Serayah (actress)


Serayah Ranee McNeill 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, and as Rebecca "Rbel" Belle in the BET+ musical drama series, Kingdom Business.

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

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 and its sequel Favorite Son Christmas 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 and its sequel Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding 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.
Serayeh features alongside Phylicia Rashad, Tyler Lepley, Walnette Santiago, Nijah Brenea and Taylor Thomas, Jermaine Dupri, Lecrae Moore and Big Tigger in Tyler Perry's' 2025 film Ruth and Boaz. Written by Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan, directed by Alanna Brown Trees of Peace, Tyler Perry and co-producer DeVon Franklin offer a modern version of the biblical love story of Ruth and Boaz. The story follows an aspiring singer Ruth as she flees the Atlanta music scene with elderly newly-widowed Naomi and cameo role from 13 Grammy Award winner Babyface which was recorded live.

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.

Personal life

In 2023, Serayah began dating rapper and actor Joey Badass. On February 6, 2025, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. Their son was born on June 19, 2025.

Discography

;EPsAddicted Ray
TitleYearAlbum
"Driving Me"2017Addicted
"You Told Me"2018Addicted
"GTTM "2018Addicted
"So Good"2018
"Lost & Found"2018Addicted
"4 Pages"2019rowspan="2"
"Love It"2019-