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This past May, the Avonworth Journalism 2 class had the opportunity to interview rising musical artist Jenna Raine, alongside students from schools across the East Coast. Raine discussed her musical style, how her career has evolved, her songwriting process, and more. Here are the highlights from the questions Avonworth students were able to ask:
Avonworth (Brune Jimenez-Corsetti, ‘26): So, hi! I’m Brune. My question is: You have been releasing music since 2018. How has your sound and style evolved from your first song?
R: Oh, gosh! It’s evolved a ton from that EP. My voice changed a lot, for sure, just because I grew up, but I heavily leaned on the writers in that room. I was like a baby. I think I was 13 when I wrote those songs, and I was learning how to co-write, which is when you’re in a studio working with another songwriter, and I didn’t really know how to do that. And so, I was kind of sitting back watching, learning from Candace, who was the writer in the room. And it was really cool. I learned a lot, but I wasn’t really, like I had no idea what I was doing, and so she was kind of helping me, guiding me. And now, in 2025, I can happily say that when I’m in a room, I’m writing a majority of the songs a lot of the time, which is really cool, and I’ve learned so much about writing that I can apply it when I’m even just writing by myself. And I know what I want to say. I know what I want my songs to sound like, and I had no idea what I was doing in 2018. So that’s just a lot of growth that I even know what I want to do, because everyone’s worst nightmare, if you’re a label or a manager, is when the artist doesn’t know what they want to do, because at that point they’re like, “We don’t even know how to help you.” So the fact that I know what I want and what I want to do is a huge thing. So I’d say that’s the main thing, and my music has just evolved a lot in general, and I’m finally making music that I love.
Avonworth (Sadie Walsh ‘25): So I’m Sadie, and I’m a dancer, and your music has become very connected to the dance world. You’ve had multiple dances to your songs go viral, and a lot of choreographers have worked with your music. Do you have a strong connection to dance? Has it grown from how your music has become connected to dance, and has this surprised you that it worked out that way?
Raine: It definitely surprised me. Never did I ever think that I would have, like, a viral TikTok dance, considering I’m not a professional dancer. I had to learn how to dance when I was in L2M.
So I ended up falling in love with dance, just as kind of a fun hobby. I take like hip hop classes in LA quite a bit sometimes, and I’m friends with a lot of dancers. And so it’s just around me a lot, which makes sense that it ended up leading into my music and having such an impact on my songs. But Gia, one of my closest friends, she has been such a game changer because I can’t choreograph, really, jack squat. And so she created the dance to “Roses”, and that took off. And then “Who Am I” just came out, and she taught a class to “Who Am I?”. She taught a class to “It Is What It Is”, and she’s kind of making it explode in the dance world just because she’s such a close friend and actually loves my music, which is so sweet. It’s my favorite thing when my friends love my music. But yeah, I would never have expected dancing to be the thing that brought, like, eyes onto my music. It’s so interesting, like a TikTok dance felt so 2020. I was like, how did this happen in 2024?
It was just so strange how it all happened, but I’m grateful. I love dancing. If there’s like a wedding or any sort of gathering where people are dancing, I’m, like, the first person on the dance floor, just because I think dancing is so fun. And I have so much fun with my friends when we’re just like having a good time. But that’s my only experience with dancing. I took classes when I was a kid, and I was horrible. So yeah, I just have a good time when it comes to dance, and I think people see that, too, like, in the dances on TikTok when I’m doing them, because I find a lot of joy in dancing. So I think that also translates.
Raine was incredibly kind to interview and provided many interesting insights into the music industry. And whether you are a dancer, a teenager afraid of the future, someone looking for fun, acoustic music, or some combination, Raine’s music is definitely worth checking out.
