Raina Simone is a Hip Hop artist from Harlem, NY and Englewood,NJ. By the age of 3, Raina Simone could play the piano, and was beginning to piece together lyrics herself. Raina would often disappear for hours only to be found in her own world at the piano. After beginning to develop a mastery of the piano, boredom in lack of new skillsets and curiosity quickly lead Raina to the violin. A studier of classical violin and piano music; Raina began understanding and predicting the patterns and intricacies of music theory itself. Searching for a form of instrumentation music that resembled classical music but maintained a the soul Raina was craving internally, jazz music quickly began an area of interest and study. A love for Miles Davis inspired Raina's interest in playing jazz music lead Raina to play the saxophone briefly, prior to realizing in elementary school what exactly the "spit valve" was used for. Raina self-released her first song in the 7th grade via TuneCore. By middle school, Raina spent her days playing tennis, maintaining involvement in community service initiatives, and making music. Attending the Horace Mann School, a private independent school in The Bronx,NY; Raina quickly faced adversity as it pertained to issues regarding race. Faced with an imminent culture shock and forced to find self; Raina Simone quickly began utilizing poetry to express her thoughts on her new surroundings. In search of beats to purchase to record her first rap song, and placing the poetry she'd written over instrumentation, she asked her father for $20 to buy a YouTube beat lease. This request was quickly denied. Instead he responded, "You play instruments. I'm not paying for anything that you can do yourself." This very statement launched the producer: Raina Simone, also known as RSHonTheBeat. In hopes to figure out ways to translate acoustic instruments to digital productions; Raina became a fan of beat machines and DAW softwares. On Raina's 13th birthday; her mother bought her Mashcine by Native Instruments. This is the software and hardware that Raina has been using ever since, and continues to use to produce her records. Raina began collecting recording and production equipment as a hobby, and set hyper focus on mastering recording arts. She began bringing all of her music equipment to Milwaukee, Wisconsin every summer to set up a recording studio in her grandmothers basement. The best childhood memories, she says, consist of being at her grandma's house with her cousins, and the other kids in the neighborhood, making music. In High School Raina continued writing poetry, but denounced the idea of being a "rapper." For, the negative caricature that was becoming associated with the title, and the inner battle of conforming to her own Black stereotype as a rapper in an affluent white academic environment proved to be a challenging battle. Suppressing the title briefly, Raina refocused her efforts on music production and the art of spoken word. Having been tested with facing discrepancies in understandings and experiences of the nonapolitical and non-color blind world; Raina made the easy decision to attend an HBCU following high school. It was during this HBCU experience that Raina would reclaim her voice as a "rapper," confidently, and find that there was no longer a need to be tempted to censor self in speech in an environment that required code switching. A dedicated advocate of education and academia; Raina attended Howard University where she received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Philosophy with minors in economics and sociology. Following her time at Howard University, Raina Simone would go on to attend NYU in pursuit of a Masters of Public Administration. Though firm in the idea of pursuing music as a full-time career path; Raina was intent on ensuring that she pursued a formal education outside of the arts simultaneously. The Black American proverb "work twice as hard, to be just as good," was one often heard within the household amidst Raina's upbringing. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Tupac, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Jay Z, Big Pun, Nneka, Miles Davis, Mariah Carey, Ashanti, Janet Jackson, Drake, and early Kanye West; Raina's appreciation for Hip Hop's music theory was always coupled with a love for music history and studying rap craftsmanship. Avid rap heads raised in the 80's themselves; Raina's parents quickly instilled within her the importance of understanding the inception of the art form. The infamous rap group Public Enemy quickly became a focal point of Raina's studies. Similarly, elements of Southern Blues studied as a product of Raina's maternal grandfather began to influence Raina's sound as well. Filmed by Howard University classmates; In 2021 a viral freestyle titled "Sometimes I Rap" to Nas and Lauryn Hill's "If I Ruled the World" instrumental; launched Raina Simone into the world of rap music. The video was posted to her page by Raina's younger sister Ragan. Ragan secretly made Raina a Tik Tok account as Raina had not been posting her own work. Overnight, Raina accumulated 150k Tik Tok followers and the video garnered 3 million views. Though Raina always rapped and had been crafting her rap skills for quite some time; they had not yet been publicized to wide audiences until now. Having previously identified solely as a producer, Raina Simone began officially releasing songs as a rapper/singer/songwriter. The following year, a second freestyle would go viral as a "response to drill music." Originally freestyle'd on New Jersey platform "Blades and Bars," the freestyle was rereleased as "To My Hearts Outro," the outro on Raina Simone's first EP "To My Hearts" released in 2022. On the streets of NYC Generation Z refers to a close friend or loved one as "my heart." Titled, "To My Hearts" an ode written to loved ones; this EP is a nonconventional approach in response to the discourse of the commercialization of drill music at the cost of black inner-city life and black art alike. In 2023, Raina Simone appeared on "Minority Report" by Ransom and Nicholas Craven feat. Talib Kweli. Raina Simone has proven the depths of her skills, heard on On The Radar Radio, Sway’s Universe, BarsOnI95, Shade45XM's The Punchline Academy, FromTheBlock, Hot97, Power105.1, and V100.7. Raina Simone has also been acknowledged for her published written critical analyses regarding race, women, gender, and sexual orientation in Hip Hop. On October 25th, 2024; Raina Simone released her debut album "Old Soul New Conscience."Taking inspiration from family narratives, personal experiences, and insightful interpretations on one's identifiers; Raina Simone is a renowned story-teller ensuring that Hip Hop in its purest form continues to live on through Generation Z. The album touches upon a wide range of topics and explores diverse sonic landscapes rooted in storytelling and history. The album features Ransom, R2r Moe, J.P., HD4President, Youngsta CPT and DJ Jayhood. Showcasing both her skills as a producer, and an artist; Raina Simone delivered what many coined a modern Hip Hop Classic. The album has amassed over 600k streams, and over 5 million views across platforms. The breakout single “Ruler,” from the album, has gained significant notoriety and has garnered airplay on 16 radio stations including Hot 97. Raina’s talents have attracted cosigns to the likes of Ransom, Chuck D, Erykah Badu, Shaq, Chris Brown, Ghostface Killah, and more renowned contributors to the art form. In partnership with BET’s amplified; Raina Simone is BET’s artist of the month for the month of April 2025. As new listeners continue to discover the hidden treasure that is “Old Soul New Conscience,” Raina Simone is currently working on the Deluxe version of the album approach in which she’s taken a DJ Khaled-like producers’ approach to adding new features and textures to the songs already on the album. Additionally, there will be 3 new records. Raina Simone is dedicated to leaving a long-lasting impression on listeners by way of cultural preservation, and achieving longevity in the sharing of our narratives through hip hop.