Near the end of fashion week, and a day before the VMAs, New York is even more bustling than usual. At Manhattan’s Sei Less, Detroit rapper Babyface Ray and I got a glimpse of just how popular he — and upscale Asian food — are in the industry. A slew of celebs and industry heads walked down into a private room on the restaurant’s lower level: Sacramento Kings forward Demar Derozan, rapper Jason Martin (fka Problem), Def Jam CEO Tunji Balogun, CAA’s Shawn “Pecas” Costner, and a couple of other names you might find in a Hits Daily Double headline. They all greet Ray and his team warmly, referencing prior meetings (and nights out) they’ve had with the Detroit rap staple who released his album The Kid That Did on Friday.
The project’s title is a reference to his improbable journey through the streets of East Detroit to a bonafide rap innovator in his city’s beloved, insular scene. Though he has been rapping since 2010 as a member of Detroit’s Team Eastside, he says he feels like his solo career picked up around 2020, when his track “Move to LA” went viral and drew wider attention to his easygoing flow and impressive ear for beats. Ray’s mic presence makes him distinct. On last year’s “Ron Artest,” featuring Detroit rapper 42 Dugg, he offsets 42’s energetic delivery with a more deliberate approach on the same gleaming sample Flo Milli flipped for her smash hit “Never Lose Me.” His voice creeps over the drums like Olympic high jumpers over their mark. And despite how easy it seems, his technique is a product of years of experience.
Clad in all Black and a Yankee hat, Ray is even more soft-spoken in person while eating some sweet and sour chicken. He tells me the album dropped instead of an EP he was mulling, but elements of the EP ended up on the project anyway. After embarking on Face Fridays, where he’d drop a song a week, he felt like it was best to capitalize on his current buzz with a full project — and he recorded so much that he’s considering how many to put on a The Kid That Did deluxe edition.
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The 20-track project reflects a wide variety of inspirations. There’s the classic Detroit menace on “Rubberband Man” and “Shy Kid,” smoother vibes like “Delusional” and “Cherish,” and the reflective “Guardian Angel.” On “Count Money” with Bossman Dlow, producer Rich Treeze sampled the pause music from the N64 classic 007. Then Ray actually got Grant Kirkhope, the track’s original composer, to replay it for him. “Wavy Navy University” is another notable sample moment on the project. The track, featuring him and Veeze, was originally released unofficially with a Britney Spears “Toxic” sample. But since they couldn’t clear the track, they tasked producers Tana, PunchmeinJay, and Teeko to sample the song that Toxic sampled. The resourcefulness speaks to Ray’s determination and resolve to make things work.
Toward the end of our conversation, Jason Martin greets everyone in the room, and Ray has a pleasant exchange with Pecas, a former Executive Vice President at Def Jam. After recently partnering with EMPIRE for his Wavy Gang record label (and consulting signee Samuel Shabazz on his PLANEBOY album), Ray is a peer of both. Ray spoke to Rolling Stone about The Kid That Did, his Detroit rap, and Rich Paul’s musical chops.
What have been the biggest themes for you over the past year?
Just learning that it’s an entertainment business, so there’s more to it than just rapping.
I saw you struck a deal with Wavy Gang earlier this year. That’s one of those things that extends beyond rapping.
It’s crazy because it ain’t no normal thing that everybody gets a chance to do. It’s a struggle for someone to get a label deal. It’s cool. But I’ve been helping artists my whole [career].
What made you want to start Face Fridays?
I was just cooking and then I shoot videos with no intention of putting it out. So, then after a while they were stacking up. I don’t know who I was having a conversation with, but they like, “You should drop every Friday.” Like, I probably was talking to Beat or talking to Diego or something and then it just came like, “You might as well just drop every Friday. You already got the beat.” Stuff like that.
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Do you have a favorite artist weekly series?
Yeah, remember Fab did Freestyle Fridays? That was probably mine, because I didn’t even know Ye and then had did Good Fridays. But I remember Fab doing Freestyle Friday. It led up to the mixtape. We used to ride to his shit. We was in and out of town, up the highway, and that was the only tape. We going to keep playing this, the freestyle tapes. That’s my favorite moment from somebody doing it.
When did you start working on The Kid That Did?
I was working on this one while I was working on [The Summer’s Mine]. I go to the studio a lot. I know sometimes artists set out and put a theme on [a project] and then focus on that. [For me] it’s just been recording and finding the best tracks, and putting it together. You know what I’m saying?
How often would you say you’re in the studio?
[In] seven days out of the week, probably four or five. If I’m home, because I’m chilling with my kids and stuff, [it’ll] probably be three out of seven. I get some free time every day because I ain’t got nothing else to do. What else I’m going to be doing? Why wouldn’t I be in the studio?
What do you think was behind the gap between The Summer’s Mine and The Kid That Did?
