Divine timing has always been on Ravyn Lenae’s side. Last year, the singer-songwriter performed a cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” at the 2024 Grammy Hall of Fame Gala. The stars aligned—literally—as she locked eyes with R&B legend Lauryn Hill, who watched from the audience and sampled the exact song she was singing with the Fugees in 1998.
“Young Ravyn is aligning with Grown Ravyn in a really special way,” Ravyn tells Cosmopolitan a year later. “At that moment, I almost shrunk into 10-year-old Ravyn. Those moments make it clear that I’m walking a certain path that’s made for me. It’s easy to get distracted or discouraged along the way, but those moments mean a lot because they remind me this is where I'm supposed to be.”
Months later—and nearly a decade after the Chicago native started pouring her heart into music as a teen—listeners finally had their aha moment when her single, “Love Me Not,” soared to new heights thanks to a fan-made mashup with Solange’s 2012 hit, “Losing You.”
Fans stumbled upon Ravyn’s original song and used it as the soundtrack to nearly half a million videos on TikTok. They found a home in its warmth and honesty, which can be attributed to an infectious melody that details the criminally universal experience of a situationship. It’s the kind of song that lingers in your mind because, in a way, it already feels like it belongs there: “And, oh, it’s hard to see you, but I wish you were right here / Oh, it’s hard to leave you when I get you everywhere.”
Her confident delivery on the track made it one of this year’s top earworms. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has since earned more than 734 million streams on Spotify alone, placing her center stage at Coachella and Lollapalooza. Given the ever-growing success of her breakout hit—and A-list support from SZA, Sabrina Carpenter, and 19-time chart-topper Mariah Carey—her name became part of some awards season chatter.
As Ravyn looks forward to chasing magic in the studio with new music, she’s also making her way across the pond for a European festival circuit next year, including Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain; Way Out West in Gothenburg, Sweden; and Øyafestivalen in Oslo, Norway. Ravyn Lenae’s global takeover is imminent—which is why Cosmo caught up with her to look back on the massive year that introduced her ethereal, breathy vocals to new ears.
Let’s take it back to the beginning. You’ve been making and releasing music since you were a student at Chicago High School for the Arts. How has that training impacted the way you approach your artistry?
I knew going in that I wanted to place an emphasis on academics and figure out what I wanted to do in the arts. I loved singing, and attending that school with its commitment to balancing academics and music was a big wake-up call for me. Being exposed to certain styles of music, like jazz, classical, and opera, was really fun, and I learned about vocal health, reading music, improv, and acting. All these things worked together to inspire me outside of school when I was working on my own music, and it had a huge impact on how I viewed the commitment it takes to actually pursue music and see what’s possible creatively.
Do you feel like you had to recalibrate or unlearn any of the classical techniques while working on your own projects?
There’s a very rigid approach to vocal performance, and that’s obviously encouraged because you want to stay as true as possible to particular genres, like jazz or classical music. I remember when students would sing a classical song, a lot of the feedback would be, “Oh, you’re making it too pop,” or “You’re using pop inflections.” Sometimes, I still have a rigid approach to how music is made. I don’t have strict guidelines, but I can get into that thought process of having to stay within a certain confine. That’s the thing that I fight against actively—and being okay with making bad noises. When I’m in the studio and a song calls for me to lean more experimental or find new colors in my voice, sometimes that makes me really uncomfortable because I’m used to only allowing pretty sounds to come out.
You’re a proud Chicagoan, having grown up on the South Side, but what a lot of people don’t know is that you’re Panamanian too. Are there parts of your Latinidad that you find yourself returning to as you evolve as an artist?
I try to go to Panama once a year, and naturally, that gives me some grounding, especially if I’m working on an album. For Bird’s Eye, I went to Panama for a little bit and spent some time with my great-grandmother, who has since passed away. That was my last trip I was able to see her. I remember feeling like I needed to start incorporating that sound and thinking about how those parts of my identity can start merging in a rich way.
The music I grew up listening to is a direct reflection of what my mom was listening to, being born in Chicago, but then there are a lot of things from my grandparents I learned, whether it’s the food I grew up eating or the songs they would play or sing to me when I was younger. It’s made me who I am, but moving forward, I really want to lean into what that sound is that marries both sides of me.
Intrinsically, Latines move with such passion and feel so deeply, which lends itself well to the arts. Would you ever release music in Spanish?
