AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Ravyn Lenae's new album begins with a declaration of love.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HANDLE")
RAVYN LENAE: (Singing) Oh, my love, my love is like a landslide. When it all comes down, only one way to find out.
RASCOE: It's her own love, love on her own terms. Ravyn Lenae's latest album is called "Blue Island," nd she's here to tell us all about it. Ravyn Lenae, thank you so much for joining us.
LENAE: Thank you for having me.
RASCOE: We just heard a bit of the song "Handle." It's very upbeat. And obviously, love can feel like a landslide on both sides of it. Did someone make you feel that way?
LENAE: (Laughter) Around the time I was working on the album, it almost felt like I needed to have this declaration of self that felt loud, that felt boisterous, that felt almost aggressive coming off the last year that I had. So it felt necessary to have a song that just felt like, this is who I am, take it or leave it.
RASCOE: Can you handle me?
LENAE: Exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HANDLE")
LENAE: (Singing) Only one way to find out.
RASCOE: Fans probably know you from your biggest hit so far, "Love Me Not."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE ME NOT")
LENAE: (Singing) And oh, it's hard to see you, but I wish you were right here. Oh, it's hard to leave you when I get you everywhere.
RASCOE: This was a massive hit on social media. And you've talked about how that's been, like, good and bad. What is the downside of being a viral sensation?
LENAE: Obviously, every artist dreams of a moment like this, where you have new eyeballs and new people interested in your music and your career, your journey so far. And that's a beautiful thing. But then there's something strange that happens where now you feel exposed to the world, in a way. And that brings a lot of questions, judgment. I felt at times my identity, Blackness was being picked apart. So it almost felt like I was under interrogation for a part of it, you know, but mixed in with all these joyful emotions.
RASCOE: What were they saying about your Blackness, just to clarify? What were they...
LENAE: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...Saying?
LENAE: For a lot of people, it's hard for us to imagine Black women flying through different genres so seamlessly, even though we've had many examples of it in the past.
RASCOE: Well, they said the same thing to Whitney Houston, right?
LENAE: Yeah. Yeah.
RASCOE: They said she was whitewashed in the beginning, so she went through this.
LENAE: Yeah, and I'm looking at it now as almost a rite of passage in a way of maybe that's the sign of something good.
RASCOE: And so I often ask this question when I am talking to Black artists, and I don't mean it to be a cliche, but it sounds like you are still dealing with this pressure to be boxed into a specific genre, i.e., you are Black, therefore, you must be sole R&B.
LENAE: Yeah, I think that's a topic that we'll probably talk about forever because when it comes to Black artists, genre is a huge factor in the way we're regarded, the way we're positioned, the type of exposure we get. But I think we have to allow room for Black artists to experiment the same way we allow white artists. And this album was me kind of releasing any preconceived notions of what I thought I had to be, what's accepted, what's easy to digest, and being confident in that.
RASCOE: And you did a bit of that genre-breaking sound on "Handle," but we also hear that on "Saturday Night."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SATURDAY NIGHT")
LENAE: (Singing) Say you miss me on a Saturday night, but I'm still leaving without you. I'm in here looking like the time of your life, but I'm still leaving without you.
I think it's fun and interesting when I get to experiment with sound and also with emotion in this way, where, you know, the song feels dancy. It feels exuberant. But then the lyrics feel almost sad and dazed or - I don't know. I like that mix of emotion.
RASCOE: You mentioned it's a beat. It feels dancy. I heard you struggled with choreography. Is that true? Has that been an issue for you?
LENAE: I've always thought in my head that I was an artist that probably couldn't do it. But it's been so fun being able to figure out what that looks like for me, what type of shapes I like for my body to make and what feels good. And I like a mix of awkwardness with, like, some witchy feel. I like when women feel a little creepy but also pop and glossy, just mixing all these worlds together that shouldn't really be able to work. It felt like there was something in my body that had to get out, and there's this tension and anxiety and lust for life, and I think that kind of just starts to manifest in your body.
RASCOE: Yeah. So, I mean, I am a Black girl that cannot dance, but...
LENAE: (Laughter).
RASCOE: I can dance a little. I mean, I can two-step.
LENAE: Everybody can dance. It's expression. We can do it together sometime.
RASCOE: Of course. Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SATURDAY NIGHT")
LENAE: (Singing) Oh, I'm leaving without you. I'm leaving without you.
RASCOE: Finally, the song "Find It One Day" - it sounds very confessional.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FIND IT ONE DAY")
LENAE: (Singing) Yeah, I hope you find it when you're least еxpecting it, reminders of a lovе you let slip through your fingertips. In a rhyme I compose, yeah, I hope you know that I'll always love you so.
RASCOE: You know, it's a personal reflection but also an admission, you know, of this abiding love for someone. What does it tell us about Ravyn Lenae?
LENAE: When we worked on it, I was going through a breakup with someone I love so much. And this was the first time I had, you know, ended a relationship where there was no bad blood, and there wasn't a villain. No one did anything wrong. And sometimes that can feel more devastating than having a clean out and being able to say, you're bad, I'm good, you know?
RASCOE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
LENAE: So I think just getting older and understanding that relationships aren't black and white, and they're complicated, and hoping that, you know, with space, maybe we both go out into the world, find something new about ourselves and come back stronger - that's what this song is saying.
RASCOE: Yeah. Yeah. And is that your hope for that love, that that love will come back? I'm getting in your business now.
LENAE: (Laughter) That's OK.
(LAUGHTER)
LENAE: That's my hope. That's my hope. I think when - the love is there, so hopefully this song manifests something (laughter).
RASCOE: OK, OK. That was Ravyn Lenae. Her third studio album, "Blue Island," is out now. Ravyn, thank you so much for joining us.
LENAE: Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FIND IT ONE DAY")
LENAE: (Singing) Yeah, I hope you find it when you're... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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