Raye Zaragoza is an American singer-songwriter from New York, NY based in Los Angeles, CA.
Raye Zaragoza | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City |
| Genres | Folk |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Website | www.rayezaragoza.com |
Raye Zaragoza was born and raised in Manhattan and moved to Los Angeles at the age of fourteen.[1] Her mother is an immigrant from Japan and her father is of Mexican and indigenous heritage.[2] Her great-grandmother was adopted out of her tribe as young child, raised by a white woman and forced to assimilate.[3]
Raye became involved in school musicals, started playing guitar at age 12, and started writing songs in her late teens.[4] She released her debut EP Heroine in 2015. She started to gain national attention in 2016 with the song "In The River," protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.[5] Raye and her brother made a video for "In The River" that included facts about Standing Rock and it received 100,000 views overnight.[2] The song was awarded the Global Music Awards' 2017 Heretic Award for Protest/Activist Music[1] and the Honesty Oscars' award for Best Song.[6]
In 2017, she independently released her debut album Fight For You. Her music covers topics related to social justice and her experience as a woman of color.[2] Multiple songs on Fight For You address the Dakota Access Pipeline.[5] "Driving to Standing Rock" portrays the power of protest, specifically of the NoDAPL movement.[7] The song "American Dream" was written in reaction to Donald Trump's election.[8] The album also includes love songs[2] and songs about New York City.[9]
In 2019, she released live recordings of four songs — new song "Warrior," two songs from Fight For You, and one song from the Heroine EP — on an EP entitled Live at Rockwood Music Hall which premiered first on Popmatters.[10]
She cites Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Joan Baez, and Buffy St. Marie as influences.[9]
In 2018, Zaragoza toured with Dispatch and Nahko and Medicine for the People raising funds for Generation Indigenous.[2]
Her sophomore album Woman In Color produced by Tucker Martine was released October 23, 2020 on her own label Rebel River Records[11] and made year-end lists from NPR Music[12] and PopMatters.[13] The album shows Raye embracing all aspects of her mixed-race identity in song.[14]
In 2021, Zaragoza was awarded the Rising Tide Award by the International Folk Music Awards presented by Folk Alliance International.[15]
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