L'Rain

Cheek was born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn,{{cite web |last1=Garcia-Navarro |first1=Lulu |title=L'Rain's Latest Album 'Fatigue' Explores The Power Of Change |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/06/27/1010677031/lrains-latest-album-fatigue-explores-the-power-of-change |website=NPR |access-date=1 July 2021 |date=28 June 2021}} where she lived with her mother, father, and grandparents. Her father, Wyatt Cheek, worked in music marketing and promotion for entities including Select Records and Kiss FM; her grandmother ran a liquor store; and in the 1950s her grandfather owned a neighborhood jazz club. Cheek's mother, Lorraine C. Porter, taught physical education, health, math, and science in Brooklyn schools.{{cite web |title=Lorraine C. Porter, Age 59 |url=https://www.uft.org/news/obituaries/lorraine-c-porter |website=United Federation of Teachers |access-date=24 June 2021}} The stage name L'Rain is an homage to Porter, who died before the release of the self-titled debut.

Cheek studied ballet and modern dance at The Ailey School and learned piano, cello, and Baroque recorder before picking up bass in high school, then forming and joining groups that included an Iron Maiden cover band. She attended Yale to study music but dropped the major, citing factors including a lack of diversity among the program's course offerings.{{cite web |title=JOB Interview: Taja Cheek |url=http://www.bensisto.com/job/taja-cheek |website=BenSisto.com |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=October 2020}} She transferred to the American Studies program, where her major included a concentration in visual, audio, literary, and performance cultures;{{cite web |title=In medias res |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/01/27/in-medias-res/ |website=Yale Daily News |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=27 January 2012}} in 2011, she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with distinction.{{cite web |title=Wadada Leo Smith in Conversation with Taja Cheek |url=https://walkerart.org/magazine/jazz-llc-wadada-leo-smith-interview |website=Walker Art Center |access-date=24 June 2021}} While at Yale she worked as music director of radio station WYBC and booked shows.

After graduation, Cheek returned to New York, where she resumed playing in Brooklyn bands including Throw Vision,{{cite web |last1=Berumen |first1=Gwen |title=DIY Band 'Throw Vision' Talks Genre And Identity |url=https://bust.com/music/12805-diy-band-throw-vision-talks-genre-and-identity.html |website=BUST |access-date=24 June 2021}} who released their debut in 2013 and an EP in 2015.{{cite web |title=Stream Throw Vision's Were It Will 7-Inch |url=https://imposemagazine.com/bytes/new-music/stream-the-new-throw-vision-7 |website=Impose Magazine |access-date=15 July 2021}}

In 2017, Cheek released the self-titled L'Rain on New York City-based{{cite web |last1=Kuhn |first1=Bennett |title=Labeled: Astro Nautico |url=https://imposemagazine.com/features/astro-nautico |website=Impose Magazine |access-date=16 July 2021}} label Astro Nautico. She composed and performs vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, bass, samples, and percussion on the album.{{cite web |last1=Berlatsky |first1=Noah |title=Music on the Horizon |url=https://www.splicetoday.com/music/music-on-the-horizon |website=Splice Today |access-date=16 July 2021 |date=4 September 2017}} L'Rain also features Alex Goldberg, Jeremy Powell, Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio), and Andrew Lappin, who co-produced the album with Cheek. Pitchfork included L'Rain among their 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2017, and Bandcamp Daily listed the release as #10 in their Best Albums of 2017.

In 2018, L'Rain (represented by Cheek and Ben Chapoteau-Katz) collaborated with producer Morgan Wiley and vocalist Patrick Gordon to remake the 1980s Chicago house track "Your Love" for a benefit compilation which paired electronic artists with formerly-incarcerated singers.{{cite web |title=Creative Time and the Fortune Society present Bring Down the Walls |url=https://creativetime.org/projects/bring-down-the-walls/album/ |website=Creative Time |access-date=6 September 2023}} The release, Bring Down The Walls, raised money for Critical Resistance, an organization dedicated to ending the prison–industrial complex.{{cite web |last1=Ryce |first1=Andrew |title=Larry Heard, Honey Dijon and Robert Owens feature on prison benefit compilation |url=https://ra.co/news/41690 |website=Resident Advisor |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=4 May 2018}}

L'Rain's second album, Fatigue, was released on Mexican Summer in 2021. Fatigue was named album of the year by The Wire,{{cite web |title=The Wire's Releases Of The Year 2021 |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/the-wire-s-releases-of-the-year-2021 |website=The Wire |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=December 2021}} included among the year's best by Pitchfork,{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2021 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-albums-2021/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=7 December 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Torres |first1=Eric |title=L'Rain: Fatigue |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lrain-fatigue/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=1 July 2021 |date=29 June 2021}} and met with wide acclaim from outlets including NPR. Cheek provides vocals and plays guitar, bass, synth, keyboards, piano, percussion, tape effects, and airhorn on the album, which features an expanded roster of twenty performers; these include executive producer Andrew Lappin, on guitar and programming, and co-producer Ben Chapoteau-Katz, who contributes synths, saxophone, vocals, percussion, and airhorn.{{cite web |title=Fatigue |url=https://lrain.bandcamp.com/album/fatigue |website=Bandcamp |access-date=6 September 2023}}

