‘For the raza’: Fresno fans meet with rapper Reverie Love

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Los Angeles rapper “Reverie Love” is sharing her story of battling addiction and overcoming dark times with her music. She was in Fresno over the weekend to meet with fans.

Surrounded by fans and records, Reverie Love, a rapper from northwest Los Angeles hosted a pop up in Fresno for the second time.

“I keep coming back because you guys keep showing me love,” said Reverie. “I have fans here, they show up to support and I love the community. It’s always very welcoming when I come, and I have a lot of fun.”

Inside Ragin Records’ newest location on the corner of Olive and Van Ness avenues, fans and customers had the chance to meet Reverie as she signed albums and shared her journey.

“The music that I make is autobiographical, it’s about my life,” said Reverie. “A lot of it is about the struggles I’ve been through growing up in Los Angeles with addiction, with mental health, with a toxic family, abusive relationships, the gang life, and graffiti.”

For Ragin Records Owner Paul Cruikshank, Reverie’s talent and vulnerability is what made him an instant fan.

“She is an amazing rapper, but also, if you listen to her talk, you, she’ll talk a lot about who she is, you know, and what she’s been through and how she’s healed herself,” said Cruikshank. “And that’s super important, especially as somebody who has one daughter you know, it’s important to me that women feel they’re valued.”

In Reverie’s early years as an artist, she was influenced by Immortal Technique, Murs, Missy Elliott, Linkin Park and several others. She describes her music as heavy and dark, but now she’s entered a new chapter in life, rapping and living to different beat.

“I’ve been working on becoming a better version of myself over the past ten years,” said Reverie. “So now we get to talk about success and gratitude and evolving and hope.”

Those messages inspire others who have also overcome addiction.

“I love artists that get up and talk about sobriety, and not enough people will say it out loud,” said Caleb Thiebaud, who is a longtime fan of Reverie and Ragin Records. “You know everyone we grew up around wanted us to thug it out and do bad, so to see someone successful cheer you on, to do good, I’ll cosign on it every day. She’s an amazing artist with an amazing message.”

Now, Reverie hopes to inspire more Latino and Latina rappers giving back to the community she comes from.

“I’m really proud to represent the Latinas, for the raza, for LA,” said Reverie. “Ten years ago, there were very few female rappers in general, but especially Latina rappers. And now ten years later, there’s a good amount, not enough, but there’s a good amount.”

As a proud Angeleno, being on tour right now comes with some heartache as Los Angeles battles devasting wildfires. 

“I’m honestly really devastated and heartbroken right now,” said Reverie. “I know people that have had to evacuate. I know people whose homes have completely burned down and it’s like a bunch of people, it’s not just one. And I do want to say thank you to everyone who is helping save Los Angeles.”