Lily Rayne’s beats weren’t made to bounce around the confines of Rhode Island forever. They’ve been gaining momentum for years, ricocheting off cramped state lines, revving up to burst out at just the right moment. And at long last, that moment arrived last week (July 6) via Girl on Rhode.
The Providence-raised artist dribbles her hip-hop-R&B fusion down South on her new record, which came together at Atlanta’s Super Sound Studios during the COVID-19 pandemic. Girl on Rhode unearths Rayne’s suave songwriting — cultivated here in New England — and replants it in a warmer climate, where she’s determined to thrive independently. “Stop picking up my phone cuz I don’t need no one, ” she raps on “Coup Aint Got No Friends” — which is perhaps why her 10-track record is guest-free and undiluted by any would-be featured artists, allowing Rayne to sprout new roots in Georgia on her own terms.
“This album is my heart because It’s all the feelings I’ve had being from one of the smallest states in America, going out into the big world and soaking up everything that was around me to be able to tell my life and my story through my eyes,” Rayne shares.
Girl on Rhode is just that: The tale of one woman from one petite state, and the substantial talent that refuses to squeeze itself into boundaries or in between other stories. Let’s just say it’s best to make some room for Rayne on your next playlist before an algorithm does it for you.
Get hip below.