Serayah Ranee McNeill (born June 20, 1995), known mononymously as Serayah, is an American actress, model, and singer. She is 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 (2022–2023).
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. Serayah's paternal grandmother is white (of Irish, Scottish, English, and German ancestry), with the rest of her family being African-American.
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 (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.
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 (Brown Sugar) and Cory Tynan (Play’d), 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 (Phylicia Rashad, and together try to build a new life. The production is part of Tyler Perry's partnership with Netflix, creating faith-based films.
The film features songs from Serayah with a duet of Goodness of God (Bethel Music) 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. In 2024, Serayah released the extended version of her EP Archives, which featured songwriting contributions from RushDee.
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.
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 Favorite Son 2: Christmas Dawn 2024 Robbin Robin 2025 Ruth & Boaz Ruth Moably 2026 Lt. Keisha Jenner Post-production
Television Year Title RoleNotes 2015–2020 Empire Tiana BrownRecurring (season 1) Main (seasons 2–6)2019Lip Sync BattleHerselfEpisode: “Serayah vs Rotimi”2021Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Story Keisha Television film2021–present Black Mafia FamilyLori WalkerRecurring 2021 Hip Hop Family Christmas Kelsey Nixon Television film 2022 Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding Kelsey Nixon Television film2021True StoryAndrea2 episodes 2022–2023 Kingdom BusinessRebecca "Rbel" BelleLead role2023Wu-Tang: An American SagaKarinaRecurring
Discography EPs Addicted (2018) Ray (2020) Flutter (2023) Archives (Extended Version) (2023)
Title Year Album "Driving Me"2017Addicted "You Told Me"2018 "GTTM (Going Through The Motions)" "So Good" "Lost & Found"Addicted "4 Pages"2019 rowspan="2" "Love It" "Feel Something"2023Flutter "Love Or Die" "Last Night" "Real" "Danger" "F.B.B." "Should I Stay"
Featured + List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions Album US USR&B/HH USPop USRhythm 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
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