Raye Zaragoza has today released her new video and single titled ‘Where I’m Supposed To Be’. Raye has arrived with a song that dares to tackle identity, ancestry, and the complicated business of figuring out who you are without resorting to the usual inspirational poster nonsense. Produced by Anna Schulze and featuring the vocals of Natalie Closner of JOSEPH, this spirited folk anthem understands that self discovery is rarely a neat little journey with a conveniently placed gift shop at the finish line. Instead, Zaragoza delivers something cinematic, emotionally generous, and refreshingly human. The result is the kind of song that makes you want to stare thoughtfully out a window, preferably while traveling somewhere interesting and pretending your life has a soundtrack budget.
The official music video, directed by Zaragoza’s brother Román Zaragoza and edited by Ade Ogunnaike, gives the song a gorgeous sense of place by following the artist through Arizona, Taipei, and Tokyo. These locations are more than attractive backdrops for an ambitious music video production. Each connects to Zaragoza’s Indigenous, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Mexican heritage, making the visuals feel deeply personal without becoming a geography lesson with a suspiciously good color palette.
The movement between landscapes gives the video a natural sense of discovery, allowing the viewer to experience the search for belonging as something tangible, lived in, and beautifully complicated. Travel influencers may have perfected the art of looking wistfully at distant horizons, but Zaragoza actually has something meaningful to say while doing it.
Musically, ‘Where I’m Supposed To Be’ strikes a lovely balance between intimate folk songwriting and the sweeping emotional payoff of a proper anthem. Closner’s featured vocals add another dimension to the arrangement, complementing Zaragoza’s expressive delivery without stealing the spotlight. There is a welcome sense of openness here, as though the song has finally stopped asking permission to exist and decided to take up the space it deserves.
Zaragoza’s writing makes room for uncertainty while ultimately embracing the joy of understanding where you come from. That is a considerably more rewarding proposition than pretending everyone has their entire identity figured out by the time they finish updating their social media biography.
What makes this release especially compelling is its refusal to treat belonging as a prize that someone else gets to award you. Zaragoza’s message is that we are enough as we are, and that discovering our roots can bring joy rather than simply answer old questions. It is an uplifting idea, certainly, but the song earns its optimism through the personal history behind it and the thoughtful visuals that bring that history into focus. For an artist whose work connects contemporary Americana with cultural identity and social consciousness, ‘Where I’m Supposed To Be’ feels like a natural and exciting next chapter.
If this single offers a preview of Zaragoza’s forthcoming fourth full length album, consider our interest thoroughly piqued. Turns out, finding yourself can sound pretty spectacular when you bring great songwriting, a cinematic video, and a healthy disregard for the idea that anyone else gets to decide where you belong.
Featured image by Linoa Mizo.
About Raye Zaragoza & ‘Where I’m Supposed To Be’
Los Angeles-based artist Raye Zaragoza (she/her) has debuted a brand new single, ‘Where I’m Supposed To Be’, produced by Anna Schulze. Co-written with and featuring vocals from Natalie Closner of JOSEPH, it’s a spirited and cinematic anthem of ancestral revelation.
Directed by the singer’s brother—actor Román Zaragoza of CBS’s Ghosts and Paramount’s Avatar: The Last Airbender—and edited by Ade Ogunnaike, the official music video follows Raye across Arizona, Taipei, and Tokyo—three sites essential to her lineage. “Coming from so many different racial and cultural backgrounds, I’ve spent a lot of my life wondering where I belong,” says Raye, who is of Indigenous, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Mexican descent. “This song is about those questions and the joy in finding the answers—we are enough, and we are exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
The folk songwriter has been described by NPR as “one of the most fresh and compelling voices in folk music today” and by Paste as “one of the most politically relevant artists in her genre.” Her catalog, three albums deep with accolades spanning the International Folk Music Awards and Global Music Awards among others, is a vibrant and evocative contribution to the canon of contemporary Americana. Today’s offering previews a fourth full-length, yet to be announced.
Zaragoza has toured extensively over the course of her career, with highlights including a solo slot on Dispatch’s amphitheater tour, as well as support for Tedeschi Trucks Band and Billy Bragg. Her music has been placed in numerous shows and films including hits like Resident Alien and Grey’s Anatomy. She is a songwriter for Netflix’s animated children’s series Spirit Rangers and recently toured nationally in the reimagined Broadway production of Peter Pan, bringing representation and a fresh perspective to the classic story. Coinciding with, and often inspiring her music career, Zaragoza is a political activist known for her advocacy for Indigenous and immigrant rights.
LINKS:
https://www.rayezaragoza.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Rayemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/rayezaragoza/