Introducing Raphaella

Raphaella is a North London raised singer, songwriter and producer of Persian, English and Scottish heritage. “We used to live with my grandparents when I was really young – who were both artists,” Raphaella explains. “My Grandad had the most amazing and vast record collection. He would blast out records throughout the house and studios- anything from Jazz to Brahms, and those were some of my earliest and happiest memories.” She goes on to mention that her dad, “always had a great love of music too,” before mentioning that she grew up around him playing artists like James Brown, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley as well as traditional Persian music.

New single “Fall” is a perfect example of how Raphaella is drawing from her influences to produce a unique sound. The song mixes a western pop orientated sound with sprinkles of eastern instrumentation, which gives it an exciting and refreshing feel. “Hearing all the quarter tones and Middle Eastern sounds from a young age inspired me so much and made me feel closer to my heritage thousands of miles away,” she says. With lyrics like “Sometimes I feel so cold/ Devil’s gripping my soul” and “Hope the heaven I know will save me/ Hope the heaven I know will come,” Raphaella’s faith is clear. “I’m a very spiritual person and my faith is so important to me,” she explains before adding, “I wrote ‘Fall’ when I was feeling quite down and lost in the world…it’s a song about reminding myself to never go back to that place because if I just let go and put my faith in God’s hands, I know that He will never let me down.”


The song follows “In The Dark”, which was the first in a series of singles to be released, produced and written by Raphaella on her label Koochulu which seems to have been named after her. Koochulu means ‘little one’ in Persian and she’s “5ft 2”, on a good day.” “In The Dark” is probably her most exciting release to date, with it’s rolling drums and uplifting synths that accompany Raphaella’s passionate vocals. Her solo releases seem to have alot to do with overcoming hardship and that makes sense since she turned to songwriting when she began being badly bullied at school.