Rayana Jay

Rayana Jay delivers contemporary R&B through smooth vocals and narrative flair, infusing each track with timeless depth that connects present-day figures such as SZA and Solange to foundational voices including Anita Baker and Amy Winehouse. The independent artist first appeared in the final years of the 2010s with three EPs, then returned in 2022 with her fourth extended play, Last Call, a polished collection centered on alluring slow numbers and confident midtempo grooves.

Raised in Richmond, California, by her grandmother and her mother, who held a position at a record label, she encountered Johnny "Guitar" Watson early and absorbed the Atlanta productions of Organized Noize and OutKast. She joined the church youth choir as a child, later directing it, began writing songs at 16, and, after an internship at an Oakland radio program, chose to build a career in music.

Gradual recognition on the Bay Area circuit followed, leading to the 2016 release of her debut Sorry About Last Night, shaped by production from 1-O.A.K., Drew Banga, and Mikos the Gawd. The latter two producers returned for 2017’s Morning After, which contained “Everything,” featured in an episode of Atlanta. Her third EP, Love Me Like, surfaced in 2019; its title track, recorded with Duckwrth, gained further reach through placement in an installment of Bel-Air. From late 2019 into 2021 she issued assorted singles that functioned as both standalone pieces and early glimpses of her fourth EP, among them the reflective “It’s You” and the hazy “Unfair.” The latter appeared on the second half of 2022’s Last Call EP.