(Island)The south Londoner aims to be “the black Madonna” on this taut set of wise words and killer hooks with a distinct sense of place
![Ray BLK: Access Denied review – an unabashedly mainstream debut](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/364268085b3aae7211d979cb9e25f6425d294bea/0_507_3075_1846/master/3075.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctcmV2aWV3LTQucG5n&enable=upscale&s=279672e5441476b87bc4b352bf61af51)
On the back of her Dickens-inspired Havisham EP, south
London R&B
Singer Ray BLK won the BBC’s Sound of 2017 poll, beating Jorja Smith and Rag’n’Bone Man. A clutch of moving songs followed – such as Run, Run and My Hood, the latter featuring a then rising Stormzy. But it’s taken four long years for her debut full-length album to drop – time in which Rita Ekwere has pupated into a different sort of artist.
Access Denied is an unabashedly mainstream record, one rattling with trap beats, Afropop and hip-hop-grade grandstanding. The aim, BLK explains in the opener, was always to be “the black Madonna” – but by being entirely herself, making
music she would actually listen to. And while this approach brings with it some loss of individuality, the results overall – on the previously released MIA or Over You – remain convincing.