THIS GUY IS GONNA BE HUGE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, MARK MY WORDS. HERE'S THE INTERVIEW I DID WITH HIM IN NYC AT GEFFEN RECORDS...
Ray Lavender Interview
It’s no secret that Atlanta is one of the hottest spots on the planet for Hip Hop and R&B right now, and it has been for a few years. Just when you thought it was time for them cats to pass the torch to another region on the map, a guy like Ray L, AKA Ray Lavender comes along and starts dropping hot single after hot single. His joint "My Girl’s Got A Girlfriend" is all over the place, spinning in clubs and on radio and his new remix featuring Trina, Trick Daddy and Akon is getting ready to take the industry by storm once again. Speaking of Akon, the multi platinum, undisputed king of hooks, he's the man who signed Ray L to his Kon Live Label and he's also producing many of Ray's monster hits. Ray Lavender may be a new name to you, but he's been in the game for a hot minute. First coming up under the tutelage of Teddy Riley and now working side by side with long time friend Akon, Ray L has been able to learn this game by some of the best to ever do it. Ray is a really cool dude and is as friendly a person as you'll meet in this industry. This is a guy with one of the most talked about songs in the country and he still answers all of his fan mail on myspace. "Its fun meeting new people. I love my fans who holla at me on myspace. I get so many great e-mail from fans around the world, but I get my share of crazy people and internet stalkers too, but I love it".
Ray and Akon first hooked up back in the day when Ray was looking for some beats and was introduced to a somewhat unknown producer by the name of Akon. “We started working together and we just clicked and now we're like brothers. I'm gonna keep it real with you, right now I have some songs on the radio and in the clubs and people know who I am, my name is ringing and my video is poppin, but I'm still grinding. The money aint huge right now, you just don’t get a lot of up front money in this business, but I know for a fact that if I ever needed to come up on some quick paper for any reason, I could call Kon and he would have my back. Kon is crazy paid and if I ever needed to call him for some loot he would send me more than what I needed, off top. He's a great guy with a huge heart. When he goes to Africa he's treated like royalty and he deserves it. He's come such a long way and I love that brother to death. He really is just like a brother to me”.
In fact, Akon is producing the bulk of Ray's new album. "It wasn't broke so I aint gonna fix it, you feel me? He shoots me a hot track and I make it pop. That's how we work together. Our song we did called "Donkey Kong" was actually supposed to be for Madonna, but when he let me hear it, I was like "Yo Kon", we need that joint for my album, so we got into the studio together and we made a classic track". Sorry Madonna.
Ray has been real busy dropping singles at a record pace, but his highly anticipated debut album “X-Rayted” will finally drop sometime in early 2008. "I got some serious bangers on the album and I can’t wait till it drops. If it has sixteen songs on it, I want to have sixteen songs on the radio or bumpin in the club". When asked who he was gonna be working with in the near future, Ray had this to say. "I’m working with lots of people right now, but be on the look out for collaborations with Keyshia Cole, Brandy, Akon, T-Pain just to name a few".
If you want to see Ray live and in the flesh, he'll be hitting the road very soon with Trey Songz, so look for them in a city near you or check out Ray’s myspace page at www.myspace.com/raylavender for more info, and while you’re there check out the sexy video for his smash hit My Girl’s Got A Girlfriend directed by Benny Boom. You’ll thank me for it.
I asked Ray how he feels about the internet and it's effect on the music business. “The internet is a great way to get my music out to the fans who might not have ever heard it before. I'll be honest with you, people in my camp call me "The king of leak”, cause I'll leak a song in a second. If I make a hot track I’ll run right to the computer and throw it out there into cyberspace, because to me a song is not a song if nobody ever hears it”.
I asked Ray to name an artists who really blew him away when he worked with him and his answer came real fast. "That’s easy, Busta Rhymes. One time Busta, Teddy Riley and I did a track together and Busta was incredible. The guy is a ball of energy and he spits fire every single time he opens his mouth. There's millions of emcee's but there will never be another Busta Rhymes. That dude aint even from this planet he's one of a kind. He's amazing”.
Name someone besides Akon who helped you get to where you’re at today. "There are several people who have helped me along the way, but the one person who really believed in me from day one is my man Drew”. Andrew Bryan has been with Ray L from the jump and is by his side every step of the way. "Drew has always believed in me even when I doubted myself, Drew has always had my back and he’s a huge reason for where I'm at right now”.
