Jordan Rakei (born 23 May 1992) is a New Zealand-Australian musician, singer, songwriter and record producer currently based in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Rakei has also released and performed under the moniker Dan Kye.

Early life

Rakei was born in 1992 in the small town of

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the M ...

on New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

to a New Zealander mother and a

Cook Islands Māori Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply c ...

father. At the age of three, Rakei and his family moved to Brisbane, Australia. He lived in Brisbane until he made the move to London in 2015.

Music career

2013–2016: Early career and debut album

Rakei's first releases were ''Live at Recording Oasis'' and ''Franklin's Room'' EPs in 2013, self-released, aged 21 years old. Less than a year later in 2014, Rakei releases, ''Groove Curse'' EP, was the first release on the Soul Has No Tempo label. Less than a year after this EP, he made the move to London. After working with artists such as FKJ and

Tom Misch Thomas Abraham Misch (born 25 June 1995) is an English musician and producer. He began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2012 and released his debut studio album ''Geography'' in 2018. In 2020, he released his second studio album '' What Kinda Mu ...

, in December 2015 he was part of a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination for his work on

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media *Disclosure (The Gathering album), ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012 *Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo *Disclosure (novel), ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael ...

's track "Masterpiece", released on their 2015 album ''

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

''. Rakei released his debut album ''Cloak'' through his own label, 4101 Records on 3 June 2016. Later that year, he unveiled his dancefloor alias Dan Kye, and released his first EP, titled ''Joy, Ease, Lightness'', on Rhythm Section records.

2017–2020: ''Wallflower'' and subsequent releases

On 6 June 2017, it was announced that Rakei had signed to

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

records and would be releasing his next album with them. With this announcement came the release of his new single "Sorceress". Later that month, he made his

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

live debut on the Pussy Parlure stage. On 22 September 2017, ''Wallflower'' was released on Ninja Tune. ''Wallflower'' was later shortlisted for Best Australian Album in the 2017

Australian Music Prize The Australian Music Prize (often shortened to the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The award was made by Australian Music Pri ...

. A tour of North America in spring 2018 included a performance at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Festival and a live session for

Jason Bentley Jason Bentley (born July 27, 1970) is an American radio disc jockey of electronic music in Los Angeles, California. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' and as Music Director for KCRW. Previ ...

's radio show on

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

. In 2018, Rakei released the single "Wildfire", released on 10 May 2018, and also provided the vocals on the 2018

Nightmares on Wax George Evelyn (born 15 January 1970), better known by his stage name Nightmares on Wax or DJ E.A.S.E., is an English DJ and record producer from Leeds. His music has been released by Warp Records. He is based in Ibiza. Nightmares on Wax were or ...

track "Typical". On 26 February 2019, Rakei released "Mind's Eye", the first single from his then unannounced third album. On 23 April 2019, Rakei announced this new album, titled ''Origin'', and released a new single from it, "Say Something". The album was released on 14 June 2019. Rakei supported the record with a series on music festival dates in Summer 2019 and then began a subsequent world tour, beginning that August in Brisbane and ending in November 2019 in Brooklyn, New York. During the tour, he recorded a set for NPR Music's "

Tiny Desk Concerts Tiny Desk Concerts is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR Music at the desk of ''All Songs Considered'' host Bob Boilen in Washington, D.C. The first Tiny Desk Concert came about in 2008 after Boilen and NPR Music editor Stephen Thom ...

" series which was published online on 13 January 2020.

2021: ''What We Call Life''

In September 2021, Rakei's fourth studio album ''What We Call Life'' was released, preceded by four singles. Rakei said the album is his "most vulnerable and intimate album to date"; something that he attributes to listening to singer-songwriters like

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit A ...

Scott Matthews Scott Matthews is an English singer-songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

and

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

while writing the record.

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

AIR Awards of 2020 The 2020 AIR Awards was the fourteenth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards ceremony (generally known as the AIR Awards). It took place on 1 October 2020 in Adelaide. The nominations were revealed on 7 July 2020 ...

, ''Origin'' , Best Independent Soul/R&B Album or EP , , -

Australian Music Prize

The

(the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005. , - , 2017 , ''Wallflower'' , Australian Music Prize , , -

J Award

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's youth-focused radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

J Awards of 2016 The J Award of 2016 is the twelfth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Austr ...

, himself , Double J Artist of the Year ,

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rakei, Jordan New Zealand guitarists New Zealand keyboardists New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters New Zealand record producers Cook Island Māori people Ninja Tune artists 1992 births Living people