Brandon Hoeg
Ravyn Lenae has a distinctive falsetto tone that blends melodically with her vibrato. Her new album Bird’s eye view is a documentation of Lenae’s different phases of life. As we know from every artist, a work often refers to the depths of her life. Her work included stories from her childhood and her growth into the woman she is today. From a bird’s eye view, we can see her in all her facets.
While her musical inspiration lies in the tunes of Janet Jackson, Fleetwood Mac and No Doubt, her beauty influences have been influenced by Doja Cat’s recent makeup looks. “I think it’s so good because she finds that balance of dewy skin and sharp eyes. I love that,” she gushed to BEING. On the wellness front, the singer has particularly liked Thorne’s offerings. The aspiring R&B singer recently partnered with the science-backed wellness and personalized performance supplement brand in 2023. To maintain her good health while she’s constantly putting on makeup, traveling, singing, etc., her favorite products to help her bounce back are Zinc Bisglycinate for healthy skin and eyes, Magnesium Bisglycinate for muscle relaxation, and Sleep+ for a deep, restful sleep.
“I’ve been using some of the Thorne products. I really like their Memoractiv supplement. I feel like it keeps me focused in sessions and makes my thought process a little more focused because sometimes there’s a million things going on in my head and it’s sometimes hard to fully engage in a session or a song when there’s a lot going on outside of it,” she explained. “So I’ve also been loving magnesium. I’ve been mixing it in some water before bed but especially around release time I generally get very restless and have a very bad night’s sleep. I find it hard to switch off, relax and sleep through the night so that’s been helpful for me.”
The singer has also incorporated some beauty products into her daily routine, such as Ceraves Hydrating Facial Cleanser, Embryolisse moisturizer and Black Girl Sunscreen. On her skin, she likes to keep things simple and effective, while her hair has undergone a transformation that has brought her back to herself.
“This project was interesting to me because I think we naturally like to think of a new project as a new era or a way of outdoing yourself every time and getting better and better by expressing yourself through clothing and hair and makeup,” she shared. “For me, it felt like the complete opposite. It was almost a return to the basics of my personality and identity. That’s why on the cover, you just see a white tank top and a very classic, timeless approach to clothing and how I want to portray myself right now. And then the big hair – my hair is still red, but I dyed it red, so it’s a different shade of red that I’ve never done before. You feel so confident about yourself, your identity, that you’re able to move through different shades of life, and that can be represented through hair or makeup,” she added. The best new beginnings always seem to be a return to yourself. “On the cover, I’m dyeing my hair red in my grandmother’s basement. In fact, I dyed my hair red for the first time in her basement.”
At her young, exploratory age, she chose red as a sign of her identity. She was drawn to the boldness, the hue, its striking power and the passion it embodied. The choice of red or red reflects her evolution in her career. Although she is only in her twenties, the “Love Is Blind” singer shows a tremendous amount of judgment and wisdom. “The longer you are in an industry you are passionate about, the easier it is to get into phases where you don’t listen to your own voice and accept too many opinions as fact. It’s easy to lose your own sense of direction and self when you are pursuing something or are ambitious. With this album, I have returned to a state where the inner 12-year-old Raven is resurfacing. I don’t really care what people think, but really rely on my impulses and intuition when it comes to music and what feels good to me.”
