Ravyn Lenae shares, 'In & Out', the latest single shared from her new album, Blue Island, released earlier this month via Atlantic Records.
Executive-produced by Bird’s Eye collaborator and GRAMMY Award-winning producer Dahi, Blue Island is an immersive world shaped by poise, playfulness, and the confidence of an artist who knows this is only the beginning.
Blue Island represents a threshold that Ravyn has inhabited both mentally and physically over the past year. Following the success of her hit single ‘Love Me Not’, which reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #10 on the Billboard Global 200, #2 on the UK Singles Chart and charted in Canada, Australia, and more, the world was finally catching up.
Listen to ‘In & Out’ on F1 Tracks.
While this newfound success meant a host of new opportunities that she had always dreamed of, it also meant bouts of joy, anxiety, loneliness, and even heartbreak. Paired with ill-informed questions about her Blackness and reignited conversations about whether she belonged in certain music spaces, she looked to her musical influences such as Santigold, Janet Jackson, and Tracy Chapman, whose masterful catalogs reaffirmed to her that Black women artists can express their artistry through different genres and thrive doing so.
She uses Blue Island to explore the full scope of her identity: the quirks, flirty energy, “teenage angst” that often bleeds well into years outside its allotted window, as well as the quiet, lonely, “off-beat” moments that happen when you are in the midst of a transformation.
Sonically, the record widens Ravyn’s world. Armed with contributions from industry heavyweights like Justin Tranter (Chappell Roan, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber), Diana Gordon (Beyoncé, Mark Ronson, Lil Yachty), and Andrew Aged (Lorde, Mk.gee, Blood Orange), and a dazzling feature from friend and past collaborator Doechii on ‘Babygirl’, Ravyn expands on her classic sound while also incorporating the sounds of her listening diet, such as Blondie, The Sundays, The Cranberries, Martin Rev, and even the dramatic chorus structures and high vocal tones of Bollywood soundtracks.
Speaking on the album, she shared, “‘Blue Island’ is a point of arrival, and feeling set in my ways and in who I am, and feeling free of any of those preconceived notions about Blackness or what I had to be in the past. So I think now it’s fun to challenge the idea of what R&B is supposed to sound like, what pop is supposed to sound like… and really say ‘fuck all of that’ and do my own thing.”
Ravyn has been on the road again this month performing on a string of European and UK festivals, before launching her 22-date headline North American tour this fall, with support from Lexa Gates, Nourished By Time, and Q on select dates.
