Raquel Liane

Early Life:
 First-generation Puerto Rican-American Raquel Liane Martinez was born December
14th
, 1995 in New York City and raised in Union, New Jersey. Her father is an Army
reserve and currently is an AV Technician at NYU. Her mother works as an executive
assistant in the financial industry and also works in fashion. Raquel was raised in the
catholic faith and attended Church and CCD classes religiously throughout grade
school. While Raquel has many values rooted in the Catholic Church she finds her
beliefs to be very fluid and is open to experiencing other religions. Coming out of a large
household Martinez grew up with a very close-knit family and was protected as the
youngest by her two older brothers Jonathan, William, and her cousin Katriana who
lived with them at the time.
During her early years, Raquel’s father was sent to Kosovo and she spent time
commuting with her mom back and forth into the city to be watched by her grandmother
in the Lower East Side. The 9/11 attacks caused Raquel's father to be activated again.
She would later commute with her father to an army camp for children on base for the
summer of first grade while he worked until he was ordered to leave home to live on
base. A year later her brother William became an army soldier and fought in Iraq. Her
brother Jonathan followed suit and joined the navy.
Raquel recounts back to her childhood, “Before I decided on becoming a singer I
wanted to be a soldier like my dad and brothers. I even contemplated very deeply about
joining the Peace Corps. Before committing to college. I think it has really influenced my
music because I always go into my writing with the intention of helping people and being
of service.”
By the time Raquel reached 9th grade she became very involved with the notable musical theatre program at Union High School and was also a part of the color guard
in the marching band. Raquel majored in musical theatre in college but dropped out in her
second semester of junior year. To find her footing she started performing in random
shows around the city while working retail and later at her brother's bus company as an
Operations Manager.


Career:

2018-Present
In 2018, Raquel was auditioning and performing in different shows before she decided
to switch gears and start releasing her own music. Working in retail, Raquel met a friend
that introduced her to Denzel Wilson who helped her in the beginning of her musical
journey. Raquel co-wrote her Debut Single “So Into You” with Denzel Wilson and later
released it with new revisions and guidance from her producer/singer-songwriter friend
M. Breeze, on March 20, 2018. She continued to explore her sound with M. Breeze, and
on March 29, 2019, Raquel released an EDM single “Circles” Which gained a lot of
traction and notoriety in the EDM community. In the summer of 2019, Raquel started
attending writing retreats and finding her sound and confidence as a writer. Around that
time she had also left her job at her brother's bus company (All Bus Inc.) as an
operations manager to busk in New York City full time. She was able to save up to
finally release her video for “Circles” and was working on new releases and busking in
NYC until quarantine hit. She used the time to reflect and find herself and wrote her
debut EP F.L.I.R.T alongside writers Jessica Lindsey and Bazz Valencia out of her
home studio. Throughout quarantine, she released singles off that EP such as Caught
Up (Produced by Mixtape Seoul and Vinnie Keyz) released on September 20, 2020, and
Work Hard, Pray Harder (produced by band Legal Axion and Jessica Lindsey), which was released on June 4, 2021. F.L.I.R.T. released July 16, 2021, and a week later the music
video dropped for “Work Hard, Pray Harder” for promotion.


Discography:
- F.L.I.R.T. (Finding Love In Real Time)