Ravyn Lenae - Crush EP (2018)

Ravyn Lenae arrived during the latter half of the 2010s with an atmospheric yet song-oriented form of contemporary R&B that resembled a mix of low-key Erykah Badu and early Little Dragon. Lenae made her debut as a teenager in 2015 with Moon Shoes, an EP produced by fellow Zero Fatigue member Monte Booker. Originally issued as a free download, it was picked up by major-label Atlantic for commercial release the following year. A shorter EP supported by Atlantic, Midnight Moonlight, followed in March 2017. By this point, Lenae had also racked up featured appearances on tracks headlined by Booker, Noname, Mick Jenkins, Saba, and Smino, among others. Remarkably, all this occurred while Lenae was attending Chicago High School for the Arts. "Sticky" was out by the end of 2017 and landed on Crush EP, issued early the following year with the Internet's Steve Lacy featured on two cuts. ~ Andy Kellman.