Rising singer and rapper Rio Rainz shares vibrant new single “Mutual Butterflies”
Rio Rainz - mutual butterflies (audio)
Stream / Download “mutual butterflies” HERE
“alt-R&B wunderkind with real heart-on-sleeve power” - NME
“The 18-year-old sets himself apart… as he raps diaristic lyrics with a distinctly UK flow” - The Face
“cemented himself in the UK’s burgeoning alternative-DIY scene with a sonic that speaks to generations trying to find their way” - Wonderland
Today, on September 6th, Rising London singer-rapper Rio Rainz returns with his latest release, “Mutual Butterflies,” produced by Oscar Moos. This song is his way of transforming a bad experience into a winning song. After the nightmare of missing an anticipated festival appearance due to illness, Rio was determined to turn things around. "It was the worst feeling in the world. I came home feeling pretty upset with myself. I told myself that the next session I have, I’m going to create something beautiful to make up for what happened." The result is a deeply emotional and intimate track, capturing the spark and growth of young love.
Music has been the driving force in Rio’s life from an early age. As a shy and reserved child of Jamaican and Irish heritage, he grew up surrounded by a constant stream of music at home, including soul, classic reggae, and singer-songwriters like Amy Winehouse, who remains a major influence on him today. Music helped him build confidence; after his mother bought him a keyboard, Rio spent weekends playing in church or participating in performing arts classes at Centre Stage in his native north London. Following his parents' separation, he split his time between the city and the countryside, using introspective lyrics to openly share his highs and adolescent struggles, hoping to support others through his vulnerability. Rio has developed a rare perspective for someone his age, harbouring a dislike for modern trends while cherishing genuine, real-life connections. This distinctive worldview allows him to seamlessly merge his diverse creative talents into his music. His genre-fluid sound reflects a blend of all his influences, breaking stereotypes and creating a multi-layered musical experience.
Rio burst onto the scene at fifteen with a powerful Black Box freestyle that went viral, confirming his rapping and singing abilities to the masses. His debut EP, "Withdrawal Symptoms," and follow-up EP, "Cobwebs in My Room," have cemented his position in the thriving DIY-Alt-Rap/R&B scene. This release was followed by a standout, sold-out debut showcase at The Lower Third, further establishing his presence in the music industry. Rio's fanbase has quadrupled these past few years thanks to co-signs from The Face, NME, Hypebeast, MTV, and Complex. Now Rio is on the path he wants to be, he aims to help others who have struggled or are struggling in similar ways.
Rio Rainz press shot
Biography:
Rio Rainz is still only in his early years, but has seen enough to last him a lifetime. The young Londoner’s songs are the sum of these experiences – snippets of life vignettes, nights spent at house parties till 6am, emotions in relationships, youthful angst. There’s also frank accounts of life’s troubles, struggles with mental health, and some of his most vulnerable experiences, all wrapped in his own genre-blending spin.
2024 sees him release single Bad, the start of a new series of drops ready to wow listeners. “Bad” is inspired by his first time at Notting Hill Carnival, a freewheeling day wrapping up at a house party in Brixton at 6am. Its energy is all laidback, jazzy and swaggering, filled with the rule breaking energy of fun in one’s youth. It’s a track that speaks to his creative process.
Primarily building songs by freestyling, the artist often runs aloud the thoughts in his mind, notoriously never going to the studio with anything written down. Rio’s main driver is his emotions in the moment, stirred by the guitar strings, production and vibes of his settings.“That's translated within most songs,” he says.”It's literally giving my frequencies, and you can actually hear it on the other side. When you listen back, you can hear how I felt in that moment.”
Single “Paranoia” dives into Rio’s natural instincts, driven by an obsessive focus on every tiny detail. This track reflects that uneasy, hyperaware state of mind. He’s a firm “genre blender,” as inspired as much by King Krule as he is Michael Jackson. It’s testament to an artist exploring his sound, inspired by others who also spoke directly to their own generations; the likes of Juice WRLD, Billie Eilish, Amy Winehouse and more, as well as a mix of indie, reggae, alternative genres.
“Mutual Butterflies” is his way of spinning a bad experience into a winning track. It came after what would be a nightmare for any artist – missing an anticipated festival appearance due to illness. “It was the worst feeling in the world, I came home feeling pretty upset with myself. I told myself that the next session I have, I'm going to make something beautiful to make up for what's happened.” The result is a deliciously emotional and intimate track, seeing the artist narrating those scenes of love that speak to the spark that grows in young relationships.
And “17” details challenges with mental health, with the artist candidly “putting myself in a time machine to that time of my life.” Rio’s self-assurance comes from a traumatic place.; he spent part of 2021 in hospital with mental health problems and routinely writes about the experience in his music. The experience left him with several realisations, and set him on a more honest and individual path.
“I'm also talking about themes the at involve overdrinking, a lot of self-destructive things. “It all captures how other people may view that, and perceive me as a person for the way that I'm dealing with flaws.” In an increasingly anxious world, Rio makes music drawing from his own struggles and flips it.
Music has been the driving force in Rio’s life from an early age. He’d been a shy child, often reserved as a kid. “Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of people I knew I didn’t want to be like,” he says. “That made me pretty reserved and observant to
nearly everything way more than I’d like. I’d watch things twice, and stay paranoid. In my opinion, only the paranoid survive.”
Something that would help him grow in confidence was music. Of Jamaican and Irish heritage, he’d been brought up under a constant stream of sound in his home; soul, classic reggae, and singer-songwriters like Amy Winehouse who remain a major influence on him today. After his mother bought him a keyboard, Rio would spend weekends either playing in church, or acting and singing in performing arts classes at Centre Stage in his native north London.
He split his time between the capital and the countryside after his parents separated and his dad moved out of the family home. During those tough times of great change, he would find comfort by making music. “It’s an escape for me,” he says, comparing the act of writing a song to therapy. “When I make music I’m not thinking about anything else. I’m not in my head. It’s escaping reality.”
It was in his mid teens that pursuing music would become a reality for him. He’d been multi-talented; besides dropping music online creating buzz around self-made tracks, he’d also had a penchant for football and was torn between taking the sport full-time. “On the football pitches, people would be coming up to me and singing lyrics,” he recalls. “I had to decide between each route. I chose this route because through music, I felt like I can affect people directly, help people, and make people feel things.”
It wouldn’t take long before his breakout moment came calling at 17. Appearing on a now-viral Black Box cypher, he’d make an unconventional choice that paid off, choosing to sing his freestyle instead of rapping. It was an appearance that’d make him known to many of the people that compile his fans now, and kickstart his professional career.
Now he is on the path he wants to be, his aim is to help others who have struggled, or are struggling in similar ways to him. Rio knows from experience that the world is a confusing place, and that the way forward isn’t always clear. “My head’s a maze. There’s many layers to my personality, which is quite unpredictable at times, but that’s what makes me who I am.”
Writing is his way to make sense of it all. “Showcasing that vulnerability is important to me in the sounds I make, whether it be drugs, love, sex, money. I’m finally starting to understand myself more, and that will be displayed with my releases upcoming. I feel that people who are really going through these kind of problems are going to gravitate to my music, and I want to be there to help them.”
Rio Rainz "mutual butterflies" single cover art
