From Chicago to Coachella: Revyn Lenae
Posted on August 29, 2025
Joey Chou
As her viral hit “Love Me Not” hits Asia Pop 40’s chart, Chicago-born R&B singer Ravyn Lenae caught our attention with her 11-track 2024 album “Bird’s Eye,” where you can also find household-name collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign and Childish Gambino. We connected with her to talk about her music career and what inspires her.
Tell us about your origin story, geographically and musically.
I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I think I got a lot of my early music taste from my mom and my dad. My mom played a lot of RnB, anything soulful. A lot of Destiny’s Child. A lot of Aaliyah, India Arie, Lauryn Hill. My dad loved hip hop. So a lot of Outkasts, Pharrell, Devin the Dude, anything Timbaland was his jam. So that definitely informed me early on. But I think as I got a little older and started to meet different people and got on SoundCloud and started to discover other types of music, that’s where I really got to merge what I come from and also what is new to me.
What song gives you flashback to the kind of music you would listen to as a younger Ravyn Lenae?
I would say there’s a song by one of my favorite artists, Denise Williams, called Silly. And it’s one of my favorite songs. I remember hearing it every day in the car on the way to school. They played it every day, so I kind of associate it with that time in my life. But it’s also just a great song.
Women in music have been dominating the top of charts around the world. How do you feel about this movement?
It feels so good to see this renaissance happening, and now to be a part of it. People like Doechii and Victoria Monet Chappell Roan, Charlie XCX, Sabrina Carpenter…are all doing what they want to do in their own right. But I think the thing that they have in common is that they’ve all been doing this for more than six years, seven years. So I think it’s so inspiring for somebody like me who’s also been putting in that amount of time to see that pay off and to see the reward. So every year I get to watch the Grammys, the VMAs, and I see them on stage. And it’s a new girl each time. It just empowers me that, “okay, it’s possible, and one day that’s going to be me.”
How are you taking the sudden viral status off “Love Me Not”?
It’s honestly so crazy because you can be going a certain rhythm for so long, and then suddenly something completely shifts that. So, I think I’ve been, you know, adjusting to that shift, but also at the same time thinking about all these amazing things that are coming to me, that I’ve dreamt about…that I’ve literally cried about for so long. So it feels good to feel like all those years paid off, and I think I’ve learned so much through those years, and really wouldn’t be who I am without that time.
You’ve toured with SZA, Noname and soon Sabrina Carpenter. What do you take away from each of these experiences?
I think I take something from every tour where I’m I’m opening. I think that’s the most valuable thing I can walk away with. I’m really excited about Sabrina’s tour because I’ve never played in arenas, so I think that’ll be a completely new experience. And also seeing how she approaches her shows for such a large venue is something that I’m going to be able to take with me for when I’m there. So I’m really, really excited for that.
The red hair has been a signature look for “Bird’s Eye.” What’s the motif?
My grandma, in regards to my hair, she dyed my hair red for the first time. So the cover art for Bird’s Eye is me kind of memorializing that the same sink where she died. Bird’s Eye felt like autumn to me. I think there was some transitional things happening. But I was able to see when you come out of that you have a sense of clarity and energy.