In August 2023, L'Rain announced a third album, I Killed Your Dog, released in October 2023;{{cite web |last1=Hope |first1=Clover |title=L’Rain Talks Shattering Expectations With Her "Basic Bitch" Album, I Killed Your Dog |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/lrain-talks-shattering-expectations-with-her-basic-bitch-album-i-killed-your-dog/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=23 August 2023}} the album was co-produced by Cheek with Lappin and Chapoteau-Katz, who perform alongside L'Rain bandmates Zachary Levine-Caleb, Justin Felton, and Timothy Angulo.{{cite web |title=L'Rain |url=https://pioneerworks.org/programs/l-rain |website=Pioneer Works |access-date=6 September 2023}} The album was met with best-of accolades from Pitchfork,{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-albums-2023/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=5 December 2023}} The New York Times,{{cite web |title=Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/arts/music/best-albums-2023.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=6 December 2023}} Rolling Stone,{{cite web |title=The 100 Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-2023-1234879538/dominic-fike-sunburn-1234889119/ |website=Rolling Stone |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=30 November 2023}} Bandcamp Daily,{{cite web |title=The Best Albums of 2023: Essential Releases |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2023/the-best-albums-of-2023-essential-releases |website=Bandcamp Daily |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=8 December 2023}} and many other outlets.{{cite web |title=The 123 Best Songs of 2023 |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/12/12/1215355752/best-songs-2023 |website=NPR |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=12 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/best-albums/50-best-albums-of-2023 |website=Paste |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=27 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://ourculturemag.com/2023/12/01/the-50-best-albums-of-2023/ |website=Our Culture |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=1 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=The 50 Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/lists/the-50-best-albums-of-2023/ |website=Slant Magazine |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=7 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Best Albums of 2023 |url=https://yale-herald.com/2023/12/10/best-albums-of-2023/ |website=The Yale Herald |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=10 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=The Best Albums of 2023 Ranked |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/articles/2023-best-albums-ranked?page=4 |website=The Line of Best Fit |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=4 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=The Top 50 Albums Of 2023 |url=https://www.stilllisteningmagazine.com/features/the-top-50-albums-of-2023 |website=Still Listening Magazine |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=8 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=Merry-Go-Round’s Top 50 Albums of 2023 |url=https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/merry-go-rounds-top-50-albums-of-2023/ |website=Merry-Go-Round |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=26 December 2023}}{{cite web |title=BPM’s Top 50 Albums of 2023 |url=https://beatsperminute.com/bpms-top-50-albums-of-2023/ |website=Beats Per Minute |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=29 December 2023}}

L'Rain has toured with bands including Black Midi (2021),{{cite web |title=black midi expand tour, add 2nd NYC date |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/black-midi-expand-tour-add-2nd-nyc-date/ |website=Brooklynvegan |date=22 September 2021 |access-date=20 October 2021}} Animal Collective (2022),{{cite web |title=Animal Collective Announce New Album Time Skiffs, Share New Video: Watch |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/animal-collective-announce-new-album-time-skiffs-share-new-video-watch |website=Pitchfork |date=20 October 2021 |access-date=20 October 2021}} Sharon Van Etten (2022),{{cite web |title=Sharon Van Etten shares new single "Porta," adds tour dates w/ L'Rain |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/sharon-van-etten-shares-new-single-porta-adds-tour-dates-w-lrain/ |website=Brooklyn Vegan |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=8 February 2022}} Big Thief (2023),{{cite web |title=L'Rain playing free Union Pool show ahead of UK tour with Big Thief |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/lrain-playing-free-union-pool-show-ahead-of-uk-tour-with-big-thief/ |website=Brooklyn Vegan |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=21 March 2023}} and LCD Soundsystem (2023).

