RAYE is no longer that “girl who writes songs for others”. She is a global star merging pop, R&B, and jazz into an act that cannot be ignored. With her debut album My 21st Century Blues, she showed who she truly is: raw, honest, and razor-sharp. Whether she is working with Mark Ronson or coloring in a massive dance track, RAYE is everywhere. And she is only just getting started. With her latest banger WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! she opens a bold new chapter. These are her ten very best tracks.
10. Worth It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeQ4CtiJPTo RAYE in her “you can’t fool me anymore” mode, wrapped in a shiny disco jacket. Worth It sounds seductive and sharp at the same time. It is as if she is smiling while she has seen through the game long ago. Wonderfully danceable, but with a tension that keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat.
9. The Thrill Is Gone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZfzdklFtf0 No over-the-top drama, but that recognizable moment when you feel the magic in a relationship is gone. The production remains tight and elegant, giving her voice all the space it deserves. Heartbreak without unnecessary frills, and that is exactly why this song hits so hard.
8. Hard Out Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtTgBoUfiuQ Here you hear exactly why her debut album made such a massive impact. In Hard Out Here, she calls things by their name in a way that is both fierce and funny. You want to scream along, yet it makes you silent at the same time. That is the power of a true professional.
7. Black Mascara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM4lqJzK8lg One of her darkest songs. Black Mascara is not a happy tune for the background; it is a raw cry about issues that are often kept silent. The compelling club beat clashes beautifully with the heavy content. It proves that RAYE dares to go much further than the average pop star.
6. Ice Cream Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywunlu42_ho If there is one track where RAYE completely bares her soul, it is this one. Painful, direct, and unforgettable. She does not sing here to sound pretty; she sings to process something. Especially live, this is the moment when everyone in the room gets goosebumps. A heavy but essential song.
5. Oscar Winning Tears
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLIG8JiOyg Imagine a smoky jazz club where the walls are slowly closing in on you while she stands singing in the middle of the wreckage. Oscar Winning Tears breathes old-fashioned glamour and drama, but never feels fake. The title says it all about the theatrical yet sincere pain in this song.
4. Suzanne (with Mark Ronson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9GGwCrB4s Together with hit-maker Mark Ronson, RAYE shows that she effortlessly holds her own in the premier league of pop music. Suzanne has that chic funk and soul that immediately makes you happy. Despite the grand production, she remains the shining center with her enormous charisma.
3. Prada (with cassö & D Block Europe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFMYL0XQ3lA What started as a remix grew into a gigantic global hit. Prada is short, powerful, and incredibly effective. RAYE’s contribution is the “secret sauce”: nonchalant and instantly recognizable. This is how you make dance-pop that doesn’t sound run-of-the-mill.
2. WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK5TyISxZ_M With this track, RAYE sounds bigger and more confident than ever. It is bold, theatrical, and made to bring down big venues. This feels like the start of a new era with more daring and “main character energy”. Under all the glitter, however, the emotion remains genuine RAYE.
1. Escapism. (with 070 Shake)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dll6VJ2C7wo This is the banger that definitively crowned her a global star. Escapism. is addictive in every sense of the word: a dark intoxication wrapped in a pop hook that stays in your head for days. It is catchy and simultaneously ugly-honest about the urge to escape reality. The ultimate RAYE song that everyone should know.