14 June 2024 - 0 Comments

Filipino-Kiwi talent Ray Leslie releases a love bomb with new track I Still Love You Feat. Crystal Chen off her bold new EP Fantasy & Future.

I Still Love You Feat. Crystal Chen is a letter in a bottle sent out to the ocean, all love and nostalgia wrapped up in a bittersweet track about growth through shared pain. A song about two broken people reminiscing and ruminating on what they have endured in the past few years, only to come through it all and still say that there is love.

Revealing an intimate chapter in her story with this perfect depiction of another side to Ray – one riddled with angst and trauma, nostalgic, and hopeless in love, I Still Love You Feat. Crystal Chen is a sentimental love song expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure as she sings:“....that summer my best so far, so yeah you messed me up but that was fun babe…”

Ray explains: “That line is exactly what this song is essentially about, cementing the idea that while it was tumultuous and painful at times, it was still really fun.. I’m a romantic, and I guess no matter how old I’ll get, I feel like I’ll still love like it’s the first time.”

A collection of melodious, powerfully reflective and honest alt-hip-hop tunes, the reveal of Fantasy & Future was previewed by the release of two other singles and accompanying videos, with first single the silky funk track Who Do You See, followed up with the soothing and lyrically adroit The Fridge All Stocked Feat. AWGGEY.

Finally celebrating the release of her 5-track EP and short movie Fantasy & Future is a dream come true, the culmination of nearly a year and a half’s driven focus involving and completed with the talents of the Light Beings Network. The beautifully shot video is just one of the five EP music videos that comprise the accompanying short film, also called Fantasy & Future.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR I STILL LOVE YOU FEAT. CRYSTAL CHEN HERE

WATCH THE SHORT FILM FANTASY & FUTURE HERE

Within the past five years, Ray has released a total of two albums and three EP’s that have revealed an artist perfecting her sound as she continues to tap into her boundless potential. Last year’s lo-fi aural delight Dog Days placed on the Top 20 Hot NZ Singles Chart and secured airplay on Mai FM, and chill cathartic single Blue Cold built on the buzz this razor-focused and determined rapper has been creating since first hitting the scene in 2018.

This progressive young, queer rapper is a shining light of raw hip-hop talent thriving in the fertile, burgeoning Auckland underground music scene. Never one to follow and unafraid to pursue her passions, Ray Leslie creates exceptional music which sounds like a new iteration of hip-hop, one that fuses the ambition inherent in the genre with the context of the immigrant hustle.

Destined to be one to watch, keep your ear to the ground as Ray Leslie's star rises, and you'll witness an artist evolving into an unstoppable force.

Join Ray Leslie and the Light Beings Network to celebrate the release of Fantasy & Future on the 22nd of June at Cassette Nine, Auckland.

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