Raye Bares Her Soul During ‘Ice Cream Man’ Performance on ‘Kimmel’

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Raye unleashed an emotional, powerful rendition of her recent single “Ice Cream Man.” The British Ghanian singer-songwriter performed the song on a white grand piano with the accompaniment of a six-piece string section, and allowed her soulful vocals to lead the way.

“Ice Cream Man” comes off Raye’s recent album My 21st Century Blues, which dropped in February. The LP marked the musician’s long-awaited debut, following her success co-writing standout singles for the likes of Beyoncé, Little Mix, Madison Beer and Charli XCX.

Earlier this month, Raye released the music video for “Ice Cream Man,” which she self-directed. The song details her experiences with sexual assault and the singer forced herself to relive the events when creating the video.

“It was the toughest thing I ever filmed. I self-directed it. I only managed to do about three takes in the whole day, and I spent most of the day hidden in a small room on my own with a radio,” she told Rolling Stone. “I just think you do have to go there, and it’s both awful and beautiful at the same time, which is how the song makes me feel.”

She added, “And for a song that I wrote so many years ago and I made edits based on my perspective now, it’s just tough. It’s tough, but it’s beautiful and it’s hard to listen to for me sometimes. But sometimes I need to listen to it.”