My Spanish needs a lot of work, but that is a dream of mine, even if it’s just a hook. When my grandmother came to the States, she was a Spanish teacher, but in Panama, she was an English teacher. Because my mom was born in the States, she naturally assimilated with my aunties, and a lot of the language wasn’t held onto or spoken in the house. I don’t know much Spanish, but maybe my grandma could cowrite something with me one day.
Speaking of your family, you’ve been so open about their support of your career path. How have they shown up for you during this journey?
My family has been so integral in every part of my career, from the moment I expressed that I love music. They saw that in me and put me in guitar lessons early on, encouraging me to find what my voice feels like and what I’m confident doing. There was always that energy from my family of “Whatever you want to do, we’re going to get behind it, and we’re going to figure out a way for you to do it and support it.” I just come from people who want to see it through with me and believe in it as much as I do. I’m so grateful for that because that’s not a given.
Are there any specific moments that stand out to you?
When I started recording my own music, I had the opportunity to go on my first tour with rapper Noname. That happened while I was still in high school, and no one ever questioned that or said, “What are you doing? You need to be studying.” My mom figured out a way to work, be on the road with me, sell merch, and be a comanager. Even to this day—and I’m grown now—my mom comes on every tour, for at least a third of the shows. That’s so meaningful to me because I know that things can shift and change in my life, but that’s the thing that stays the same. I can look out into the crowd or side stage and know that I’m covered.
I mean, that support paid off as you have famous fans in Kelly Rowland, Childish Gambino, and Kali Uchis. Have you received any advice that’s stuck with you as your star rises?
The most recent advice I got was from Mariah Carey, when we did a talk together. One of the questions compared how Mariah has had 19 number one hits, and I just experienced my first hit ever. The interviewer asked how that changes the way I operate in the studio or how I even think about music—like, am I chasing a hit? Basically, I said I don’t want to get in the habit of chasing that type of thing because it could be almost detrimental to the whole thing I’ve built or the integrity of what I’ve been doing.
Mariah’s response was, “But you have to chase it.” I was taken aback, like, “What do you mean by that?” She didn’t really go into detail, but she said, “You’ve gotta go for it.” The more I think about it, maybe she meant that once you find that magic, why wouldn’t you keep chasing that feeling?
With 19 number ones under her belt, she might be onto something!
That just really stuck with me, because it made me think beyond a hit that can come and go. In that, I found a sweet spot and a magic when we finished “Love Me Not.” Regardless of how well the song did, I knew there was magic in it. That’s what I need to be chasing every time I go into the studio. I was really grateful because she kind of checked me, and it gave me a different perspective. That was really great advice, especially for somebody like me, who’s in a position to win and to really go for it. Why wouldn’t I?
Sometimes, we need to be checked to achieve greatness. You just happened to experience the honor and the privilege of being checked by Mariah Carey.
It was an honor!
Let’s talk about your hit, “Love Me Not,” which has taken on a whole new life since you first dropped it last year. I’m wondering how your perception of it has changed since you first wrote it versus now, with so many people connecting to it.
This is just one of those instances where I knew there was something about it. Once we finished it, I felt strongly about it, and so did my team. It was just a matter of getting it to as many ears as possible—that’s the amount of confidence I had in this song. I wish the story was, like, “I had no idea,” but there was something about it that felt similar to when I heard “Hey Ya!” by Outkast for the first time or when I heard “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley—that perfect mix of pop with a soulful edge to it that still feels timeless. This would’ve been a hit in any generation because it just had that quality to it.
I feel so validated in my taste and what I believe in just based on this past year alone. If anything, I’m growing more in love with the song, and as many times as I’ve sung it, I’m finding new ways to approach it and have fun with it.
If you were to look back on this year a decade from now, how do you think you’d describe it?
This has been one of the most transformative years of my life. Not only because of the shift in my career, but I’ve learned so much about myself and the true beauty in time, patience, and savoring certain moments. Turning 26 and thinking about the steps I’ve taken thus far, what matters to me and who I want to be as a person and as an artist has all to do with me slowing down, pausing, and looking around me. I’m seeing what time does and how important it is, when it aligns perfectly, and what that means. I could be upset about this past Grammys, but then I think back on how so much of my career has been about timing. I have to trust that when things don’t happen this time around, there’s a bigger plan or story on the horizon. So just trusting my ability and who I am is what I’m leaning into and what I’ve learned.
Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
