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Serayah (actress)

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This article is about American actress, model and singer. For other persons with similar names, see Seraiah.
Serayah
Serayah at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards 2018.
Born
Serayah Ranee McNeill

(1995-06-20) June 20, 1995 (age 29)
Encinitas, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, singer, model
Years active2015–present

Serayah Ranee McNeill (born June 20, 1995) also known mononymously as Serayah, is an American actress, model and singer, known for her roles as Tiana Brown on the Fox musical drama series Empire (2015–2020), and as Rebecca "Rbel" Belle in the BET+ musical drama series, Kingdom Business (2022–present).[1]

Early life

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Serayah Ranee McNeill was born in Encinitas, California.[2] She graduated from Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, where she played for the girls' varsity basketball team, in 2013.[2][3]

Career

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Serayah in 2016

Acting

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The character of Tiana on Empire marks her first major acting role.[4] In a 2015 interview with Black Enterprise, Serayah stated of her role, "One thing I always say about this show is it's a lot of drama, but it's family drama so people relate. Every family has some type of drama, and I think that it touches on a lot of the entertainment business and the music business. Some exaggerated parts, but it really does touch on some of the things that happen."[5] She was added to the series regular cast on August 26, 2015.[6] She appeared in the 2017 drama film Burning Sands and later starred in films Favorite Son (2021) and its sequel Favorite Son Christmas (2023) directed by Robin Givens.[7][8]

In 2021, Serayah played the lead in the Lifetime movie Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Story. Later in 2021, Serayah joined the cast of Starz crime drama series, Black Mafia Family in a recurring role.[9] She starred in VH1 movie Hip Hop Family Christmas (2021) and its sequel Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding (2022) alongside Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo and Valarie Pettiford, and played the lead opposite Ne-Yo in the BET+ film The Sound of Christmas.[10]

In 2022, Serayah was cast in a leading role alongside gospel singer Yolanda Adams in the BET+ musical drama series, Kingdom Business.[11] The series premiered on May 19, 2022 and the second season premiered on November 2, 2023. In 2023 she starred in the Tubi thriller film Best Friend.[12]

Music

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In 2015, Serayah appeared in singer Taylor Swift's video for the song "Bad Blood" as the character Dilemma.[13] On July 18, 2015, Swift performed a rendition of her song "Style" alongside McNeill on the Chicago stop of her The 1989 World Tour.[14] She performed at Marshall Academy of the Arts in Long Beach in March 2015. In 2016, she was featured in the RedOne song "Don't You Need Somebody", that also features Enrique Iglesias, R. City and Shaggy. In 2018, she released her debut EP Addicted.[15] In 2019, she played a main role in the music video for "Undecided" by Chris Brown. In 2022, she appeared in the music video by Diddy feat. Bryson Tiller for the song, Gotta Move On.

Personal life

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In 2023, Serayah began dating rapper and actor Joey Badass.[16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Film Role Notes
2016 Lucky Girl Lisa Jackson
2017 Burning Sands Angel
2021 Favorite Son Dawn
2022 The Sound of Christmas Montana
2023 Best Friend Trisha
2023 Favorite Son 2: Christmas Dawn
2024 Robbin
TBA Takeover Lt. Keisha Jenner Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2015–2020 Empire Tiana Brown Recurring (season 1)
Main (seasons 2–6)
2021 Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Story Keisha Television film
2021–present Black Mafia Family Lori Walker Recurring
2021 Hip Hop Family Christmas Kelsey Nixon Television film
2022 Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding Kelsey Nixon Television film
2021 True Story Andrea 2 episodes
2022–present Kingdom Business Rebecca "Rbel" Belle Lead role
2023 Wu-Tang: An American Saga Karina Recurring