The label situation. I was trying to focus on that, and once I did focus on it, I started working with my homeboy Samuel Shabazz on his project.
You have a really distinctive mic presence. Was that a day-one thing or did you find your voice over time?
When you listen to previews, when I first started my pitch was a little higher and a little bit faster. I think as I got a little bit older, I probably got a little bit more distinctive. I [found it] probably like 2018-19, about that time.
How did having Rich Paul on “The World Is Yours” come about?
[A] connection from my partner, he do clothing. [Me and Rich] connected. When we connected, that’s when he was speaking with me about music. He was talking to me about older music that he enjoyed.
Did he write that himself?
Yeah, for sure. He got 100 of them. He got all type of bars in his phones. He wrote it on the spot. Rich Paul was involved with Polow Da Don, and he discussed that with me. He was just speaking to me about a bunch of stuff. He worked at a label and all that, so we talked about all that. He loves music for real. You can tell.
How did “Wavy Navy University” initially come about?
It was a different sampling [process]. The track came out of [us] in the studio, working. I’m glad you enjoyed that. There was another beat that got leaked before this one. [Britney Spears’] team didn’t approve it. So, we end up sampling what she sampled, basically. And that’s how the beat end up coming about.
Whose voice is that on the front of “I Need Some Motivation?”
That’s my homie. She super spiritual. I had a song called “Y Not Me?” I was trying to do an EP, initially, and then it led to putting it on an album. I wanted her to say something spiritual on that. I ended up not using [“Y Not Me”]. I just clipped it, and I put it on [“I Need Some Motivation”].
How was the touring experience for you?
I love touring. That’s a good feeling to go state to state [and] there are people that enjoy your music [and] want to see you perform.
Do you feel like being delusional is ever a good thing for a person?
I think that term was being used a lot around the time I did the song, so I just created a vibe around it. Relationships, some partners just makes you delusional for them, you know, out of love.
At what point did you want to seriously pursue your rap career?
2017ish. Even when I joined the team our goal was local fame. The cats that was out their doin’ their thing was already known locally. If you from Detroit, you know Detroit listen to Detroit, so even back then, they was playing a bunch of Detroit artists when we was coming up. So, that was our goal, for real, was just to be known around the city.Once we grasped the city, I don’t think we ain’t had no dreams of becoming global artists, or doing what we doing now. Being one the internet care about.
What’s your beat selection process when you’re picking up songs for a project?
Depends on what mood I’m in, so if I’m on trap time and I feel like this trap shit, trap beats might be a little bit more appealing to me. If I’m going through something and I feel like I want to speak about something, the soulful beats might be a little bit more appealing.
For you, what’s the line between a lazy sample and one that’s more effective?
I can’t determine that because I don’t know what’s a lazy sample. From my perspective, I don’t think there’s no harm when artists do it because it shows that we fans of music and what was before us. I think we just be trying to put our own flare to it. That’s all that be about.
Do you ever give producers samples that you want them to flip?
For sure. Any sample, I think the Britney sample. The “007,” that was something I sent to somebody like, “Make this.” It was a TikTok where a guy was acting like he was playing. I’m like, “This shit hard,” and I got it redone. The same for the “One Republic.” I wanted to sample that, because Too Late to Apologize was a song that I used to listen to all the time.
Are there any left-field songs or genres that you’d want to explore in a sample that you haven’t yet?
Yeah, [Afrobeats]. Whatever genre that is when I go to London and they playing that in the club, and it’s just like, everybody dancing and feeling good, that right there. I want to try and make feel good music, you know what I’m saying? But other than that, I’ma just stick to what I know.
Have there been moments where you’ve been cognizant of you doing that in the midst of doing it?
Hell yeah. I find myself doing it all the time. It always comes from influence, but when I’m in there, if I’m hanging with somebody too much. You can just tell in the music.
“Ron Artest,” and “Never Lose Me” use the same beat. Did y’all both buy from the same producer…how did that come together like that?
I think she heard my song. It was a remix, but even though it came out officially when it did, it was already out on YouTube. Like, a leak. Fans was already familiar with the song before she came out officially.
Do you feel like her song-
Amplified mine? Yeah. “Never Going to Lose Me” was so crazy. I think the conversation just kept being that, “This is Babyface Ray song,” it [garnered] a bunch of traffic on that record.
Have you talked to her about that?
No. I ain’t mad at it. That’s the only plaque I got. [To] take a beat that was so successful to me and you make it successful for her? That’s art.
Do you have any plans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of MIA Season next year?
Good idea. Now that you say that. That was the birth of my solo career. My first CD that I did when I left [Team Eastside] because I always wanted to do the group thing. I ain’t have no plans on being a solo artist until friends and peers around me just told me I was good and I should continue by myself. So, I definitely want to celebrate that.
Who helped you put that first CD together?
