Celebrating Ray Leslie’s upcoming release, ‘SEWED PIECES feat. Beckah Amani’, the rapper is joining forces with rising stars spdrtwnbby, Shaskey & awldboy. Ticket sales get entered into a raffle where the winner gets to skydive with Ray! The party is on Saturday, 7th March from 8-11pm at Dead Witch. Don’t miss out!
An apostle of the sun - Ray Leslie is a beaming force of raw hip-hop talent. At the age of eight, she landed in Tamaki with curious ears. Travelling through a multitude of sounds and experiences, falling in love with music seemed predestined. Yet one thing was clear, landing on hip-hop was an act made decidedly so. From there, Ray developed a complex and unique identity in her music, weaponised with elaborate rhyme schemes, an infectious flow and an undeniable energy.
Her track record so far showing signs of a promising career ahead for the 27-year-old. With placements on Top 20 Hot NZ Singles for tracks like ‘Dog Days’ & ‘I Still Love You’; as well as rotation plays on stations like Mai & George FM for ‘Who Do You See’. Ray has also found success with SRN stations like Radio One and 95BFM, having been nominated on SRN’s Hit Picks. In addition, Ray has also been recognised on national and transnational media like One News, Sniffers, Hype Medium, Tahi FM, Acclaim, Rolling Stone Australia, NZ Musician; and was chosen to be part of APRA’s recent Songhubs curated by none other than 9th Wonder.
Beyond external recognition, the independent artist has stayed consistent having released two albums and four EP’s in the past six years. Her most recent project, ‘Fantasy & Future’, receiving a nomination for Best EP at the Mighty Aotearoa Awards. For Ray, music is not only about personal expression or sonic trends, but also connection. With this aim, Ray’s appeal comes from her humanity. Her music transcends and tells a story that is both personal and universal. And this is only the beginning.