Discography

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EPs
  • Addicted (2018)
  • Ray ' ' (2020)
Title Year Album
"Driving Me" 2017 Addicted
"You Told Me" 2018
"GTTM (Going Through The Motions)"
"So Good" Non-album single
"Lost & Found" Addicted
"4 Pages" 2019 Non-album single
"Love It"
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List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
 US
R&B/HH
[17] 		US
Pop
[18] 		US
Rhythm
[19] 		BEL
(Wa)
[20] 		GER
[21] 		POL
[22] 		SPA
[23] 		SWE
[24] 		SWI
[25]
"Drip Drop"
(Empire Cast featuring Yazz and Serayah) 		2015 —[A] 37 — — — 73 — — — — Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
"Look But Don't Touch"
(Empire Cast featuring Serayah) 		2016 — — — 33[27] — — — — — — Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 2
"Don't You Need Somebody"
(RedOne featuring Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah and Shaggy) 		— — 32 37 69 — 59 27 7 19 Non-album single

Notes

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  1. ^ "Drip Drop" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Biography". sonicbids.com. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "BIOGRAPHY". serayahlove.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  3. ^ "Serayah McNeill's Girls Basketball Stats". maxpreps.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  4. ^ Kay, Ariel (January 21, 2015). "Who Is Tiana On 'Empire'? Serayah McNeill Is A Triple Threat On The Verge Of Stardom". bustle.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  5. ^ Gant, Essence (February 11, 2015). "Serayah McNeill Dishes on Empire, Not Having 'Assets' and More". blackenterprise.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  6. ^ Roots, Kimberly (August 26, 2015). "Empire Promotes Serayah for Season 2". TVLine. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  7. ^ "Movie Trailer: BET+ Original 'Favorite Son Christmas' [Starring Lisa Arrindell, Tank, Serayah, & Darrel Walls] - That Grape Juice". thatgrapejuice.net.
  8. ^ Jones, Monique. "'Favorite Son Christmas': Lisa Arrindell, Tank, Darrel Walls And More Star As Musical Family In BET+ Exclusive Trailer - Blavity". Blavity News & Entertainment.
  9. ^ Patten, Dominic (March 11, 2021). "50 Cent's 'Black Mafia Family' Adds Snoop Dogg, La La Anthony & Serayah To Starz Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Chan, Tim (December 14, 2022). "Serayah Talks Holiday Plans, New Music and Taking Shots With Taylor Swift". Rolling Stone.
  11. ^ Petski, Denise (December 7, 2021). "'Kingdom Business': Yolanda Adams & Serayah To Lead Cast Of BET+ Gospel Drama Series".
  12. ^ "Best Friend | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  13. ^ Bell, Amanda (July 28, 2015). "Serayah's 'Ready' For Action In Taylor Swift's New 'Bad Blood' Set Video". MTV.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  14. ^ Iasimone, Ashley (July 19, 2015). "Taylor Swift Hangs With Chance the Rapper, Brings Andy Grammer & Serayah to the Stage in Chicago". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  15. ^ "New Music: Serayah Released Debut EP Addicted". May 2018.
  16. ^ Hawkins, Ruth (December 18, 2023). "Serayah Seemingly Addresses Joey Bada$$ Breakup Rumors". HipHopDX. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  17. ^ "Empire Cast – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  18. ^ "RedOne – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  19. ^ "RedOne – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  20. ^ "RedOne feat. Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah & Shaggy – Don't You Need Somebody". Ultratop. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  21. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts – Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  22. ^ www.onyx.pl, Onyx Sp. z o.o., tel. +48 22 3377222. "ZPAV :: Bestsellery i wyróżnienia – AirPlays – Top – Archiwum". Retrieved 13 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Hung, Steffen. "spanishcharts.com – Spanish charts portal". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  24. ^ Hung, Steffen. "swedishcharts.com – Swedish Charts Portal". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  25. ^ Hung, Steffen. "RedOne feat. Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah & Shaggy – Don't You Need Somebody – hitparade.ch". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  26. ^ "Chart Search – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  27. ^ "Empire Cast – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
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