Armed with a full arsenal of potent lyrics, and a rhyme flow as fast-paced as it is uncompromisingly hard-hitting, emcee and producer Rayn represents a rare and dying breed in the Hip-Hop community – the conscious lyricist! In a music scene overrun by commercialism, conformism, and illusion, this native New Yorker boldly chooses to harness the more lasting powers of truth, individualism, and social awareness when expressing herself as an artist. Channeling the energy of her inner passions, frustrations and motivations into her songwriting, Rayn delivers music with real and organic substance while exhibiting true verbal finesse. Whether tackling topics like the strengths and weaknesses of Hip-Hop music, as in songs like “Conscious Emcees” and “Hip-Hop-crisy,” or deconstructing the role of government, as in songs like “America,” she maintains a razor-sharp focus on the issues that move her most, translating life’s complex cultural landscapes into vivid verbal portraits.
Not signed to a label, Rayn is currently in the process of writing her first album. In mid-2008, she produced, recorded and released her first demo, comprised of four tracks. Making it available to internet audiences worldwide via all the major social networking websites, she has since continued to receive overwhelmingly positive public feedback. Interested in further collaborations with other artists, Rayn produced and recorded a track for unsigned Brooklyn emcee, Count Vanacula, in late 2008, entitled “VD.” Intent upon bringing the rawness of live Hip-Hop to the stage, since late 2009, she has been performing her music at a number of small, local artist venues in the North NJ area. In mid-2010, Rayn answered an open-call collaboration opportunity presented online by John Forte on his hot-topic song, “Oil on the Shore.” The resulting track is one of her most inspired songs yet! More recently, Rayn created the highly-interactive website, http://AcidRayn.com, which features her full body of work.
Raised in a tight-knit family by her mother, a homemaker, and father, a mechanic and musician, Rayn was the third of four children, having two brothers and a sister. With her parents working hard towards the goal of providing a middle class life for their family, Rayn spent a great deal of her childhood moving. Making her way from the rural spreads of upstate New York to the suburbs of New Jersey, life was anything but ordinary for this gifted young artist growing up.
Although she was nearly silent in school, Rayn was an excellent student, and quickly excelled in reading and writing. Outside of the classroom, she developed a keen interest in literature and in music, and dedicated much of her free time towards enjoying them both. When Rayn was seven, her parents financed their first home. Inspired by her guitarist father, she started taking piano lessons, and also got her first taste of rap music. Though her life seemed to be stabilizing, all of this soon changed. At eleven years old, a downturn in the economy drove Rayn and her family into homelessness and the New York City shelter system. With their lives thrown into chaos, they endured their bleak circumstances for nearly four years, moving from shelter to shelter and borough to borough. Taking her situation in stride, Rayn continued to do well in school, and found much solace in the creative world of books, poetry and Hip-Hop music.
At 15 years old, her parents finally secured the family an apartment in Brooklyn, NY and Rayn began the arduous task of starting over again. Reflecting on what she had been through, she began to write some of her first rap verses. After graduating from high school with honors, Rayn began attending college. While working on-campus to afford her textbooks, she still made time for her rhymes and the Dean’s List. Penning full songs, and spitting her lyrics on the stages of small, underground open mics and private parties alike, Rayn found that she enjoyed the exhilaration of live performance.
In 2002, Rayn married. Later that year, she decided to put her studies on hold. Though she was only a semester shy of graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, her priorities had changed. Rayn was no longer interested in pursuing a conventional career. Instead, she started up a small computer repair business from her home. With success at being her own boss, Rayn continued to hit the stage. In 2003, she performed with the jazz band Victor Jones and Cultureversy at the Zinc Bar in downtown NYC. Being well-received by the audience, Rayn realized that it was time to bring her sound to the recording booth. Building a home studio, she began to develop herself as a producer, and patiently crafted her first demo.
Currently unsigned, Rayn is presently in the process of composing her first album. She has released her demo to internet audiences worldwide, and continues to garner many positive reviews. Open to collaboration, she has produced music for , and has also been a featured guest for other artists. She performs her music at a number of local Hip-Hop venues in North Jersey. With an established presence on all major social, music and video networking services, as well as her own website, Rayn has come to take the music industry by storm!
(All portions of this writing, by Rayn Kleipe, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License)
Awesome
Thanx!