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]
Serayah | |
|---|---|
 Serayah at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards 2018. | |
| Born | Serayah Ranee McNeill June 20, 1995 Encinitas, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer, model |
| Years active | 2015–present |
Early life
editSerayah 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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Acting
editThe 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
editIn 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
editIn 2023, Serayah began dating rapper and actor Joey Badass.[16]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| 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 | |
| TBA | Takeover | Lt. Keisha Jenner | Post-production |
Television
edit| 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
edit- 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" |
Featured
edit| 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
edit- ^ "Drip Drop" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[26]
References
edit- ^ "Biography". sonicbids.com. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
- ^ a b "BIOGRAPHY". serayahlove.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ "Serayah McNeill's Girls Basketball Stats". maxpreps.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gant, Essence (February 11, 2015). "Serayah McNeill Dishes on Empire, Not Having 'Assets' and More". blackenterprise.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Movie Trailer: BET+ Original 'Favorite Son Christmas' [Starring Lisa Arrindell, Tank, Serayah, & Darrel Walls] - That Grape Juice". thatgrapejuice.net.
- ^ Jones, Monique. "'Favorite Son Christmas': Lisa Arrindell, Tank, Darrel Walls And More Star As Musical Family In BET+ Exclusive Trailer - Blavity". Blavity News & Entertainment.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Chan, Tim (December 14, 2022). "Serayah Talks Holiday Plans, New Music and Taking Shots With Taylor Swift". Rolling Stone.
- ^ Petski, Denise (December 7, 2021). "'Kingdom Business': Yolanda Adams & Serayah To Lead Cast Of BET+ Gospel Drama Series".
- ^ "Best Friend | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "New Music: Serayah Released Debut EP Addicted". May 2018.
- ^ Hawkins, Ruth (December 18, 2023). "Serayah Seemingly Addresses Joey Bada$$ Breakup Rumors". HipHopDX. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
- ^ "Empire Cast – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "RedOne – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "RedOne – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "RedOne feat. Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah & Shaggy – Don't You Need Somebody". Ultratop. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts – Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ 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) - ^ Hung, Steffen. "spanishcharts.com – Spanish charts portal". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "swedishcharts.com – Swedish Charts Portal". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ Hung, Steffen. "RedOne feat. Enrique Iglesias, R. City, Serayah & Shaggy – Don't You Need Somebody – hitparade.ch". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "Chart Search – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ "Empire Cast – Chart history – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
