R.A.E - Rising Above Everything

"All those people in the past who never gave you a chance or didn’t pay attention to your talent are in for a rude awakening."

Photo by @shooter_terns

Coming from South-East London, R.A.E made her music debut back in 2018 with a lo-fi R&B track 'Let me Explain' to now wowing judges at the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition 2020. R.A.E described the reaction of winning the competition as: "My first reaction was an utter shock like I didn’t believe it. I’m going to be performing at a huge festival and on the main stage as well! My 15-year-old self would be extremely proud."

With a unique blend of hip-hop and R&B, which she describes as: "’90s, eclectic and fresh"; R.A.E has gone from someone no one has heard of to now being on everyone's watch list. R.A.E which stands for Rising Above Everything ( a motto which everyone should follow) "I believe that we all go through tough times in life, some harder than others but at the end of it all we tend to rise above the issue," R.A.E explained. "That is why I chose this name. In 2017 I was feeling extremely depressed, constantly crying in my room. During that crying session, I said to myself “Do you know what Rae? You're going to rise above everything” I paused and realised I just created an acronym for my name. I decided that I would continue to overcome my problems, so I changed ‘rise’ to ‘rising’ and came up with ‘Rising Above Everything’."

The 25-year-old who has only just risen into the music scene decided to pursue music now even though she wrote her first song back when she was 10 with the help of her sisters' influence and the love for TLC and Mc Lyte. "My older sister had a massive influence on my 90’s education," R.A.E explains. "I had no choice but to love this era. From the music to the clothes and tv shows. I loved how artists such as TLC, Da Brat, Mc Lyte, New Edition etc told stories in their music, that’s what I believe real music is." The artist who is adamant to tell stories through her music also added: "Being able to create music that listeners can relate to, that’s why I'm so adamant on telling stories in all my songs. This sort of sound is not prominent today and I feel that this is what is missing in music today, that inspired me to start making music. We are in need of ‘feel good’ music."

With large amounts of disruption and lockdown taking a toll on artists across the world, R.A.E has not struggled one bit as she admits: "I've coped well actually. I've been writing/recording new music (which we can't wait to hear), learning new recipes off YouTube and recently bought a bike to ride/pass time you know. Lockdown amplified my creative writing even more because I had to think outside the box (my room) haha get it?" With the topic of new music and the back of her latest single 'Pretty Bop', R.A.E has given us little hints across social media that a new song is on its way and gave us an insight into what we can expect: "You can expect singing as I wanted to showcase my singing side a bit more, some more rap - like actual hardcore rap - and vibes, loads of vibes."

In the space of a year, the artist has graced us with a whole range of singles and an EP, with her latest single, 'Pretty Bop' - a juicy, upbeat single - that is explained as: "I wanted to create an anthem type song which empowered woman of all ages, allowing them to embrace themselves positively." The 1990s queen, who lavishes in retro beats and playful lyrics also believes it is important to show who and what you stand for and the presence of black female artists is more important than ever within the music industry. "As an artist who is a woman and black, it is important that throughout my music I make that very known," R.A.E said. "My music videos all of them to date have black women in it as I believe we are almost never at the forefront in music videos, so now that I have the opportunity to put talented/beautiful black women in my videos I definitely will."

As for the future, R.A.E can't wait to experience the mighty Glastonbury festival and "new music, more shows and hopefully a headline performance in another country," she quickly adds.

Ultimately, with becoming such a star to watch through her spin on 90s hip-hop nostalgia, R.A.E replied to the question - what would you say to your younger self who dreamed of all of this? - " That although you are extremely shy you will still be able to chase your dreams and bang down doors. All those people in the past who never gave you a chance or didn’t pay attention to your talent are in for a rude awakening. Continue to do you and watch how everything unfolds."

Don't forget to keep an eye on R.A.E's latest single which will be coming out very soon.