"Escapism" is a song by the British singer-songwriter

Raye Rachel Agatha Keen (born 24 October 1997), known professionally as Raye ( ), is a British singer-songwriter. She first rose to prominence after signing with Polydor Records and subsequently releasing Dance music, dance singles and extended pla ...

featuring the American rapper

070 Shake Danielle Balbuena (born June 13, 1997), known professionally as 070 Shake (pronounced "oh seven oh shake"), is an American rapper and singer. She is best known for her guest appearance on English singer Raye's 2022 single "Escapism (Raye song), ...

. It was released independently through Human Re Sources on 12 October 2022, as the third single from Raye's debut studio album, '' My 21st Century Blues'' (2023), and as a

dual single The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or r ...

with "The Thrill Is Gone". Both artists wrote the song with its producer,

Mike Sabath Mike Sabath is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with Shawn Mendes, Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, Raye, Liam Payne, Little Mix, the Jonas Bros., and Selena Gomez, among other artists. Early life and education Sabath ...

. "Escapism" is an uptempo R&B,

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

, and

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

song with lyrics about escaping from reality and dealing with heartbreak. "Escapism" is considered Raye's breakout single as a solo artist. It gained attention on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

in 2022, became her first number-one single in the UK, and has been certified platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). It also topped the charts in Ireland and Denmark and entered the top-10 of the charts in over twenty countries. It has been certified gold, platinum, or higher in over twelve regions. It became both Raye's and 070 Shake's first song to chart on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 22. Raye and Otis Dominique directed the song's accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

. It depicts the singer turning to "partying, drinking, and drugs to escape her emotions and numb her feelings" after breaking up with her boyfriend. "Escapism" won various accolades, including Song of the Year at the

Brit Awards 2024 The Brit Awards 2024 was the 44th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry (BPI), and was held on Saturday 2 March 2024 at The O2 Arena in London. The ceremony returned to a weekend due to successful viewersh ...

, Best Social Trended Song at the

Global Awards The Global Awards are held by Global Media & Entertainment and reward music played on the British radio stations which are part of the Global network, including Capital, Capital XTRA, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth, Radio X, LBC and Gold, with the a ...

, and Best Contemporary Song at the

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

. Additionally, it was nominated for Best Independent Track and Best Independent Video at the

AIM Independent Music Awards The AIM Independent Music Awards, hosted by the Association of Independent Music (commonly abbreviated to AIM), began in 2011. It is established through a collection of independent record labels and providing service and support to independent and ...

, as well as Best British Pop Single at the

Popjustice £20 Music Prize The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder ...

Composition and lyrics

"Escapism" incorporates

trip-hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

in its production. Raye stated that she "love how rebellious" "Escapism" is for disregarding "the standard" of "pop music structure", particularly being "longer than three minutes and twenty seconds". The song depicts Raye on a post-breakup spree of unhealthy coping mechanisms, engaging in hookups, drugs, and alcohol. Raye explained that the song is about escaping from reality and dealing with heartbreak. In an interview with '' Clash'', Raye revealed that she wrote the song in a log cabin in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

: "Me and a friend hired a car, and drove up there, in the middle of winter, through the snow and everything! 'Escapism' is a story about running away from everything as fast as you can. The lyrics are about just leaving everyone on read, and going out on your own. It came from a messy time, but as humans, we just have to keep surviving!"

Critical reception

Amit Vaidya of ''

Rolling Stone India ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known f ...

'' named "Escapism" one of the Best International Songs of 2022. They added how "Escapism" showcases Raye's "journey to achieving her musical freedom" and how "Escapism" "perfectly captures the angst and the aura of the singer—a vocal shape-shifter who now is the boss and we just love it!"

Awards

The song won Best Contemporary Song at the 2023

, "Best Social Trended Song" at the

2023 Global Awards The 2023 Global Awards ceremony were held on 31 March 2023 live on-air through the Global Media & Entertainment#Radio stations, Global radio stations Capital (radio network), Capital FM, Capital XTRA, Heart (radio network), Heart FM, Radio X (Unite ...

, and "Song of the Year" at the

. It was nominated for "Best Independent Track" and "Best Independent Video" at the 2023 AIM Independent Music Awards, and "Best British Pop Single" at the Popjustice £20 Music Award Show.

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

After going viral on

, "Escapism" charted on the UK Singles Chart at number 31 on 25 November 2022, which marked 070 Shake's first entry on the chart. The feat marked the singer's first charting solo single since Raye became an independent artist in 2021. The following week, the song ascended to number six, becoming Raye's first single as a solo artist to reach the top ten in the UK. On 9 December, "Escapism" climbed to number two, becoming Raye's highest-charting single to date, passing her collaborations " You Don't Know Me" with

Jax Jones Timucin Lam (born Timucin Fabian Kwong Wah Aluo; 25 July 1987), known professionally as Jax Jones, is an English DJ, record producer and remixer. He rose to prominence in 2014 by featuring on Duke Dumont's number-one single "I Got U". He follow ...

(2016) and "

Bed A bed is a piece of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

" with

Joel Corry Joel Corry (born 10 June 1989) is an English DJ, producer and television personality. He came to prominence in 2019 with the release of his single " Sorry", featuring vocals from Hayley May, which reached number six in the UK Singles Chart. In ...

and

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

(2021). Following the Christmas period, "Escapism" ascended to number one on the UK Singles Chart in January 2023, marking both Raye and 070 Shake's first chart-topping single of their careers. In the United States, "Escapism" became both artists' first song to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 22. In Canada, "Escapism" became Raye's first charting single as a lead artist of her career on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

, peaking at number nine on the chart dated 21 January 2023.

Music video

for the song was released on 9 November 2022, directed by Raye and Otis Dominique. It reflects the song's lyrics, with Raye turning to "partying, drinking, and drugs to escape her emotions and numb her feelings" after breaking up with her boyfriend. The video makes use of point-of-view cameras. In an interview with ''Shots'', Raye mentioned, "We worked really hard to create an honest depiction of where I was at that time in my life. It was fun and wild. We shot it over a couple of days and wore point-of-view cameras during a wild night out at many different clubs. I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and I ran 150 metres in 5-inch heels. We really took it there!"

Live performances

On 15 October 2022, Raye performed "Escapism" live for the first time on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. In December 2022, the singer released a live performance recorded at

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor, Karin Clayton and Alexander Skeaping. Donald Brackett It is located in the Power House, a Grade II listed building, ...

in London. On 13 February 2023, Raye made her US network television debut performance on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

''. On 26 September 2023, Raye performed a live version of "Escapism" at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, London, accompanied by the

Heritage Orchestra ] The Heritage Orchestra is a British orchestra founded in 2004 under the artistic direction of Christopher Wheeler, Chris Wheeler. The orchestra perform a mix of styles and genres and are known as the premiere non-classical orchestra in the UK ...

and the Flames Collective gospel choir, with

Anna Lapwood Anna Ruth Ella Lapwood (born 28 July 1995) is a British organist, choir director and television and radio presenter, whose recordings have reached a wide audience on social media since she was appointed as an associate artist at the Royal Alber ...

on the venue's organ. On 6 April 2024, Raye performed "Escapism" on

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Brit British Single 2022 singles 2022 songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Turkey Raye (singer) songs 070 Shake songs Songs written by 070 Shake Songs written by Mike Sabath Songs written by Raye (singer) UK singles chart number-one singles Electropop songs British hip-hop songs Songs about alcohol British contemporary R&B songs UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles