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On Ravyn Lenae, and six summer projects from Black women defying genre.
September 2, 2026
BY DeAsia Paige
When asked about the racial labels associated with genre by The FADER, Chicago singer Ravyn Lenae gave a seemingly sensible answer that went viral in a bad way:
“The Black artists who’ve come before us really did work so hard so that we don’t have to live in one box. I think it’s a disservice to Black culture, and Black art as a whole, not to be able to just fly free,” she said.
The full interview is 30 minutes long. In it, she talked about the evolution of her career and sound, sharing that she identifies as an R&B singer just as much as she identifies as a pop singer. But the aforementioned one-minute clip recently wreaked havoc online, with people critiquing Lenae for apparently distancing herself from R&B and Black audiences.
It wouldn’t be the first time she faced such scrutiny. Last year, as her hit “Love Me Not” was climbing the charts, an X user described her as the “only Black girl in the white friend group” on social media. The vociferous critiques against Lenae are unfair, revealing the longstanding plight of Black artists whose Blackness doesn’t fit neatly into the narrow confines expected of them by the industry and audiences. Whitney Houston was booed at the 1989 Soul Train Awards because her pop appeal felt antagonistic to her Black fans. Mariah Carey’s race became public fodder early in her career partially because of her pop ambitions.
Now more than ever, there are a legion of Black female musicians like Lenae who understand that history and are actively resisting labels, regardless of the backlash associated with it. The summer of 2026 is sheer proof of that. While the songs like Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” Drake’s “Janice STFU” and Yung Miami’s “Spend Dat” have dominated the season, an equally riveting wave has ruled in the periphery: Black women bending genres as easily as they’re pigeonholed into them.
This summer alone, major releases from the likes of Tyla, Ayra Starr, Chlöe, and Willow have yielded some of the most captivating music of their respective careers. Chlöe’s Timbaland-produced Resurrection mixtape beautifully weaves hyperpop and ‘80s funk after failed attempts to meet mainstream moments. With A*POP, Tyla continues her brash, sultry Afropop dominance. Rising stars like Rachel Chinouriri and FLO have released singles and albums that deftly introduce their soulful pop sound to the masses.
Though critiques of their art and their place within it remain, Black female musicians have inundated the summer with a variety of albums that defy any labels or boxes, creating rich soundscapes on their own terms. The trend makes one thing clear: there’s been no better time to be a Black woman bending genres than right now.
From Kelela to girlsweetvoiced, below is a list of albums from this summer carving more expansive lanes for Black women in music.
As her stage name suggests, girlsweetvoiced’s tone is sublime. It’s likely that she could transform any top 40 hit into a serene lullaby that poses as a personal serenade. Perhaps that’s the appeal of her viral videos that have captured the attention of SZA and Joni Mitchell over the past year. With her debut album Lovesweet, released July 24 via A24 Music, girlsweetvoiced uses bedroom pop and folk to unravel the unsettling feelings of having unrequited love. “Downfall of Little Me” makes growing pains sound enthralling. “Energizer,” backed by video games-esque synths, is an infectious track about love being a losing investment. But, with a soothing tone and vibrant production, girlsweetvoiced makes romance and all of its pitfalls worth the gamble.
The classically-trained, chameleonic soprano of Ravyn Lenae comfortably fits any soundscape. Blue Island, the Chicago singer’s third studio album, released August 7, is the latest showcase of that prowess. Throughout the project she wields pop, R&B, soul, soft-rock—and everything in between—as a source of incisive introspection that’s as gritty as it is graceful. The folksy angst of “Saturday Night” vividly captures the tension of wanting to leave a lover but not wanting to let them go. “Handle” is a pop-grunge track embracing the rocky path to a rockier love. Blue Island is sufficient proof of Lenae’s mastery of fusing genres as easily as society aims to separate them, especially when a Black woman is leading the charge.
On Outdated, Chenayder’s brand of lo-fi pop is an ethereal delight. Her lyrics are diaristic manifestos, and, when paired with a penchant for a jazzy ambience, they sound and feel like a warm hug on a bad day, even amid immense uncertainty (“Hopefully, everything will be ok,” she yearns on “Salt”). Outdated, which dropped July 23, finds the calm in the discomfort and the hope in the hopeless. Throughout the album, Chenayder wields a genre-defying approach as a superpower for weathering thunderous storms—granting a vulnerable introduction to an Orlando singer with a poetic musicality and potent charm.
Willow has displayed her musical ingenuity since the age of 9. Then, her pop hit “Whip My Hair” had kids and parents alike practicing its namesake with ease. Every subsequent release since then has bent, stretched, and charted new paths from the pop standard that marked her debut. The Thread, Willow’s latest album that dropped on July 24 and her second project this year, is a cosmic, meditative offering that deepens the singer’s affinity for fusing soundscapes and instruments. Take “Tall Baby,” the album’s glorious centerpiece, for example. Willow’s impressive vocal dexterity—from a breathy falsetto to rock belting—weaves jazz, funk, folk and punk into a behemoth of a track that echoes the album’s spiritual catharsis.
Watch Willow explain math rock, Michael Cera, and sacred geometry on our new show Explain It Like I’m 5.
After gaining mainstream attention for a collaboration on Tyler, the Creator’s Grammy winning album Call Me If You Get Lost, Fana Hues has released two albums that further showcase the depths of her alluring gossamer of a voice. Catch n’Release, her EP released August 4, finds the California artist remixing alternative pop and gospel-tinged traditions for solace amid heartbreak. “Stowaway” is flooded in an Americana blues vibe that’s also reminiscent of the tone heard in Negro spirituals. “Red Wine Holiday” is an upbeat pop and soul charmer that creates celebration out of a failed romance. If Hues’ previous releases underscored her penchant for weaving folk and R&B, her latest offering expands that palette into new territory, carving a promising future for the budding singer-songwriter.
Kelela is considered (as the kids would say) a “mutha” of electronic R&B. Since 2013, the 43-year-old producer and singer has galvanized an underground community of Kelelians enthralled by her sheer mastery of weaving the traditions of Black music with electronic experimentation. Her 2017 debut Take Me Apart breathed soul on the dancefloor. Its follow-up, 2023’s Raven brought the spirit, flaunting a more ambient, experimental edge that made the dancefloor her personal altar. With her latest album New Avatar, she switched gears again: adding lush rock and punk soundscapes to encapsulate both her romantic anxieties and affirmations. Released July 10, the new project sharpens her adept skill of transforming the dancefloor into an relentless source of sonic inspiration.