In 2011, Cheek began working with arts nonprofit Creative Time;{{cite web |title=Living As Form: Thanks |url=https://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2011/livingasform/thanks.htm |website=Creative Time |access-date=6 September 2023}} in 2014, as site manager for an exhibit co-presented with the Weeksville Heritage Center,{{cite web |title=Funk, God, Jazz, and Medicine: Black Radical Brooklyn |url=https://creativetime.org/projects/black-radical-brooklyn/ |website=Creative Time |access-date=6 September 2023}} Cheek installed and ran a pop-up radio station from a pink Cadillac parked outside the Utica Avenue A/C subway station.{{cite web |title=Jazz, 'The East' and a Pink Cadillac: Outdoor Exhibit Reflects on Black Radical Brooklyn |url=https://bkreader.com/2014/09/29/the-east-radicalism-and-jazz-honored-in-outdoor-exhibit/ |website=BKReader |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=29 September 2014}} (The project was conceived by Otabenga Jones and Associates in homage to Jitu Weusi, black nationalist community arts center The East, and the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium.{{cite web |title=How a Pop-Up Radio Station Is Radicalizing Bed-Stuy |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/rdnj7r/how-a-pop-up-radio-station-is-radicalizing-bed-stuy |website=VICE |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=22 September 2014}}) The same year, Cheek––along with Ariana Allensworth, Salome Asega, Sable Elyse Smith, and Nadia Williams––co-organized "The Kara Walker Experience: WE ARE HERE", a public gathering of people of color at the Domino Sugar Refinery for Kara Walker's installation A Subtlety.{{cite web |title=We Are Here:Black Women Claim Their Space at Kara Walker's Controversial Sugar Sphinx Show |url=https://www.ebony.com/entertainment/kara-walker-domino-003/ |website=EBONY Magazine |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=2 July 2014}} In 2015, Cheek's work as Curatorial Assistant for High Line Art included helping to organize an installation and performance by Kevin Beasley.{{cite web |title=Kevin Beasley: Untitled Stanzas: Staff/Un/Site |url=https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/kevinbeasley/ |website=High Line |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=2015}}

In 2016, Cheek joined the curatorial team at contemporary art institution MoMA PS1;{{cite web |last1=Murnighan |first1=Annie |title=MoMA PS1 curator Taja Cheek dives into New York's experimental music scene |url=https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/moma-ps1-curator-taja-cheek-dives-new-yorks-experimental-music-scene |website=Interview Magazine |access-date=15 July 2021 |date=13 March 2018}} the same year, she also opened the basement of her Brooklyn apartment to experimental music events under the name 49 Shade{{cite web |title=What's going on Thursday? |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/whats-going-on-thursday-7-2/ |website=Brooklyn Vegan |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=14 April 2016}} (initially co-organized with Max Alper, Dann Lawrence, and Matteo Liberatore). 49 Shade presented artists including Kyp Malone, Miho Hatori,{{cite web |title=December 2022 |url=https://nyc-noise.com/2022-12/ |website=NYC Noise |access-date=6 September 2023}} and Otomo Yoshihide,{{cite web |title=Otomo Yoshihide Solo, 49 Shade, December 10, 2017 |url=https://downtownmusic.net/otomo-yoshihide/otomo-yoshihide-solo-12-10-2017 |website=DowntownMusic.net |access-date=6 September 2023}} and Bartees Strange credits the space as introducing him to many of his collaborators.{{cite web |title=Musician Bartees Strange on indie music’s overlooked audiences |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/helga/episodes/bartees-strange-1 |website=WNYC |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=6 December 2022}} At PS1, Cheek co-organized Sunday Sessions and the Warm Up series through 2021;{{cite web |title=Warm Up 2021 |url=https://www.momaps1.org/programs/61-warm-up-2021 |website=MoMA PS1 |access-date=6 September 2023}} Warm Up lineups receiving extensive media coverage included a 2017 event with Cardi B, A$AP Ferg, and YATTA (of artist collective PTP);{{cite web |last1=Madden |first1=Sidney |title=The Business Of Being Cardi B |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/04/05/599592959/the-business-of-being-cardi-b |website=NPR |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=5 April 2018}}{{cite web |title=Warm Up: Total Freedom (with Ryan Trecartin) / Cardi B / ASAP Ferg / Hitmakerchinx / Lotic / inc. no world + Ian Isiah / YATTA |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/3148 |website=MoMA |access-date=6 September 2023}} a 2018 show pairing Lizzo with experimentalists Gang Gang Dance;{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Sandra E. |title=Lizzo Wants to Build You Up |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/18/style/lizzo-truth-hurts.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=18 September 2018}}{{cite web |title=Warm Up: Discwoman / Yaeji / Gang Gang Dance / Lizzo / AceMo / Logan Takahashi |url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/4455 |website=MoMA |access-date=6 September 2023}} 2019's season opener, with Queens local duendita and Freddie Gibbs;{{cite web |last1=Fulton |first1=Nick |title=how 'warm up' at moma ps1 became nyc's best summer festival |url=https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/neayqx/moma-ps1-warm-up-nyc-summer-lineup-2019 |website=i-D |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=7 February 2019}} 2020's livestream edition, with Eartheater and KeiyaA;{{cite web |last1=Moen |first1=Matt |title=Livestream This: MoMA PS1 Warm Up |url=https://www.papermag.com/moma-ps1-warm-up#rebelltitem3 |website=PAPER Magazine |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=27 August 2020}} and a limited-capacity 2021 event with Baby Tate and Patia's Fantasy World.{{cite web |title=Photos: MoMA PS1 Throws Exuberant, Fully Vaccinated Warm Up Party |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/photos/photos-2021-moma-ps1-warm-party |website=Gothamist |access-date=6 September 2023}} As of July 2022, Cheek was listed as "former Associate Curator" at PS1.{{cite web |title=Poncili Creación |url=https://www.momaps1.org/events/76-poncili-creacion-no-gods-only-flowers |website=MoMA PS1 |access-date=6 September 2023}}