When you make it in the music business there’s always gonna be cats coming out of the woodwork trying to latch onto you for all the wrong reasons, so how do you as an artist and as a person combat that? "That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked. Every person that rolls with me has been with me forever. These are my boys, these guys are like family. I know that in this business, something can jump off at anytime, and trust me, these guys who roll with me have got my back 100% and that's a great felling to have when you're out there on the road. I love them and they love me”.
Ray L is a busy guy these days. He might wake up in NYC and go to sleep in Las Vegas. So with all this work he's putting in I had to ask him the number one questions our female readers have been asking, does he have a girlfriend? Well ladies, I'm happy to report that Ray is single. "I'm single, but I'm also very careful, you have to be in this business. Some girls may try to talk to me just to get to Akon and some girls may try to talk to Akon just to get to me. It's real hard to know who really likes me for me and who just wants to meet Akon or T-Pain”.
Whenever I interview somebody, sooner or later I always get to the same old question and cross my fingers in the hopes of getting the right answer. "How do you feel about the Bay Area"? "I love the Bay. When I performed out there they gave me crazy love. I love E-40, he's one of my all time favorite rappers. And do you remember Oaktown’s 357, I loved them, I even used to rock the same hat they did. The Bay has been a great influence in my career. Since we're talking about the Bay, I have to say "RIP to Mac Dre". (I don't know about you, but Ray just scored major points in my book).
Most people, even some of your die hard fans think you're originally from the ATL, but I read that that's not really true. “That's right, I'm actually from Louisiana, the muddy south. I moved to Atlanta when I was 10 and the rest is history. But I'll never forget my Louisiana roots”.
Not only is Ray a talented singer, but he's also a great song writer, penning songs for other artists including Chilli from TLC. “Just like Missy Elliott says, its more challenging to write for others than for yourself. I wrote on Gerald Lavert's Knock Knock Knock and the first time I heard it, it brought a tear to my eye. I was like I wrote this and a Legend like Gerald Levert is singing my words. It don’t get no better than that. Trust me”.
What are your plans for the future? "To be honest, I want to wear that R&B crown, that's why I'm working as hard as I am right now. With cats like Akon and Drew in my corner, there's no way in the world I can lose”.
I spent about an hour with Ray Lavender and by the end of our interview I felt like he was an old friend of mine. He's so open, honest and funny that you cant help but love the guy. Every song of his that I've heard so far are certified club bangers. I predict that Ray Lavender is gonna be one of the biggest names in the music business in the next few years.
Interview by DJ Pimp
Ray Lavender Interview
It’s no secret that Atlanta is one of the hottest spots on the planet for Hip Hop and R&B right now, and it has been for a few years. Just when you thought it was time for them cats to pass the torch to another region on the map, a guy like Ray L, AKA Ray Lavender comes along and starts dropping hot single after hot single. His joint "My Girl’s Got A Girlfriend" is all over the place, spinning in clubs and on radio and his new remix featuring Trina, Trick Daddy and Akon is getting ready to take the industry by storm once again. Speaking of Akon, the multi platinum, undisputed king of hooks, he's the man who signed Ray L to his Kon Live Label and he's also producing many of Ray's monster hits. Ray Lavender may be a new name to you, but he's been in the game for a hot minute. First coming up under the tutelage of Teddy Riley and now working side by side with long time friend Akon, Ray L has been able to learn this game by some of the best to ever do it. Ray is a really cool dude and is as friendly a person as you'll meet in this industry. This is a guy with one of the most talked about songs in the country and he still answers all of his fan mail on myspace. "Its fun meeting new people. I love my fans who holla at me on myspace. I get so many great e-mail from fans around the world, but I get my share of crazy people and internet stalkers too, but I love it".
Ray and Akon first hooked up back in the day when Ray was looking for some beats and was introduced to a somewhat unknown producer by the name of Akon. “We started working together and we just clicked and now we're like brothers. I'm gonna keep it real with you, right now I have some songs on the radio and in the clubs and people know who I am, my name is ringing and my video is poppin, but I'm still grinding. The money aint huge right now, you just don’t get a lot of up front money in this business, but I know for a fact that if I ever needed to come up on some quick paper for any reason, I could call Kon and he would have my back. Kon is crazy paid and if I ever needed to call him for some loot he would send me more than what I needed, off top. He's a great guy with a huge heart. When he goes to Africa he's treated like royalty and he deserves it. He's come such a long way and I love that brother to death. He really is just like a brother to me”.
In fact, Akon is producing the bulk of Ray's new album. "It wasn't broke so I aint gonna fix it, you feel me? He shoots me a hot track and I make it pop. That's how we work together. Our song we did called "Donkey Kong" was actually supposed to be for Madonna, but when he let me hear it, I was like "Yo Kon", we need that joint for my album, so we got into the studio together and we made a classic track". Sorry Madonna.
