Ever since she released the jaw-dropping "My Hood" back in 2016, Ray BLK has been the jewel in the crown of British R&B. She's sustained us with a steady stream of releases, but aside from two shorter projects — 2015's Durt and 2018's Empress — we've never actually had a proper album from her. Thankfully, that's set to change this year.

Word has it, Ray's spent much of lockdown writing and recording the album (away from her TED Talk, Cambridge and Oxford lectures, a special Black History Blackout Radio for Apple Music, and guest hosting Dotty's Agenda show, of course). In short, she's been busy, but the album is on its way and we've already got its first single, "Dark Skinned".

As is the case with all her best stuff, it's her knack for arresting songwriting and stirring melody that's pushed to the fore here. A proud and defiant celebration of being a dark-skinned Black woman, it's a stark rebuttal to anyone who ever underestimated her or tried to clip her wings because of her Blackness.

Speaking about the track, Ray BLK said: "This song, to me, is a celebration of being dark-skinned. The conversation around race often feels heavy and negative, but I love my Blackness and it is a privilege to be Black. A lot of people told me it would be hard to break into this industry because of the colour of my skin, but I believe that whatever the situation, I am going to shine regardless and I refuse to cater to that ideology. I always try to remind people of this in my music, like with the 'My Hood' lyric, 'Through concrete flowers grow' and now on 'Dark Skinned', I say: 'I'm even glowing in the dark.' I want people to say yes to themselves when the world keeps telling them no."

Tune in below.