Tag: Raph Solo

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Out Music: Raph Solo “Memory Lane”

Out singer/songwriter Raph Solo goes personal with his new single, "Memory Lane" In “Memory Lane,” out singer/songwriter Raph Solo takes a moment to look back on a deeply personal experience that nearly extinguished his self-esteem: his unsuccessful attempt at erasing his homosexuality through conversion therapy. The song’s lyrics, taken from the diary he kept at the time, were written as a prayer. “It’s a conversation between God and myself where I made a promise to never be filled with self-hate again,” he explains. “I believe the ultimate key to inner peace and happiness is self-acceptance and loving yourself the way God made you.” “Memory Lane” is Solo’s second release from his new album, LIFE, his powerful collection of retrospective ballads available now on Apple Music, Spotify, and all digital download outlets. The new acoustic ballad is comprised of three basic elements (vocal, piano, and strings) that also represent three important aspects of Raph: his music, voice and soul. Similar to the other songs on the LIFE album, “Memory Lane” encapsulates the theme that “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” “I grew up thinking that being gay and believing in God were incompatible but what I know now is God is love and love is love and love can be platonic, romantic and of more than one orientation,” says the Lebanese/Chilean singer. The music video has a very European sensibility in its look and feel. Check it out below. For more information, visit raphsolo.com

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Woofy Raph Solo Drops New Album ‘LIFE’

Raph Solo

Hunky out singer/songwriter Raph Solo shares the first single from his fifth studio album, LIFE.

The single, titled “Jasmine Petals,” looks to nature for inspiration in how we look back at lost loves and knowing when to let go.

“Trees release their buds after the loveliness decays and that’s when real growth to the tree occurs,” says Solo. “Such should be the case with people and love.”

“We live and love and it’s ok to lose sometimes,” he adds. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

The contemporary euro-pop track begins with a haunting, melancholy introduction before a heavy bass beat kicks in along with piano and violin.

Shot in a cemetery and in a French period mansion in North London, the music video is full of symbolism.

In one scene, Raph is seen playing a violin, blindfolded. The artist says the visual is his way of questioning whether we really see what is happening in our lives, or if we simply go through life blinded.

In several scenes, Solo brandishes a gun. In that guns can end life, Solo includes the weapon as a metaphor for choosing or ending life. Choose to put the gun down and you choose life. Regardless of circumstance, Solo says the decision between life and death is ultimately our own.

“Jasmine Petals” and LIFE are currently available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and other digital music sites.

You can check out my previous coverage of Solo’s music on The Randy Report here.

Check out the video below, and you can find more info on Solo at his official website here.

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Music Video: Woofy Raph Solo Shares His “Broken Heart”

With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.
Raph Solo (all photos – Michele Martinoli)

London-based recording artist Raph Solo recently dropped the sexy music video for his song, “Broken Hearts,” which is the second single from his Word Of Love album.

Raph describes his current musical style as “POPTECSOL,” a new sound that combines pop, tech, and R&B soul.

With “Broken Hearts,” Solo waxes melancholy as a mythological warrior-turned-prisoner who must conquer his fear and wrestle his demons to reclaim his crown amid a dark, edgy musical landscape.

“I wrote the song a few years ago at around the time I met my partner,” he said. “We were both newly out of major relationships that had left us broken and bruised. While the love making was hot, the baggage I carried from my past caused a lot of friction and undue fear in our relationship.”

“Broken hearts heal with time,” he sings on the fantastic track. Raph should know. Before meeting his partner, he experienced 7.5 breakups in nine years (one of the splits only scored a 0.5 on his pain-o-meter).

His hardest failed relationship was with a man he regarded as a father figure. “It crushed me. It changed my perception of love,” he admitted. “Though I still believe in love, I don’t view it through rose colored glasses anymore.”

Born to Lebanese/Chilean parents on the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria, West Africa, the singer, songwriter and music producer has released four full-length albums: Finally/The Album, Am I Too Much?, The Anonymous Icon, which features the hit singles “Star” and “Good Morning London,” and Word of Love, which features his 2017 summer hit from last summer, “Love Lives.”

Though fantasy, the video depicts the song in the way Raph’s love life truly unfolded. “It’s all shamelessly romantic and heroic,” Raph laughs, “but that’s me.”

The shackles he wears in the video are meant to symbolize the emotional baggage most people carry from failed relationships. Says Raph, “If you can free yourself from the shackles, you will one day reign over love.”

“Broken Hearts is about letting go of past loves, embracing what is new, and working to extend that love into tomorrow and beyond.”

For more information, visit raphsolo.com.

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News Round-Up: May 31, 2017

Out artist Raph Solo drops his new music video, “Love Lives.”

Some news items you may have missed:

• The Rhode Island state House just voted to ban so-called “conversion therapy” for LGBT minors. The bill now heads to the Senate.

• A top Russian diplomat vehemently denies verified reports of gay men being tortured in Chechnya.

• Donald Trump’s recent tweets show he doesn’t really understand how the U.S. Senate works.

• From a new study: In 2015, LGB students reported being bullied on school property at a rate of 34 percent compared to 19 percent for straight students.

• If you love pop culture as much as I do, head over to Boy Culture’s awesome collection of opening credits of classic TV shows.

• Out musician Raph Solo recently dropped the music video to his new single, “Love Lives,” a celebration of his long journey to self-acceptance. Solo, who once tried so-called “conversion therapy” in an attempt to change his sexuality, says “I have worked very hard to gain the self-respect and acceptance I enjoy today.”

Solo also shares that the music video is meant to show a different side of the artist, complete with “tongue in cheek” choreography: “I dance a lot in this one! It’s all very tongue-and cheek compared to my previous story-based, cinematic music videos. I hope fans like the choreography and chutzpah.” Check out the video below.