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Serayah (actress) facts for kids

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Serayah
091815-serayah-mcneill-lead.jpg
Serayah at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards 2018.
Born
Serayah Ranee McNeill

(1995-06-20) June 20, 1995 (age 29)
Occupation Actress, singer, model
Years active 2015–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).

Early life

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

Career

Serayah (26155476490)
Serayah in 2016

Acting

The character of Tiana on Empire marks her first major acting role. 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." She was added to the series regular cast on August 26, 2015. 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.

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. 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.

In 2022, Serayah was cast in a leading role alongside gospel singer Yolanda Adams in the BET+ musical drama series, Kingdom Business. 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.

Music

In 2015, Serayah appeared in singer Taylor Swift's video for the song "Bad Blood" as the character Dilemma. On July 18, 2015, Swift performed a rendition of her song "Style" alongside McNeill on the Chicago stop of her The 1989 World Tour. 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. 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.

Filmography

Film

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

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

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

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
US
R&B/HH
US
Pop

US
Rhythm
BEL
(Wa)

GER
POL
SPA
SWE
SWI
"Drip Drop"
(Empire Cast featuring Yazz and Serayah)
2015 37 73 Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1
"Look But Don't Touch"
(Empire Cast featuring Serayah)
2016 33 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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Serayah McNeill para niños

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