Our Origins feature series provides artists with a space to run through everything that went into their latest project. Today, RAYE shares insight into her powerful new single, “Hard Out Here.”
To return with a new single that’s at once inspirational, orchestral, catchy, brutally honest, and uplifting isn’t an easy feat — but RAYE makes it seem so with her new track, “Hard Out Here,” out Friday, July 1st.
It’s a song peppered with details but feels somewhat universal nonetheless, and is especially relatable for any woman who has ever overcome a man attempting to silence her and bounced back that much stronger. There’s a reality out there where we never got to hear this song, RAYE reveals. “The initial version of this song was created years ago — however, I wasn’t given permission from my label to release the song, so it sat in a folder collecting dust.”
Now, starting a new chapter with artist services company Human Re Sources, “Hard Out Here” is an anthemic ode to rising from the ashes. “‘It’s about the bounce back, a rant reflecting on the last 8 years of my career, and me preparing to take control of my narrative, my art and my life truly for the first time,” she tells Consequence.
Watch the powerful and evocative video for “Hard Out Here” below, and read on for her breakdown of the Origins for the track and its accompany visual.