Grey Worm sings! OK, sings again. Game of Thrones fans who have been paying attention may already know that Raleigh Ritchie is actually the alter-ego of actor Jacob Anderson — aka the fiercely loyal commander of Daenerys Targaryen’s legions of Unsullied warriors. On the other hand, GoT lovers who have been a little slower on the uptake — and who missed Ritchie/Anderson’s 2016 lauded debut album You’re A Man Now, Boy — are in for a treat. Because believe it or not, Anderson is the rarest of actors: A thespian with actual musical talent who is perfectly capable of making music that doesn’t totally suck. On his second album Andy, he shows once again that he’s got enough ability to carry a tune and rap credibly, and enough talent to do both with flair and individuality. And if he had any hand in writing, performing or producing these distinctive and artful tracks, he’s several leagues ahead of his competition in that regard too. And he didn’t even have to become a eunuch to emerge victorious from that battle.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “London-based R&B singer-songwriter and actor Raleigh Ritchie’s sophomore album Andy is his first LP in four years. The album title was inspired from a nickname given to his grandfather, which Raleigh Ritchie — real name Jacob Anderson — has since inherited.
Ritchie said, “Andy is a little wink to myself. It’s saying, ‘This is you speaking right now, this is you saying what you have to say.’ ” He premiered a new song Aristocrats in May, with an accompanying music video directed by Ritchie himself. “British history is complicated, especially as a POC. And history is everything, it’s what we learn from to help us build our future. In school I didn’t learn much about British history aside from the country’s victories and a version of some of it’s atrocities. Sometimes it’s a confusing place, and although I love my country, I don’t always feel loved by it. With this video I wanted to explore this and my relationship to my own history and the history of those who came before me.”
