Rio Rainz

Hailing from suburban London, Rio Rainz is an artist who embodies the ‘alternative’. His versatility, openness and experimental sound separates him from the crowd. After joining a performing arts school at the age of 6, he discovered his love for music, performance and creativity whilst being surrounded by the sounds of rap, reggae, rock and country music at home.

When his parents separated at a young age, Rio was split, living between London and the countryside, fuelling the adolescent quandary of understanding his identity. A self-described ‘sometime massive introvert’ Rio uses his music as an escape and to express himself. Every inch the future star, Rio connects with Gen Z as he is inspired to create music based on personal experience and lays bare an acceptance of his flaws and vulnerabilities.

Rio arrived on the scene at fifteen with his powerful Black Box freestyle, which caught fire online and ignited his fuse. The buzz continued to grow until he dropped his breakout single ‘heartless’ showing a different side but later made his most significant mark with his debut EP, ‘Withdrawal Symptoms’ released last year. His eclectic musical upbringing from his atypical early life, lead him to live comfortably outside the boxes and expectations put upon him. Gliding between rap, singing and genres with total ease and finesse, the EP gained support from; Complex, The Line Of Best Fit, BBC R1’s Jack Saunders, Clash and GRM & joined the Spotify Radar Alumni with a First Listen feature around EP release. 2023 marks a new chapter for the rising musician who arrives in his most comfortable and confident place with his debut performance of his career at May’s Great Escape festival, where he was received by a full Patterns show chanting his name. A summer roll out of his ‘cobwebs in my room’ EP is an eclectic mix delving further into the ambivert mind of, taking unexpected but well honed production turns where least expected, with a signature blend of lo-fi R&B & Alt rap tying it together. Making a clear impression online with new fans, Rio’s socials grew by 700% in just 6 months, a trend that doesn’t appear to be slowing. Standing tall in a new generation of genre-less cultural curators, he’s working with some of the UK’s best writers and producers for his debut offering including Kurisu (Kamal, Arz), Dom Valentino (Dexter) and Ebenezer (Mahalia).