Raymi the Artist gives powerful perspective w/ release “Ballads of My Higher Self”

Raymi already feels like someone balancing two worlds, the raw, visceral reality of Chicago life (its struggles, its urgency), and a strong pull toward inner work, soul-searching, self-concept, & self-actualization. There’s a tension in her art, between what has been inflicted, what has been survived, and what she is becoming. She doesn’t seem content to just narrate trauma, she wants to transcend it, to interrogate it, & to find something higher in it. That ambition of rising above without glossing over the shadows gives her work its gravity..

Her delivery tends to be unfiltered, often streaked with vulnerability. She isn’t trying to hide scars. She wants you to feel them, but not be trapped by them. The album’s title suggests that Raymi is trying to locate a vantage point above her immediate emotional horizon. A “higher self” implies an inner witness, a voice of clarity, conscience, or spiritual alignment. The “ballads” framing also suggests the album is meant to be intimate, perhaps slower, definitely melody-rich while the songs themselves are meant to linger, & reflect, rather than just move..

The album seems to also be an internal journey, not a closed circuit, but an ongoing one. Identity, self-esteem, healing, maybe redemption, all likely parts of the script. “Ballads Of My Higher Self” feels like a small masterpiece in process. It may not shout the loudest, but it’s whispers linger. For those willing to lean in, for people who want hip-hop that’s not just beat-shock but it’s a mirror, song, & testament. This is the kind of work that matters. Raymi the Artist seems to be staking claim not just on the mic, but in the cities music scene and we are here for it..

If this is where she is now, it makes us excited about what comes next, when she leans further, experiments more, these balladic sensibilities turn more into the story telling creative direction that’s in the city right now. Raymi the Artist is doing her part in continuing that work..

Take a listen and let us know what you think..