Ray has been real busy dropping singles at a record pace, but his highly anticipated debut album “X-Rayted” will finally drop sometime in early 2008. "I got some serious bangers on the album and I can’t wait till it drops. If it has sixteen songs on it, I want to have sixteen songs on the radio or bumpin in the club". When asked who he was gonna be working with in the near future, Ray had this to say. "I’m working with lots of people right now, but be on the look out for collaborations with Keyshia Cole, Brandy, Akon, T-Pain just to name a few".
If you want to see Ray live and in the flesh, he'll be hitting the road very soon with Trey Songz, so look for them in a city near you or check out Ray’s myspace page at www.myspace.com/raylavender for more info, and while you’re there check out the sexy video for his smash hit My Girl’s Got A Girlfriend directed by Benny Boom. You’ll thank me for it.
I asked Ray how he feels about the internet and it's effect on the music business. “The internet is a great way to get my music out to the fans who might not have ever heard it before. I'll be honest with you, people in my camp call me "The king of leak”, cause I'll leak a song in a second. If I make a hot track I’ll run right to the computer and throw it out there into cyberspace, because to me a song is not a song if nobody ever hears it”.
I asked Ray to name an artists who really blew him away when he worked with him and his answer came real fast. "That’s easy, Busta Rhymes. One time Busta, Teddy Riley and I did a track together and Busta was incredible. The guy is a ball of energy and he spits fire every single time he opens his mouth. There's millions of emcee's but there will never be another Busta Rhymes. That dude aint even from this planet he's one of a kind. He's amazing”.
Name someone besides Akon who helped you get to where you’re at today. "There are several people who have helped me along the way, but the one person who really believed in me from day one is my man Drew”. Andrew Bryan has been with Ray L from the jump and is by his side every step of the way. "Drew has always believed in me even when I doubted myself, Drew has always had my back and he’s a huge reason for where I'm at right now”.
When you make it in the music business there’s always gonna be cats coming out of the woodwork trying to latch onto you for all the wrong reasons, so how do you as an artist and as a person combat that? "That's a good question, and I'm glad you asked. Every person that rolls with me has been with me forever. These are my boys, these guys are like family. I know that in this business, something can jump off at anytime, and trust me, these guys who roll with me have got my back 100% and that's a great felling to have when you're out there on the road. I love them and they love me”.
Ray L is a busy guy these days. He might wake up in NYC and go to sleep in Las Vegas. So with all this work he's putting in I had to ask him the number one questions our female readers have been asking, does he have a girlfriend? Well ladies, I'm happy to report that Ray is single. "I'm single, but I'm also very careful, you have to be in this business. Some girls may try to talk to me just to get to Akon and some girls may try to talk to Akon just to get to me. It's real hard to know who really likes me for me and who just wants to meet Akon or T-Pain”.
Whenever I interview somebody, sooner or later I always get to the same old question and cross my fingers in the hopes of getting the right answer. "How do you feel about the Bay Area"? "I love the Bay. When I performed out there they gave me crazy love. I love E-40, he's one of my all time favorite rappers. And do you remember Oaktown’s 357, I loved them, I even used to rock the same hat they did. The Bay has been a great influence in my career. Since we're talking about the Bay, I have to say "RIP to Mac Dre". (I don't know about you, but Ray just scored major points in my book).
Most people, even some of your die hard fans think you're originally from the ATL, but I read that that's not really true. “That's right, I'm actually from Louisiana, the muddy south. I moved to Atlanta when I was 10 and the rest is history. But I'll never forget my Louisiana roots”.
Not only is Ray a talented singer, but he's also a great song writer, penning songs for other artists including Chilli from TLC. “Just like Missy Elliott says, its more challenging to write for others than for yourself. I wrote on Gerald Lavert's Knock Knock Knock and the first time I heard it, it brought a tear to my eye. I was like I wrote this and a Legend like Gerald Levert is singing my words. It don’t get no better than that. Trust me”.
What are your plans for the future? "To be honest, I want to wear that R&B crown, that's why I'm working as hard as I am right now. With cats like Akon and Drew in my corner, there's no way in the world I can lose”.
I spent about an hour with Ray Lavender and by the end of our interview I felt like he was an old friend of mine. He's so open, honest and funny that you cant help but love the guy. Every song of his that I've heard so far are certified club bangers. I predict that Ray Lavender is gonna be one of the biggest names in the music business in the next few years.
Interview by DJ Pimp
