Spread Your Wings: Ravyn Lenae Interviewed

It takes skill to harness the healing powers of melody, and it takes a special level of mastery to connect with and transcend one’s own emotional parameters. Ravyn Lenae is a student of song: within her music, there’s a deceptive intricacy and harmonic depth at play, a refreshing departure in an age of prosaic musicianship. 

Since making her breakthrough with 2016’s groove-laden ‘Free Room’, Lenae has transformed SoundCloud-era virality into global renown, merging her studies in classical music with alt-RnB hybrids. Over a series of projects, three EPs and two full-length albums in total, Lenae bends and contorts her greatest instrument – her rich, dulcet voice – moving mellifluously between registers on compositions influenced by her Chicago roots. “There’s really something special about it,’ she smiles. ‘Especially in the artist community, there’s this sense of camaraderie that I haven’t really come across in other places.” 

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Dialled in from Los Angeles, her current home, Lenae is savouring the reception of her recently-released sophomore album ‘Bird’s Eye’, her most introspective and soul-enriching work to date. Over eleven tracks, Lenae mines her past relationships with a fresh perspective, charting her growth whilst adopting a more malleable approach to genre. Every detail is intentional. Lensed by Kennedi Carter, the album cover art sees the singer rinsing her freshly-dyed auburn locks in her grandmother’s sink, a tribute to her homecoming. The stark image, which Lenae says is a personal favourite, connects with the record’s panoramic feel. “I had this moment where I was able to see my life and my world through a completely clear lens,” she says. “I was able to understand the paths I’ve taken, and the turns I’ve taken to get to where I am now. I wanted to honour that and feel okay with some wrong turns, some stumbles, some hiccups. A lot of that had to do with me coming back to the basics.”

Landing her first record deal aged 15, Lenae speaks lovingly of the artist communities she was immersed in. Navigating the music industry, with her mother close by her side, Lenae became a component part of Zero Fatigue, a collective and independent record label spearheaded by Missouri rapper Smino. “I think it played a major role in my career, having older artists that I could look up to. Asking them questions was everything to me,” she shares. Throughout our conversation, Lenae beams over her creative spark with producer Monte Booker, a catalyst for her pivot towards more bouncy, dance-focussed productions. Her growing profile led to a Noname co-sign, who she’d later tour with. “Getting to see how people I look up to are able to balance it and make a career out of it – that made it possible for me,” she says of her artist mentors. 

A move to Los Angeles at the height of the pandemic raised the stakes for Lenae. The Chicagoan took her time adjusting to her new surroundings. She unveiled her debut full-length ‘Hypnos’ in 2022, four years after her ‘Crush’ EP. “I learned a lot about how I deal with uncomfortable periods in my life,” she reflects, speaking on the strength she gained from this phase of prolonged transition. “I also found that I became reinvigorated about my life, my career and this transfer of energy that’s happening between me and people who listen to my music.” She pauses to acknowledge her devout listenership, “that’s what drives me to get up in the morning, to go back to the studio and keep doing it.”

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‘Bird’s Eye’ sees Lenae pore over her twenties in more intimate and grounded ways. Tugging between situationships, fragmented family ties and post-break-up reveries, Lenae is drawn towards contrast – occasionally leaning into gritty, indie-tinged sonics that make way for more confrontational storytelling. Take the addictive ‘Love Me Not’, a punchy vocal performance accompanied by hazy, distorted acoustics, or the electric flecks that cut through ‘1 of 1’, speaking to the all-too-relatable, back-and-forth between ex-lovers. 

Elsewhere, ‘One Wish’ zeroes in on Lenae’s childhood, recounting the instance where her father, cast in the track’s visuals, failed to show up to her tenth birthday party. Speaking on the song’s significance, Lenae details the cathartic aftermath: “Me and my father are at this point where we’re becoming friends and learning from each other. I feel like I had to release those feelings, that story and song, in order for me to fully be able to start moving towards a place of forgiveness.”

‘Bird’s Eye’ breaks the fourth wall between Lenae and the listener, a rounded, collaborative body of work that marks a period of personal evolution and new awakenings. Gearing up towards a string of live shows across London, New York, Amsterdam and Paris, she’s ready to feel the palpable feedback from her fans in real-time. ‘The raw feeling you get is when you tour it and see the actual impact of it.” In those moments of energy exchange, Ravyn Lenae can see how far she’s come. “Real people are coming out, and they know the words. They’re actually listening to these songs. That’s what makes it real to me.”

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