Rachel Chinouriri

Rachel Chinouriri (born 1 November 1998; pronounced, ) is an English singer-songwriter. After posting numerous songs on SoundCloud, she began releasing music on major streaming platforms in 2018. She released her debut extended play (EP), Mama's Boy, in 2019 to critical acclaim. One of the songs from the EP, "So My Darling", received attention on TikTok when it became a popular audio to use. Chinouriri was signed to Parlophone, with whom she released her debut mini-album, Four° In Winter, in 2021. Her work Give Me A Reason was nominated for the Best Contemporary Song Ivor Novello Award. She then released her second EP, Better Off Without, in 2022. She released her debut album, What a Devastating Turn of Events, in May 2024.

Early life and education
Chinouriri was born in Kingston Hospital on 1 November 1998. Her family later moved to the Forestdale area of Croydon, where she was raised from the age of three. Her family had moved to UK from Zimbabwe shortly prior to her birth, and she experienced a "traditional African upbringing". Her upbringing led her to be curious about British culture, specifically its music, and as a teenager, she became influenced by the discographies of Daughter and Lily Allen. At the age of 17, Chinouriri began writing songs and recorded them on a £20 microphone, uploading them to the music-sharing website SoundCloud via her mother's laptop.

Career
Chinouriri began formally releasing various singles on major streaming platforms in 2018, which led to her being signed to Parlophone. Her first release with the label was "So My Darling", which she wrote aged 17 and released in 2018. The song received radio play when it was picked as a special play on BBC Radio 1. She was then announced as an act at Field Day festival in 2019. Chinouriri followed "So My Darling" with "Adrenaline" in April 2019. She played a headline show in London in June 2019.

Chinouriri released her debut extended play (EP), Mama's Boy, in August 2019. It was released to critical acclaim. Following the release, she dropped the song "Where Do I Go?", which she said was written about her thoughts on the afterlife. She played at Dot to Dot Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival that year. The song "Beautiful Disaster", featuring Sam Dotia, was released in July 2020. Tom Bibby of Yuck magazine described the song as "an honest and heartfelt portrayal of the isolation and stillness felt in the midnight hours, told through Chinouriri's powerful falsettos", adding that she has proved herself to be "a powerful singer-songwriter". She then released various singles, including "Give Me a Reason", "Darker Place" and "Through the Eye". The latter acted as the lead single for her debut mini-album, Four° In Winter, which was released in September 2021. She released a deluxe edition later that year, with the addition of three new songs.

In January 2022, after the rise in popularity of her 2018 single "So My Darling" on the video sharing app TikTok, Chinouriri re-released the song in acoustic form. At the time of release, the audio had more than 40,000 videos shared on TikTok. In March 2022, she released the single "All I Ever Asked". The song was chosen as that week's "Hottest Record in the World" by BBC Radio 1's Clara Amfo. Chinouriri subsequently announced plans for a second EP that would feature the song, as well as a national tour throughout the UK. That summer, she played at the Great Escape Festival and Boardmasters Festival, and also had a gig supporting Sam Fender.

In early 2023, Chinouriri was one of the openers for Lewis Capaldi on his tour, and humorously told the story of how she had secured the gig through having sent him a drunk DM. She played at a number of summer festivals, including Latitude Festival, Truck Festival, Kendal Calling, Connect Music Festival, and All Points East. Later that year, she was selected as one of the openers for Louis Tomlinson on the Europe leg of his Faith in the Future World Tour.

In January 2024, Chinouriri announced that she would be releasing her debut album, What a Devastating Turn of Events, on 3 May. Four promotional singles were released in the build-up leading to the record: "The Hills", "Never Need Me", the title track and "It Is What It Is". What a Devastating Turn of Events debuted at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart, and at number 5 on the Scottish Albums Chart during the week starting from 10 May 2024. Also in May, the artist performed as one of the headliners on the Introducing Stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend festival in Luton.

In June, Chinouriri played on the Other Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2024, playing both her own songs and a cover of Estelle's American Boy.

Artistry
Chinouriri grew up listening to indie music, pop girl groups such as Girls Aloud and the Sugababes; African acapella; Britpop bands like Oasis, Blur, and The Libertines; as well as the likes of V V Brown and Noisettes. In 2021, she named Daughter, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and early Coldplay as her three main influences. She has also expressed an admiration for Sampha, Kings of Leon, and Phoenix. For her debut album, Chinouriri took inspiration from the sonic and visual aesthetics of the noughties Britpop culture and icons of her childhood.

Personal life
In March 2024, Chinouriri was one of the acts who decided to boycott the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas over the event's sponsorship deal with the US Army and major defense contractors, and in protest against the Israel–Hamas war. In a statement of social media, Chinouriri explained her decision by stating that the topic of war was "extremely triggering" for her, as both her parents had served as child soldiers in Zimbabwe before emigrating to the United Kingdom; she also encouraged fans to "support victims of war in any capacity".