Raia Was

About

With her name nodding to the past, Raia Was is the project of an old soul. Raised by her mother in Downtown Manhattan, she began performing as a teenager, holding a weekly residency at a piano bar on Avenue B and accumulating hundreds of hours of performance experience before beginning her professional career. Having grown up in the scene,

Raia Was is a mainstay within the NY indie community, recording and touring as a vocalist and keyboard player (most recently singing back-up for Weyes Blood on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) as she’s finally stepping into her own solo project as a performer.

Her debut LP Angel I’m Frightened earned her a feature in HBO’s Euphoria with her single You Are. She has received praise from NYLON, All Things Go, Flaunt Magazine, Blackbook Magazine, Slumber and Audio Femme. 

Raia Was has an exceptional ability to push the boundaries of genre and create magnetic work that is honest in its exploration of the intricacies of identity. She performs a controlled suite of music with a rare brooding intensity and haunting sense of color and space set amidst her irreverent mix-and-match approach to live arranging. 

Angel I’m Frightened (Side A/Side B) was produced with Autre Ne Veut alongside contributions from Micah Jasper, Blank For.ms and Justin Lucas Scott. It was mixed by Jon Castelli (Harry Styles, Khalid, Carly Rae Jepson) and mastered by Dale Becker.

“Lustrous alt-pop.” – NYLON

“Everyone who jumped on the Kate Bush bandwagon after ‘Stranger Things’ should get on board the Raia Was bus after ‘What It Feels Like.'”

 – Riff Magazine

“Dance music you can think about.” – All Things Go