#RAY BLK Announces Debut Album, Shares New Song: Listen

South London-based artist RAY BLK has announced her debut studio album, ACCESS DENIED. The 14-track LP arrives September 17 via Island. Today, Ray has shared a new single featuring Kaash Paige titled “MIA.” Check it out below.

ACCESS DENIED includes guest appearances from Giggs, Stefflon Don, Kojey Radical, Suburban Plaza and more. The LP features the previously released tracks “Lovesick,” “Games” [ft. Giggs], and “Dark Skinned.” Ray wrote and recorded the album during lockdown. “I’ve been looking forward to this moment of releasing my debut album since I was 13 in the studio with MNEK learning how to write songs and knew for certain I wanted to be a singer,” Ray said in a press release. She continued:

Access Denied is for those who like myself, know disappointment too well and have learned to create boundaries as a coping mechanism for self protection. I’ve opened up about how the childhood I had made me guarded, how disappointing relationships made me fear love and how being told no so many times in the music industry kicked me down, but I got back up. I want people to listen to this record and value themselves enough to deny access to those who are undeserving, and to also value themselves enough to keep believing in themselves when they’re denied access to certain spaces and say yes to themselves when the world tells them no.

Of her latest single, Ray added:

“MIA” is my summer anthem as we’re released from lockdown. It’s just about escaping, or being with someone who feels like an escape, like you’re on holiday and just at peace, away from the noise. After being in lockdown for so long and being overwhelmed or feeling low, I’m ready to be out with the people I love the most in our element with this playing in the background as the soundtrack to our summer.