Ravyn Lenae Is Working With Her Musical Icons
The rising R&B singer has been compared to Usher by a legendary producer.
In Elite Daily’s series Early Influences, musicians reflect on the songs and albums that left a lasting impression on them in their formative teen years. Here, singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae talks about her upcoming Bird’s Eye Tour, working with her heroes, and Janet Jackson’s impact.
Before she made a name for herself collabing with the likes of Childish Gambino, Steve Lacy, and Doechii, Ravyn Lenae was digging through the digital crates of SoundCloud — and figuring out the kind of artist she wanted to be in the process.
“After school every day I would go and search for the newest thing, the coolest new producer,” Lenae, 25, tells Elite Daily. One of those artists was Kaytranada, whose beats she’d rip from the music listening app and use to create her own songs on her phone. Years later, in June 2024, she’d go on to work with the producer on the sultry club track, “Video.” That serendipity isn’t lost on Lenae. “Sorry, Kay,” she says, laughing.
The collab is among many high points for the rising R&B artist from Chicago this year. In August, Lenae released her sophomore album, Bird’s Eye, which produced the Childish Gambino-assisted hit “One Wish.” That same month, she made her late-night debut on The Tonight Show and performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert a few weeks later. Now, on Oct. 5, she’s embarking on a 17-city tour to support what might be her most personal album yet.
“With my earlier music, I wasn't in a place where I felt like removing that buffer and really getting literal and vulnerable,” says Lenae. With Bird’s Eye, she realized tapping into her vulnerability would not only help her grow as an artist, but provide fans with a glimpse into her real emotions as well. “The older I get, the more comfortable I get in telling these personal parts of my life.”
Below, she shares three of the most foundational musical acts to her artistry.
Deniece Williams
Lenae associates one of her earliest influences, R&B/soul singer Deniece Williams, with her mother. “My mom used to play this radio station every morning on the way to school, and they would always play Deniece Williams’ ‘Silly,’” she says. Lenae found herself “enthralled” with Williams’ one-of-a-kind “voice timbre” and her playful, elementary-esque song lyrics. “The lyrics feel really youthful,” she says. “I thought it was really fun speaking of love in a trivial way, given her voice timbre feels very babyish.”
Soon, Lenae would take a deep dive through Williams’ archives and fall even more in love with her “impeccable” songwriting. Today, she considers 1984’s “Black Butterfly” to be “one of the greatest songs written,” and frequently returns to the 1976 song “Free” whenever she needs to balance her mood or start her day off right.
Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson’s discography has been part of Lenae’s life from the beginning. “Her music was always around me growing up,” she says. She remembers being struck by Jackson’s production choices and her seemingly effortless ability to mix pop and soul, citing the 2001 hit single “Someone To Call My Lover” as an example.
“I was like, ‘Why would they mix that sample with these off-kilter drums?’ That's always my favorite type of thing — where it shouldn't make sense, but it does.” She found Jackson’s vocal layering equally as captivating, praising her “dedication and attention” to the craft. “You could play a Janet song without the lead vocals and just the background vocals, and you still get the gist of the song,” she says. “That's something I like to infuse in my music.”
These days, Lenae has a newfound appreciation for Jackson’s bond with her collaborators and frequent producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She’s gotten to know the legendary producing duo personally, which she describes as the biggest “pinch me” moment of her career. When they worked together on Bird’s Eye, Jam told her, “I haven’t had this feeling about an artist since I met Usher.” Lenae says, “Hearing that from an icon really did something for my spirit.”
Stereolab
Lenae has at least one thing to thank her schoolyard crush for: introducing her to the Anglo-French band Stereolab. “We'd be on the phone after school, on SoundCloud together, going through each other's likes,” she says. Nothing ever happened with the boy, but her love for the ‘90s pop band was the best thing to come out of that situation.
Stereolab may seem like an unexpected influence for an R&B singer, but Lenae can’t get enough of Lætitia Sadier’s “weird and bizarre” melody choices. “She slithers in between the beat, and that's something I love to do,” Lenae says. “Finding those holes and corners in the beat is something so fun that she does really well.”
Despite the effect Sadier might have had on her music, Lenae doesn’t think the two are all that similar. While Lenae has created her “vocal identity” around her vibrato (a technique involving slight and rapid variations in pitch), Sadier found a way to make “impactful” music without relying on the skill. “I like to find ways where I can bring that approach into my music,” Lenae says.
2024 has been a big year for Lenae, but instead of looking ahead, she’s choosing to live in the moment. “A goal of mine is to see this album continue to grow and resonate with more people,” she says. “I'm just sitting in it right now and letting the music ride.”
