Adult Third Culture Kid music artist Raissa embodies the kind of bold contradictions that make for truly transcendent pop: she’s wildly inventive yet refined in musicality, sensitive yet self-possessed, fiercely intelligent yet deeply attuned to the sensory pleasures of melody and groove.
Not only the outcome of her global upbringing — a journey that includes being born in Spain, then spending her childhood in Beijing, China; Sydney, Australia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — the Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A.-based singer/songwriter/producer’s originality stems from her imagination and eclectic mix of influences (early-millennium hip-hop, ’80s art-pop, tropicália, West African dance music and much more).
“In the past I’ve felt frustrated with the fact that I don’t fit neatly into any type of box — I belong to so many things, but at the same time I belong to nothing,” says Raissa. “Now I’m finally starting to see that as a strength, and maybe the most important thing about me as a person and an artist.”
MULTILINGUAL MUSIC
A multilingual talent whose lyrics shift from English to Spanish to French, Raissa partly attributes her near-encyclopedic knowledge of music to her parents, who raised her on pop iconoclasts like Prince and David Bowie and songwriter/poets like Leonard Cohen — an essential catalyst for her own musical development.
“When I was 12, I watched a documentary about Leonard Cohen, and he talked about how he’d started writing songs after learning to play just a few chords on guitar,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘That doesn’t sound so hard,’ and then I started writing songs too.”
After teaching herself GarageBand at age 14, Raissa began self-recording and quickly amassed a sizable but entirely secret stash of songs.
“At the time, I was living in Malaysia and didn’t know anyone who’d even attempted to make music, so the idea of turning it into something bigger seemed impossible,” she explains.
I belong to so many things, but at the same time I belong to nothing.
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Upon heading to London for art school at 19, however, Raissa felt an overwhelming need to take her music to the next level.
“I was alone in this big city and felt really low, and music became a lifeline,” she says. “I started making music with a friend just for fun, and then one day I randomly uploaded a song to SoundCloud.”
By the next morning, that track had surpassed 20,000 streams — a turn of events that caught the attention of several established producers looking to collaborate, and soon found her flying out to Los Angeles, Calif., U.S.A. to set her music career in motion.
I was alone in this big city and felt really low, and music became a lifeline.
Since making her debut with the 2020 single “Bullying Boys,” Raissa has continually turned out songs that match their exquisitely detailed and high-energy sound with lyrics that subtly transform our perception of the world — a dynamic in full effect on her new EP Cute Threat.
Newly signed to Neon Gold Records, Raissa is now set to deliver a new body of work affirming the depth and power of her personal vision.
Mainly co-produced by Raissa and her longtime creative partner Evan Voytas, her debut project for Neon Gold encompasses everything from the tongue-in-cheek swagger of its title track — “Guapa” – to the raw catharsis of “No Genius”: a galvanizing collaboration with Rahim Redcar (aka Christine and the Queens), built on certain beats and Raissa’s hot-tempered but hypnotic outpouring of frustration.
“That song came from thinking about how the most powerful entities in the world profit from creating division among the most vulnerable,” says Raissa, who refers to “No Genius” as “some tough love for myself and my fellow human.”
Check out the song below, along with her newest release, “Guapa.”
