Raye Zaragoza, The “It Girl” We Need — What the FOLK is Up?
Raye Zaragoza never knew she could be the “It Girl”…until she wrote a song about it.
A woman belonging to a multiplicity of different heritages, Zaragoza traces her ancestry to Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and the Indigenous Akimel O'odham people— additionally identifying as a New Yorker through and through.
While Zaragoza takes pride in all of the aspects of her heritage, she confesses, “I really wanted to identify with every single part of my identity, but I also felt like I wasn't enough of any of it to claim it. The way that I look, no one actually thought I was Asian growing up. I don't speak Spanish. I didn't grow up on the homelands of our Indigenous ancestors. I just felt like such a fraud.” Being no stranger to imposter syndrome, she explains feeling like this “American girl who no one says looks American.”
Zaragoza recreates herself on her own terms through her music—no one can define Raye but Raye herself. “I was able to create my own identity that was a collage of all of my cultures, all of the places I've been, who I am and all the music I love,” she explains. “I got to present myself to the world in a new way. For me, that was really healing.”
“I'm so proud to be a woman and I'm proud to be a member of multiple marginalized communities,” Zaragoza continues, “It's an opportunity for me to speak up and be proud and show up for all of those who have felt like they were passed on because of their gender or race.”
Her music helps to reframe the cookie-cutter standards of folk that have dictated the genre for so long. Zaragoza knows she is not alone in this, saying “There are a lot of artists who are really pushing the envelope of what folk means, and I hope that I'm one of those artists.” Zaragoza is one of many trying to create a new definition of folk by writing music that captures diverse experiences and challenges set narratives.
Because she is a woman of color unafraid to make space for herself, many have viewed Zaragoza as a card they can cash in for diversity points. Before knowing her art, audiences have been made aware of her race.
“There have been instances where I’ve been described in publications or by people announcing me, being qualified by my race: ‘Raye Zaragoza, a Native American artist’ or ‘a Latinx artist,’ ‘an Asian-American artist.’ I have such a diverse upbringing that they all come up. I’m not comfortable with that, because I just want to be an artist like everyone else”
Artists of color have had to fight to be taken seriously in the industry outside of the context of the color of their skin. They do not solely exist to speak about their race. “I've always kind of felt like this novelty or special niche artist that was only speaking to something specific, [...] like a one trick pony,” Zaragoza says.
Zaragoza has struggled to balance feeling like she has to address parts of her identity and have those parts exploited in order to be heard with wanting to share these parts of herself to be better understood.
She navigates that dichotomy through a “mixture of starting conversations, speaking up whenever I can, but also being kind to myself, and knowing that I can't fight every battle.” While she recognizes that “holding that burden of being the person to constantly educate can be really exhausting,” standing up for herself does indeed have its merits—“I know by doing that, I'm paving the way for other artists of color to not have to deal with the same things in the future.”
As the industry continues to evolve, Zaragoza not only wants to see more BIPOC being accepted and validated as legitimate musicians, but also occupying leadership roles. “I want to see more executives and booking agents and the folks that are the ones making those big decisions...Those are the places that we want to see the diversity, not only just in the artists, but also in the executive level.”
Listeners have as much say in the diversification of the industry as artists do. Zaragoza urges audiences to “be aware of the levels of privilege that we all have and find little ways in your community that you can reallocate privilege.” Work to make music accessible for everyone. Use word of mouth to spread music. Support and listen to artists that expand and challenge your worldview to help change the musical algorithm. If you cannot do anything else: “Listen. Just listen. Flood your feed with artists of color and start to see other perspectives.” Listen to artists of color who are speaking out on their experiences.
“I think that maybe folks are catching on about folk,” Zaragoza excitedly exclaims. “I think that there's still definitely both folks that think it's lame, and some are still relying on it to be a catalyst.”
Zaragoza is certainly not done speaking, and as long as she is able to, she affirms that one can find her, “Embracing my existence as an artist and as a human and as a woman, equally and all the time—and loud.”