In the game for over a decade, RAYE's debut album was 7 years in the making after being stuck in a major label deal that had her confined to recording mainstream pop and electronic records, and penning hits for other artists instead of executing her own creative vision. Now independent, she released the genre-busting My 21st Century Blues this year, an impressive and raw album that touches on some of the artist's most vulnerable life experiences. Over the course of her Tiny Desk, RAYE's musicianship shines as she displays a melange of jazz scats, gospel and blues inflections. Closing out her set with "Buss It Down.," she recruits the audience for some call and response action only after giving us a brief vocal lesson, 'cause that's just how particular she is. If this Tiny Desk concert is your introduction to RAYE, prepare to be enraptured.
