Photo courtesy Girl Gang Music
Raveena’s music is a night-in with clean sheets: the things you don’t know you need until you have them. Although it would be easy to write-off Raveena as a simple creature comfort — think a warm bath and lazy Sunday — that is only half the story. Her music is vibey, certainly, but it is also meaningful, even powerful.
Her Friday performance at the Tang was peppered with emotional moments: her tribute to Mac Miller, her candid mentioning of the toxic relationship that inspired her song “If Only,” and her frequent and heartfelt affirmations to the audience. All the while manipulating her spine-tingling falsetto to produce sounds like pure sunlight.
What makes Raveena unique is not necessarily that her voice is unlike anyone else —although I have a hard time thinking of an adequate comparison — rather her willingness to be vulnerable. Her realness is what resonates. On that front, Raveena is in a league of her own.
With a sound like liquid gold, and a presence like medicine, it is no wonder why Raveena is in the midst of a musical moment. It’s been less than a year since she dropped Shanti, her first EP, but it has not taken her long to become a sensation. She is included in the lineup for Tyler, the Creator’s November music festival Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, alongside greats like Ms. Lauryn Hill and SZA.
As her career skyrockets, the Skidmore students who had the privilege of seeing her at last Friday’s Tang show can count themselves among a select group lucky enough to have experienced her powerful vulnerability, her enveloping warmth. As the first Student Entertainment Committee (SEC) show of the year, Raveena set the bar high for shows to come. Her airy, smooth vocals and nourishing stage presence made for a memorable night as well as formidable competition for future campus performances.
Regardless of whether the rest of the semester’s performers stack up, one thing is certain: Skidmore was lucky to have Raveena.