis)
"Patience (Freestyle)"[18] 2017 Non-album singles
"Doing Me"[19]
"All Or Nothing"[20]
(with Naughty Boy & Wyclef Jean)		 2018 Bungee Jumping
"Baby"[21]
(with Yogi & Maleek Berry featuring Kid Ink)		 Non-album single
"Run Run"[22] Empress
"Empress"[23]
"In My Bed"[24] 2019 Non-album singles
"Action"[25]
(featuring Chip)
"Lovesick"[26] 2020 Access Denied
"Games"[27]
(featuring Giggs)		 2021
"Dark Skinned"[28]
"MIA"[29]
(featuring Kaash Paige)
"Mine"
"Over You"[30]
(featuring Stefflon Don)

As a featured artist

Title Year Album
"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)		 2020 Issa Vibe
"Need You Tonight"
(JP Cooper featuring Ray BLK)[34]		 2022 She

Promotional singles

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

Other charted songs

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
[38]
"Rubber Bands"
(with Nines & Skrapz)		 2018 61 Crop Circle

Guest appearances

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

References

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External links

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