Front
Page
US
Music News
UK
Music News
UK
Interviews
Nightclubs
Events
+ Concerts
Album
Reviews
Games
Feature
Articles
Music
Videos
Chat
Room
Ray J’s made a name for himself with his latest album ‘Raydiation’; no longer simply referred as ‘Brandy’s brother’. The singer talks to The Situation now that he’s got his own slice of fame.
The
typical R&B crooner hasn’t lived the life of a rapper. But then
again, Ray J isn’t
your average singer. Despite just scoring a double platinum hit in the
US with ‘Raydiation’, life hasn’t always been so sweet
for the 25-year-old. Feeling second-best to big sister Brandy,
Willie Raymond Norwood
sought comfort in the streets. His story starts long before he was singing
with the stars on TRL.
While R&B sensation Brandy was off touring the world, Ray J was living life in one of California’s most notorious ghettos. “Growing up in Carson, I was just trying to find my way as a young teenager. I went through the ups and downs and the obstacles, hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting in trouble,” he explains.
It was only when things got really serious that Ray J decided he had to do something about his potentially dead-end way of life, before exactly that happened. “I’ve been shot at; I thought I was going to die. My homie right behind you, he’s been shot two times,” he says, pointing towards the guy sitting on the chair at the back of the room. “That’s Shorty Mack, he’s featured on the album, on the R. Kelly song and on the Timbaland track. But growing up in Carson and Compton, that was a regular thing. That’s life; people get shot at everyday. It’s nothing, they laugh at that. But when it’s you or one of your friends who gets shot, it’s not funny anymore. It’s not a game no more; you can’t go back and laugh about it.”
Luckily, Ray J had a blessed family to fall back on. Having already got into the entertainment industry through various acting roles in commercials, his family helped him out of trouble and the youngster got interested in music as a career. “My earliest memory of music would probably be back listening to Al Green, Donny Hathaway, Michael Jackson, The Boys, just groups like that. I was always in church so I’d listen to a lot of gospel, the choirs, so that’s how I got started.”
Inspired by Brandy’s success, Ray J began singing professionally. While most would turn green with envy seeing their sibling steal the spotlight, Ray J says there’s never been any rivalry between him and his sister, rather “all love”. “I didn’t really want to do it while she wanted to do it,” he says. “When she made it, I thought, ‘I wanna try that.’ Everything I do, I pay homage to what she’s done. It’s more so she’s helping me everyday. Everything she’s experienced, all the success, it’s helping me become who I am today. We’re different but we’re the same person. Brandy co-executively produced the album, she was one of the investors in the company.”
The set-up of his record label marks the start of something great, with Ray J putting the past behind him. “It’s been real, it’s been a crazy experience for the whole Knockout Entertainment, but now that we got the label popping, we gonna keep this going. All of the past, those things helped me become stronger as a man, so I put that into my album. ‘Raydiation’ is a cleansing album; it’s soulful, inspirational. Anything I been through, you can learn from that, grow stronger. I just wanted to be an example of that and that’s what this album is all about, and that’s what the song ‘Centreview’ is about – paying homage to the hood you grew up in.”
‘One Wish’ is the first single taken off ‘Raydiation’, and Ray J says it’s also his favourite. “That’s the song that I really feel is starting the engine to really spark all the other fireworks that we wanna do for the world. Everybody go get that single, ‘One Wish’, ‘cos that’s the one that’s gonna kick it off for the future for Knockout Entertainment.”
The video sees Ray J yearning to get his girl back, claiming that if he had any number of wishes, they would all be used to reunite the pair. “It was written off things I’ve seen and experienced. It was written in a time or in a season where everybody was just breaking up and making up. I got writing in Florida with Rodney Jerkins and Darkchild.”
The current single over in the US is ‘What I Need’, which he hopes to release in the UK next. “The reason why I chose that single was because it was getting a lot of love in Birmingham, over here, in the UK,” he explains. “I said, ‘You know what, I’m gonna take this back to the States and just give a vibe like that over there.’ The single is about just telling the girl, ‘You’re what I need, I’ve made mistakes in the past but I’m back, I’m fresh, I’m with you, let’s celebrate baby, we together.’ The video reminds you of being in Prague or something. You can expect sexiness, Ray J in his underwear, a beautiful woman, just loving life, loving being in a relationship. It’s like a Calvin Klein commercial. Y’all get ready for that!”
“I got three more singles off this one; ‘Raydiation’ will be bubblin’ for a minute. Other than that, I got ‘What I Need’ and I don’t know what one after that, whatever the fans want.” Offering my suggestion of ‘Blue High Heels’, Ray responds, “‘Blue High Heels’, oh you like that?”, before jumping into the chorus of the song. Adding ‘Anytime’ to my list and he responds, “Yeah! I’m definitely coming out with that one.” Either way, Ray J’s got a pretty nifty tracklist on ‘Raydiation’ from which to choose from.
In London for a show for Choice FM, Ray J says fans attending are in for a treat. “I’m more confident on stage now. When you have one or two records that people know, you feel more comfortable. Some people know ‘Wait A Minute’ with Lil’ Kim, they rap with me on that and of course everybody knows ‘One Wish’, so that’s a blessing. All our new songs that we perform are so intense, so hyped, we just really get people into the show.”
After that, it’s back to the States for more work. Having gained immense stage experience on the set of ‘Moesha’ and more recently ‘One on One’, the all-talented Ray J has been rumoured to be starring in ‘Saved the Last Dance 2’. However, he’s not so sure: “I don’t even know about that! I’ve been reading on the Internet, I gotta find out because they ain’t cut me a cheque yet!”
But the star’s already working on his next album – expect something a bit special from that. Having covered Coldplay’s ‘Clocks’ for a Yahoo special performance, Ray J is hoping to mix up his style a bit more on the next record. “I like Gwen Stefani, Fall Out Boy, Red Hot Chilli Peppers… I like that type of stuff. I like Coldplay! That’s my joint,” he says. “My next album will be definitely more alternative, more pop, rock and R&B altogether in one. I want to take it worldwide, I want to be in every country at all times.”
“God is good and everyday we work hard to connect with the fans and the music. It feels good to come back strong and come back with the songs the fans love, and that’s what it’s about,” he concludes. “Now we’re just taking it one day at a time, we just want to stay consistent, we dropping hits after hits after hits.”
Ray J’s single, ‘One Wish’, and the album, ‘Raydiation’, are out now on Def Jam Records. For more information, please visit his official website, http://www.rayj.com.
