It has been a minute (darn school) but we are finally back with some Artist of Color Vol. 2. A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with Raven White, who is getting some crazy buzz from this wave of her turning celebrities into Pokémon trainers.  Now If there is one thing you should know about me, I am a Pokémon connoisseur so naturally I had to find out a little more about Raven. 

The story all starts with Solange Knowles posting a picture mentioning Pokémon and that was all the inspiration Raven needed.

The Instagram post that started it all.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIq2DMugaeU/?taken-by=saintrecords&hl=en

Which led to this gem.

And with an acknowledgement from Solange herself about the creation, it was off to a pretty great start.

Raven White is also known on these art streets as Raveyrai and she is currently based out of Atlanta.  Raven tells me that she has always been interested in the arts but she didn’t really start taking it more serious until highschool when she realized that she could actually make something out of this.  I asked why she chose to get into animation other than a more traditional art discipline she talks about growing up in the 90’s during a sort of renaissance for animation in America.  Raven mentions a few shows she especially cared about growing up: Samurai Jack, Dragonball Z, Inuyasha, and Yu Yu Hakasho (insert fire emoji here) to name a few.

After the ball got rolling post transforming Solange into a certified fresh gym leader it was only a matter of time before the next celebrity was transformed.

Jannelle Monáe with the electric and psychic types was so spot on.  I asked Raven if she had any plans for who to transform next and she mentioned Gambino or possibly Andre 3000 so fingers crossed because either of those would be phenomenal.  As for what is next for the artist known as Raveyrai this year she is full to the brim.  She is currently gearing up to get some high quality animations out and also working on an original/indie comic series she would like to see manifest sometime this year. 

Lastly before I go here is Chance the rapper sitting on a Snorlax which is something I didn’t know I needed in my life until very recently. Enjoy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQOIFfsA5ns/?taken-by=raveyrai

Follow Raven on all her social media: Instagram (@raveyrai) and Twitter (@raveyrai)

Check out her website here to find out more about her and her work and to show support!

 Till next time, stay groovy.