Seeing women get the success they deserve is always a source of joy – but it’s especially powerful when that success has been a long-time coming.

That’s the case with singer-songwriter Raye, who has finally topped the UK charts as an independent artist after splitting from her record label in 2021 following claims by the artist that the label had refused to release her debut album.

Raye – whose discography includes Hard Out Here and Call On Me – hit the number one spot on Friday (6 January) with her song Escapism. The song, which features 070 Shake, was streamed over 5.6 million times in the UK over the last week, thanks in part to its recent virality on TikTok.

Raye just claimed her first number 1 – and taught us all an important lesson in the process