Despite achieving three top 10 hits, nine top 40 singles, two BRIT Award nominations, songwriting credits for Beyonce, Little Mix, John Legend, and Ellie Goulding, and big collabs with Jax Jones, Joel Corry, and Rudimental, Raye’s record label seem to think she’s not ready to release her debut album.
And she’s decided to publicly speak out about it through a series of emotional tweets.
The British singer-songwriter, who is currently signed to Polydor Records, has made quite the name for herself over the past few years and currently has an impressive 22.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
According to her recent tweets, Raye’s label has been delaying the release of her long-awaited debut album for some time and she’s not prepared to wait any longer.
Raye opens up to fans in a series of honest tweets
Earlier this week, Raye took to Twitter to inform fans that she is upset with her label while attaching a snapshot of her crying.
“holding it inside and pretending I am 100% fabulous will only hurt more. So here it is. Today I feel like a toilet. I’m going to be brave and talk about it. You are not alone, we can talk about our worries and our tears. It’s not embarrassing to speak out, It is brave,” she wrote.
In a follow-up tweet, the Decline hitmaker expressed that she has been signed to Polydor since 2014 and has created “albums on albums of music” that is “sat in folders collecting dust.”
“For context, in order for an album to be created, the label has to release money for songs to be finished, fees for producers, mixes, masters and marketing support etc… I have waited 7 years for this day and I am still waiting,” the 23-year-old continued.
Raye also explained that if her latest single, Call On Me, which is currently in the Top 10 on iTunes, does well, the label will consider putting out her debut album. The songstress revealed she signed a four-album deal in 2014 and is “sick” of being “slept on.”
“I’ve done everything they asked me, I switched genres, I worked 7 days a week, ask anyone in the music game, they know. I’m done being a polite pop star. I want to make my album now, please that is all I want,” Raye said in another tweet.
Raye’s peers came out and supported the star
Fellow British musician Charli XCX was one of the first public figures to react to Raye’s emotional tweets and gave her some advice. The Boom Clap hitmaker advised her to take control of everything and “scream” at them until they release her album.
Canadian singer Allie X stated that “major labels holding artists completely hostage at the mercy of analytics” was “inhumane” while sending her love and saying Raye should generate her own money and work with a distributor.
The record label in question represents numerous big name stars, including Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.