FSD Feature: Catching up with Ravyn Lenae on the Telefone Tour

When asked about just where this tendency to write beyond herself and her own experiences comes from, she credits it to “being raised by some powerful and mature women. But also sometimes the characters are older than me. Or much older, so that’s how they come out. I don’t know. It’s really, really weird.”

Still being in the middle of high school as Moon Shoes was created, Ravyn explains that it wasn’t originally a project, “It’s funny,” she tells me, “I didn’t even know I was recording a project. I thought I was just recording music. It was that time when I was just getting into the music scene and meeting everyone. I was super thirsty to get all my thoughts out and the music and the stories that I needed to tell. So, it didn’t come about until after I had made all the songs and was like, ‘Oh, this kinda sounds cohesive. Why not make it into kind of a debut thing?’ It happened really organically.” That approach to simply having fun making music is something shared amongst Ravyn’s circle of musician friends, which includes regular collaborator, producer Monte Booker, and St. Louis transplant Smino, who had just moved to Chicago around the time Moon Shoes came together.

I ask about any plans for a project in the near future, and she explains that it’s coming; “I am working on an EP…It’s called Midnight Moonlight, and it’s dropping sometime next month [Friday, March 3rd]. If, you know, if I do what I’m supposed to do [laughs].” Ravyn goes on to explain the differences between her freshman and sophomore efforts, “I think the biggest difference is definitely vocals. I’ve advanced a lot vocally and it shows in my writing.”

Still, she makes sure to say she won’t be straying from the loose plan she used for her debut effort. “I like to keep that mindset of me just being the musician making music. Because as soon as it becomes more than that, the music is either booty, or your heart is just not in it.”

Ravyn asks to pause the conversation when she sees her friend Elton Aura off alone texting someone on his phone. She tells someone to inform Elton that she requests his presence. She immediately quizzes him on when his lady friend she’s heard about will be coming through. Elton, almost embarrassed, assures her that they’ll meet. As he leaves, she smiles, but gives him a look that promises she’s playing no games about meeting this person her friend is getting close to.

I find myself looking around the room, noting the various musicians, artists, and photographers boisterously joking around with each other. This is their friends’ night, meaning they’re sharing in the joy. Ravyn notices this, and gets ready to get them to quiet down. I tell her it won’t be necessary. For a brief second, I notice a focus on her face that wasn’t there before. This is the collected fierceness I imagine she brings to studio sessions, to writing every morning and every night before bed.

As she prepares to wrap up senior year, even at a school for performance arts, Ravyn is clearly ready to start the next chapter. “I’m ready to get out of there, you know?” she says, smiling but still very definitely meaning it. “I feel like everything runs its course, and this has definitely ran its. His? School isn’t a “his” is it? [laughs]. I definitely appreciate everything I’ve gotten out of ChiArts, and I think I’m doing a pretty good job of applying everything they taught me into the real world and my own career, but I’m definitely ready for the next chapter in my life. Personally and musically.” Without her saying it, or only listening to her music, it can be easy to forget just how young she is, and how much more she can still do.