I had my homeboys with me every day and we was on a routine because they really picked me up and told me, “This what we doing,” type shit. So, we would spend time in the studio together, molding the CD. Sometimes it’d turn into [us] in there drinking champagne, trying to put it [together]. My partners helped me put that out. It wasn’t just me.
Were there any specific conversations or anything that compelled you to get back in the studio after leaving Team Eastside?
It was just continuously having conversations about why I’m not rapping. I could be in the strip club, usually by myself, somebody be like, “Are you Babyface Ray? No way you ain’t recording no more.” Stuff like that, so that led me into doing the solo shit.
How do you feel about the way the Detroit scene influenced the larger hip-hop scene over the years?
I think it’s fire, for real. From our beat selection and what we talk about, we didn’t get the recognition that we get now. It was a kind of thing that we felt like they wasn’t fucking with us, for real. So, now that the Detroit scene is so popular, we emerging and rising, I think it’s lit because it’s shining light on our city. And that question gets asked often with multiple artists that’s doing their thing, so I think that’s fly too. Say if somebody listening to 42 Dugg, and then that question gets asked and they might mention a person like me. Somebody who listen to Dugg might not know about me. It might be leading them to something.
How does it feel to see the way Veeze’s ascended?
That shit fire. I just explained this earlier that, you know, sometimes out the crew, because that’s my boy, so out the crew you only really get one person that really flourishes [and] has shit going on. For him to be doing his thing and we so close how we is, it’s dope.
I know when I talked to him, he told me he was known for doing other things, then he started rapping. At what point did you realize that he had a future in rapping?
You know what I used to always tell him? He used to always send [me] music and there wasn’t no idea of putting it out. We was rappers, but I used to always, in comparison, be like, “Such and such [is] doing it. What make you think you can’t?” Not to [dismiss] nobody, but that’s how hard [his] shit was to me. Like, “Them niggas going right now, you got to at least try.” So, after so long of doing it, he probably figured it out like, “Fuck it. I’ma just try.”
I had a website where I was uploading music on there every Friday. It started off as [just my music], but once I ran out of shit to put on there, I called him and he was the first other artist I put on there. I put his song “Rusty” [on the site] and his shit had more plays than everything that was on there. Once that grew and we seen the numbers, we shot the video. “Bro, you about to shoot the video. Fuck all that.” And that’s how it came about.
He told me he learns from you just by watching you, not necessarily through conversations. How often did you talk to him about navigating the industry?
I don’t think we had real conversations about navigating through the industry. Just like you said, it’s learning from watching. The do’s and even the don’ts. I remember when it was going on for me, I remember inviting all the artists that was around me to be there while it was happening for me so they could see what’s going on. I [wanted] them to see what it’s bringing to me. You know what I’m saying? Maybe it could motivate them.
When you say “motivate,” was it like a “get out of the streets” kind of thing?
Yeah, because we was aspiring dope boys before we was rappers, for real. It was a point when we thought we was going to be the biggest street niggas, too. Like, “Fuck it. We going to be the biggest street niggas that we could ever be.” Then that transitioned to music. Looking back on it, it’s like, how stupid was we thinking that that was the life to glorify when we making money off music, providing for our family, doing stuff that we wanted to do, the legal way? Bro was doing real shit. Like, he was taking real chances where, do the wrong thing, he might not even be here. He might’ve been in jail somewhere. I don’t know.
Do you ever worry about the city’s sound becoming over-saturated with wave riders?
Eh, nah. Some people just on that. That’s their thing. Me, I don’t really try to stick to too much Detroit beats. I try to have a wider range, but some other artists from Detroit, that’s their thing. So, I don’t think they going to let it go because that’s what’s working for them. I don’t worry about it being over-saturated. It’s a part of the game. When Houston was going, everybody wanted to sound like the Houston boys. When New Orleans was going, everybody wanted to sound like them. When Atlanta was going…it’s just our time of people trying to sound like us.
And I ain’t knocking nobody who using it to provide for them, too. I think that’s good as well. Eventually, if they don’t say it now, they going to say it later and speak about how we played a part in a lot of artists’ careers by just having the sound.
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Do you feel like being laidback ever made things more challenging for you in the industry?
Yeah, for sure because me just being more reserved, somebody might take that the wrong way. I don’t mean any harm, it’s just my person and who I am. I just be there, I don’t bother nobody. That’s just what I’m on, but somebody else who’s dealing with you, they might look at you like, “Man, you funny acting, huh?” That’s one thing I speak about a lot. I be trying to get better with it. Like I was speaking about earlier, that don’t really affect you. You could burn yourself out doing that, too. Being too social with other people and then it’s just like, you giving the sauce away.
Do you feel underrated?
Underrated? No. It’s impossible to feel underrated when you got people like Future and them reaching out, and Jay-Z putting us on the playlist, and just the people that enjoy the music. You got to feel like you a part of something that’s going on when those people that’s at the top of their game know and acknowledge your career.
