Ravyn Lenae

Ravyn Lenae crafts atmospheric, ethereal R&B marked by velvety vocals and subtly psychedelic production elements. Emerging in the second half of the 2010s, she released three EPs that spanned house and synth-funk textures, though the 2018 project Crush—led by its single “Sticky”—generated the strongest response. Her debut album Hypnos finally surfaced in 2022 after extended development, drawing on production from Steve Lacy, Monte Booker, and Kaytranada. The 2024 follow-up Bird’s Eye shifted toward acoustic rock and light reggae.

Born in Chicago, Lenae entered the scene as a teenager in 2015 via the Monte Booker-produced Moon Shoes EP, issued first as a free download through fellow Zero Fatigue affiliate Booker before Atlantic picked it up for an official release the next year. Atlantic then backed the shorter Midnight Moonlight EP in March 2017. During this period she also appeared on recordings fronted by Booker, Noname, Mick Jenkins, Saba, and Smino. These milestones unfolded while she was still a student at the Chicago High School for the Arts. “Sticky” surfaced by late 2017 and anchored the early-2018 Crush EP, which included Steve Lacy on two tracks. In 2020 she placed “Rewind” on season four of Insecure and joined Luke Titus on the album Plasma.

Hypnos, her first full-length, reached listeners in 2022 after she had relocated to Los Angeles. Alongside ongoing partners Steve Lacy, Monte Booker, and Smino, the set incorporated contributions from Mereba, Fousheé, and Kaytranada as co-writers, producers, or featured artists. Bird’s Eye arrived in 2024 as a less explicitly R&B-oriented statement that included guest spots from Childish Gambino and Ty Dolla $ign.