In 2023, Cheek was announced as the first artist curator for BRIC's Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival.{{cite web |last1=Helfand |first1=Raphael |title=How L’Rain helped build Celebrate Brooklyn! 2023’s phenomenal lineup |url=https://www.thefader.com/2023/07/28/how-lrain-helped-build-celebrate-brooklyn-2023s-phenomenal-lineup |website=The FADER |access-date=6 September 2023 |date=28 July 2023}}

In 2024, Cheek was appointed artistic director of Performance Space New York.{{cite web |last1=Small |first1=Zachary |title=Performance Space New York Unveils Its New Leadership Model |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/08/arts/design/performance-space-taja-cheek.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=10 May 2025 |date=8 March 2024}}

L'Rain often layers and loops her vocals, and her work frequently features samples from her collection of hundreds of field recordings, some pitch-shifted or otherwise manipulated beyond recognition. She has spoken in interviews about her work's tendency to evade or reject categorization, saying that she is "more interested in a Barthes, Death of the Author, approach to genre",{{cite web |last1=Bourgeois |first1=Jasmine |title=In Conversation with L'Rain |url=https://tomtommag.com/2018/11/in-conversation-with-lrain/ |website=Tom Tom Magazine |access-date=16 July 2021 |date=November 2018}} values illegibility, and seeks to complicate assumptions about the relationship between identity and aesthetics: "I’m hyper-aware of how marketing and packaging happens for Black people and women and Black women [...] I like feeling a sense of agency in how those stories are told".

AllMusic described L'Rain as making "dreamy, genre-blurring music [...], reflecting on grief, change, joy, and resistance through a collage-like mixture of soul, psychedelia, gospel, musique concrète, and numerous other genres."{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=Paul |title=L'Rain - Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lrain-mn0003703219/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=4 March 2022}} Pitchfork described her 2021 album Fatigue as "painterly and methodical, daubing vocal loops over clattering percussion, sweeping strings, and resonant synths to create a shapeshifting strain of experimental pop." Reviewers have variously identified her style and influences as including free jazz, ambient, noise music, and disco;{{cite web |last1=Balfour |first1=Jay |title=L'Rain: L'Rain |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lrain-lrain/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=28 September 2017}} dance; "psychedelic orchestral pop" and "distorted shoegaze"; krautrock, outsider music, and hip hop;{{cite web |last1=Schube |first1=Will |title=L'Rain's Debut Album Is A Rollercoaster Ride of Soul, Shoegaze, and Dance |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/l-rain-feature |website=Bandcamp |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=8 September 2017}} R&B and avant-garde rock; gospel, funk, and post-punk;{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Marcus J. |title=L'Rain's "Fatigue" Captures the Everyday Nuances of Black Life |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/lrain-fatigue-interview |website=Bandcamp Daily |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=24 June 2021}} and soul, drone, avant-pop, and musique concrète.{{cite web |last1=Pelly |first1=Jenn |title=L'Rain Wants to Confuse You |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/lrain-fatigue-interview/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=15 July 2021 |date=28 June 2021}}

While Cheek is the sole fixed figure in L'Rain recordings and performances, she says the project follows a "more nuanced and collective [model]" than that of the "lone genius or creator": "I'm trying to find a way to nurture my own voice and singular vision, especially as a Black woman musician, while also acknowledging that I work collaboratively with a team that is essential to the project."{{cite web |last1=Berzon |first1=Stephanie |title=A Healing Vortex: Taja Cheek Interviewed by Stephanie Berzon |url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/a-healing-vortex-taja-cheek-interviewed-by-stephanie-berzon/ |website=BOMB |access-date=24 June 2021 |date=23 June 2021}} Andrew Lappin and Ben Chapoteau-Katz are credited as Cheek's closest collaborators and co-producers of L'Rain's second and third albums; as of 2023, the band's members are Cheek, Lappin, and Chapoteau-Katz with Zachary Levine-Caleb, Justin Felton, and Timothy Angulo.

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Category:American experimental musicians

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American women musicians

Category:African-American women musicians

Category:African-American composers

Category:African-American women composers

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century African-American women

Category:21st-century African-American musicians