It's been six days and I can't stop listening”Groupies & Goofies.”
Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and play it on my phone a few times before going back to sleep. It's one of the best rap album intros of the year, right up there with the opening tracks of Future & Metro Boomin's collaborative albums. I didn't know what to expect when Babyface Ray's team sent me his latest album, The child he madebut I was immediately taken by the intro.
After diving into the rest of the album, I came away thinking this is the Detroit rapper's most ambitious project to date. He sounds confident and with confidence comes big changes. Songs like “I need some motivation“and”Delusional“shows its versatility, while others like “Follow my page“and”Nights like this“”Legacy» shows more of his personal side.
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Ray has been prolific throughout his decade-long career, releasing a number of mixtapes and EPs as a solo artist and as a member of Team Eastside. The child he madeout on September 13, it's his fourth solo album and his first since his label Wavy Gang began working with Empire earlier this year. With 20 tracks in less than an hour, the album has already spawned six singles with accompanying videos with more on the way. A notable single is “Count Money”, featuring BossMan Dlow, which samples the iconic pause music from N64's GoldenEye 007. “We got the original composer from GoldenEye to do the beat over,” he says when asked how they managed to clean the sample. But there is much more to the story.
According to one of his A&Rs, Dre Edwards, Babyface Ray's team had trouble getting over the beat (made by producer Rich Treeze), so they decided to contact Grant Kirkhope, his original composer GoldenEye soundtrack, to see if they could clean it up. Well, it turns out that Kirkhope was already familiar with Ray's music and happily offered to work with Treeze to make a version of the beat that would work for all parties involved. He actually posted the video on his Instagram.
I met Ray at Bulletin boardof the New York office, where we talked about making what might be the most important album of his career, how his rap style is informed by his parents, and how he managed to get Rich Paul on the outro. Watch the interview below.
This album feels like the most ambitious. There are some records that are big on there. Would you agree?
Yes, definitely big. I know what you mean. I was just trying to show a little more growth this time and make it sound different than the last few projects I put out.
When you made this album, did you have the idea that it would be an ambitious record?
I think the records I chose were more along the lines of what you're saying. I had other records I wanted to use, but I went more with this style.
Yes, because some of the beats are different from what you usually rap. Did you aim for that sound? Or was it beats you came across that just happened to catch your eye?
Yes, what I came across and what I felt I wanted to do at that time.
Detroit has had its rap moments with Eminem, Royce Da 5'9″, D12 and J Dilla, but the past few years have been different. What is it about this era of Detroit rap that resonates with fans?
Probably the brutality. I can probably relate to the music a bit more.
What are some of your favorite tracks from this album?
“Nights like this”, “High Off Life“, the introduction. I like “Delusional”. i like”Stuck in My Ways.” There are some there.
There are some pieces where you get really personal. You mentioned some of them. Can you talk about why you felt the need to get super personal on some of them?
Really just letting people know what's going on with me type stuff. And, really in all of my projects, there's always going to be a song in there that's kind of very personal and I dig into what's really going on.
The way you rap, it's like putting people in the game. Can you credit your style to your father being a preacher?
Yes, if you know my dad, he has nothing to do with religion or being a preacher. So he slips out, puts us in the game and teaches us and kicks us since we were little. I can definitely credit him with that, for sure.
Did you spend a lot of time in church when you were young?
Hell yes. All the way through eighth grade, I went to church every Sunday. However, I wasn't much of a churchgoer. Nothing against religion, but the whole going to church thing — I would just feel tired.
Did your parents make it hard for you at first to want to be a rapper?
They don't know. Well, it was like — once I got old enough to get out of the house and do my own thing, I just did it on the lows. But I wasn't a bad kid, so they didn't have to worry too much about me. I just did it. They didn't really know until I was poppin'. And then people would tell them, and then it was already too late. They couldn't really reason with me about it.
How do they feel about it now that you're successful?
I mean, they don't mind, they like it, even my dad, he talks about it. You know, back then he really didn't understand, but now he sees what I've grown into as a man. He can understand and enjoy my music. He can see where I'm coming from.
When would you say you felt like you were a rapper? When it felt real.
My first feeling was around 2011 or 2012. We did a lot of bookings in the city with my group [Team Eastside.]
You've mentioned in past interviews that you dropped out of college. Around what year was it?
i graduated [high school] in 2009 so it had to be around 2010.
That time you said you started poppin, so you were already rapping?
I was already rapping all through high school and all that. When I finished school, I was still living with my parents. My pops were like, “Either you get a job or you go to school.” So I ended up choosing college and when that didn't work out I just left home completely.
Word, and you had said they used church money to send you to college.
Yes, definitely. No cap. This really happened.
Rich Paul is on the outro. Can you explain this relationship? How did you log in? Was he a fan of your music?
He was a fan of my music. I met him through my partner, V, who has a clothing line called Jack Rip. He called me and put me in touch with Rich Paul, and then we hit it off talking about music. He really wanted to talk about music, really.
Has he given you any professional advice?
Not really, face to face. I just watch and learn from what he does.
How do you feel about this album compared to your other tapes?
I feel good. I feel like I have good records there. I think people will enjoy it. I like it to come out so I can see what the feedback will be like.
Gillie and Wallo had mentioned that they noticed the ladies rocking your music on social media. Explain why you enjoy making records for them.
It's always good to have a record or two for the ladies when you put out a project because they are consumers. And, really, I feel like sometimes women are the ones who push men. You have to have something that the ladies enjoy too.
Bossman Dlow seems to have this effect as well. Ladies use his stuff on social media all the time. He did a show with Teezo for us recently and when he came on stage crazy shorts ran to see him play.
This is fire. Dlow had a strong social media presence with women. I feel like women are more into it than men these days.
And you joined this project GoldenEye rhythm. How did this come about?
I had never met him. I was on Live once, I just thought and said something similar [of] someone was talking to me in the club while the music was loud, and I was like, “Stop trying to talk to me, Bossman Dlow is playing” blah, blah, blah. And then it reached him and he went crazy and said something to me, and he came to Detroit and we met. That's how we started it. I did him a song first, and then I was sitting on “Count Money” and I said, “I think Dlow would sound good here.” I sent it to him and he sent it back to me.
You're a video game boss, right? What games do you play?
2K, Go crazy, NCAA. But I had woken up from my sleep and saw my kids watching some st on YouTube and ended up downloading this new game called Little Nightmares. S–t fire. It's like a horror-mystery thing.
You're not playing Grand Theft Auto?
I used to play Grand Theft Auto RP on my PC but I stopped playing it. I was burnt out on it.
Haven't you been in Tee Grizzley's world?
Yes, I was in there. I was the only one with the Ferrari truck in there. This turn, in fact, but I was burned.
What else did you have planned for this album? Are you going on tour?
Yes, I'm going on tour. I'm announcing the tour on Friday with the album [release]. That's pretty much it. Hopefully I can get a deluxe out because I have a few more records, more features, a few more vibes I want to add to it.
Will you make more videos?
Sure, 100 percent.
Yes, because you already posted crazy about this album.
I-I was just telling them. I've already entered seven videos, but I'm still trying to get at least two or three more.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/babyface-ray-new-album-goldeneye-rich-paul-1235777866/
