Ebony Riley

“Music was always on the menu,” Ebony Riley says. The aspiring supermodel, formerly known to fans as “Riley Montana,” has been quietly putting the finishing touches on her debut release ebony, and is ready to share it with the world. Beaming with excitement, she exclaims, “This has been a long time coming!”

A native of Detroit’s West Side, Ebony can’t recall a time when she wasn’t singing. She joined the church choir at the age of seven and began performing in grade school plays and musicals.

It was a family friend who encouraged Ebony to pursue a career on the catwalk. She was initially uncomfortable with that idea being a possibility for her, but when she turned 18, she took the leap and auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. Though Ebony was not chosen, she eventually relocated to Los Angeles in search of representation. She was horrified when a woman at the first agency she visited in New York told her she had to change her name because “the industry doesn’t need another Black girl named Ebony running around.”

Ebony admits those words stung. “I entered the industry being afraid to be myself.” Nevertheless, the stunning 5’9” beauty rose to a period of prominence in the fashion world almost overnight. She booked major campaigns for upper-echelon houses such as Givenchy, Balmain, Tom Ford, and Pyer Moss; graced the runway for Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta, Rodarte, and Zac Posen; and appeared in editorials for W, Vogue Paris, V, and Harpers Bazaar, among others. Ebony fondly recalls her grandmother playing gospel music on repeat in the house, while her mother introduced her to the classic sounds of ’90s R&B. She admits to being influenced by the Clark sisters just as much as Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, and Erykah Badu. “I draw from all of them in my work,” the singer makes clear.

She believes that ebony is an opportunity to finally introduce people to the real Ebony. Written and recorded during the pandemic, Ebony describes the seven-song project as “deeply personal” and guarantees listeners, “The body of work is so powerful that you will play it from front to back.”

Ebony’s management team enlisted some of the industry's most creative writers and producers, including James Fauntleroy and Shea Taylor, to collaborate with the singer. The result, as evidenced by the lead focus track, "Deuce Deuce," is extraordinary. "I just want people to feel heard and understood when they listen to my music," Ebony says. "I want to take people on a journey."