Raiche

An R&B singer who has drawn comparisons to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Sade, Raiche’s smoky vocal tone is well-suited to the neo-soul tendencies of her songs. After making her recording debut with the acoustic-leaning covers EP Renditions in 2016, she re-emerged with major-label backing and more sophisticated production on her songwriting debut, 2019′s Drive EP. Her first full-length collection, Loveland, appeared in 2023 and featured Ty Dolla $ign on a reworked version of her radio breakout “Pick a Side.” A native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Raiche Othel Wright grew up singing in church with her siblings and mother. A worship leader, her mother would bring her to practices, and a six-year-old Raiche sometimes grabbed the mike the sing along. She soon applied her love of performing to church and school plays, and by high school she was competing in local talent shows. The first cover song she shared to social media was a version of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Madness.” The positive response to that and other videos encouraged her to continue to sing and record. Released when she was 20 years old, her debut EP, November 2016′s Renditions, included graceful, soul- and jazz-inflected covers of artists ranging from Norah Jones and Frank Ocean and David Bowie. In the meantime, Wright moved cross-state to Boston, where she made a fan of a popular local DJ, DJ Knock Out, who helped her form a production team. He also passed along Raiche’s demo EP to singer/songwriter Prince Charlez, who in turn helped bring it to the attention of labels. Led by the well-received 2018 single “Money Pies,” her official singer/songwriter debut, the EP Drive, arrived on Genre Defying Entertainment and Island Prolific/Atlantic in early 2019. She then contributed two songs to the 2020 compilation Still Home for the Holidays: An R&B Christmas Album, appearing alongside Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz, and Island Prolific labelmate Ayanis, to name a few. That year, she also enjoyed an R&B radio breakthrough with “Pick a Side,” a song that was joined by a version with Ty Dolla $ign in 2021. A collaborative single with VEDO and Benny Benassi, “Pull It” also saw release in 2021, as did the solo soul outing “Burn Your Clothes.” Along with the Ty Dolla $ign edition of “Pick a Side,” it marked the beginning of string of singles issued in the leadup to the release of her debut album, the 13-track Loveland, on the same labels in December 2023. Among others, its contributing producers included Aarab Muzik, Audio Anthem, and Tariq Beats. ~ Marcy Donelson