Raffaella

Raffaella is indie pop singer and songwriter Raffaella Meloni. The Manhattan native grew up listening to her Juilliard-educated grandmother play classical piano, and started learning the instrument herself at the age of four. A fan of greats like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, at 13 she turned her attention to singing and writing songs. After graduating from high school, Meloni briefly studied acting at the University of Southern California, where she joined a sorority. Not taking to the social environment, she transferred to New York City's Barnard College, and began sharing her music online. As a student in 2016, her voice came to the attention of L.A. electro-pop trio BRÅVES, who invited her to record with them back on the West Coast over the summer. While there, she met photographer Francesco Carrozzini, who asked her to sing the title song for his documentary Franca: Chaos and Creation (about his mother, Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani). By the time Meloni returned to New York to finish a degree in French lit and philosophy, she had adopted the music moniker Råff, and performed for a Carrozzini event during New York Fashion Week Fall 2016. She played other events and club shows around the city over the following months. In the meantime, she'd been cast in a supporting role in the comedy-drama Landline, playing a musician. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2017. Rebranding as Raffaella, she made her official debut with the atmospheric, keyboard-based single "Sororicide" in October 2017. ~ Marcy Donelson