Rachel Keen (born October 24, 1997), known by her stage name RAYE, is an English singer and songwriter from Croydon, south London. Her music has changed over the years, but can generally be described as dance-pop with R&B-like vocals. To date, she has released three EPs.

She started making her own music from a young age, influenced by her family. As she tells The Enquirer:

I started writing songs with my dad and we had a little mic and an interface to record stuff down. I have songs from when I was 10 singing about bullies in the playground and silly stuff. I used to write songs every day after school.

Starting at the age of 14, Raye attended the prestigious BRIT School. During this period, she released her first project, Welcome to the Winter. After two years, however, she decided to drop out, saying the pop music she wanted to make didn’t fit into the scene there. The change was immediately clear on her following release, where she felt more free in her choices, while also reaching a wider audience:

With Welcome to the Winter, I realised nobody really cared other than the cool kids in London. Annie Mac wouldn’t play it, other people wouldn’t play it. It was really disheartening.

So I had to find a way to do what I want, in a way that people would hear it. It took a long time of frustration and writing, but I found music that has that kind of power.

Since the start of her career, Raye has worked with several high-profile artists, such as when, at age 16, she co-wrote Blonde’s hit “All Cried Out”. The following year, she featured on a Nas song.
On Second EP, she worked with Stormzy and wrote a song with Charli XCX, to name a few collaborators. Her third EP, Side Tape entirely consisted of collaborations.