South London singer-rapper Ray BLK has announced the details for her upcoming debut studio LP Access Denied, including the album’s first single ‘MIA’.
‘MIA’ is a trippy R&B tune with escapist themes. “We should takes this out of town, like ‘Hell Yeah’/Go through the night, we racing through these strobing lights.” According to BLK, the song and the album as a whole touch on themes of perseverance and self-determination, topics the have been rooted in the artist’s psyche since childhood.
“I’ve opened up about how my childhood 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!” the artist explains in a Facebook post.
“Access Denied is for those who, like myself, know disappointment too well and have learned to put up walls as a coping mechanism for self-protection.”
BLK, real name Rita Ekwere, first made waves with her debut EP Havisham back in 2015. Inspired by the character of the same name from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, the album showed off a precise lyrical style becoming of an English scholar.
Two mini-albums, a few featured appearances, including one on Gorillaz ‘The Apprentice’, and an opening slot for Nicki Minaj later, BLK is set to break out in a major way with Access Denied. According the artist, the album’s title is a reference to self-preservation amongst those who would attempt to bring you sorrow or shame.
“I hope people listen to this album and value themselves enough to deny access to those who are undeserving, and to also believe in themselves enough to keep saying yes to themselves when the world keeps telling them no!” she says.
Check out the audio for ‘MIA’ down below. Access Denied is set for a September 17 release.
