Meet Ray Rags | Music Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ray Rags and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ray, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born in this town Silver Spring, Maryland, and was raised in Philadelphia. Growing up I got to see all aspects of life, I lived in an apartment up until I was about five and we lived in South West Philly from then until I was in middle school. My mom never let me go outside because of the danger surrounding us, I’d say I learned street smarts from my mom at a young age because it was common to see drug addiction, police brutality, and crime all throughout the city so I always had to be aware of my surroundings. My parents put in private school in order to get the best education and it really challenged my identity. Looking back on my memories in school as a kid, they wanted to suppress my personality as a black boy, and I grew up thinking that I would be able to fit in with everyone because I didn’t see race as a barrier…. Surely, I was wrong. As I got older I would see the small remarks made against me and my black friends, I’ve even had teachers discriminate my intelligence based on my appearance. At times I felt alone because I didn’t feel accepted by my peers, I was just this eccentric black guy I guess. I found myself diving deeper into creativity and think my school dynamic fueled me to make music because I felt that no one understood me and I wanted people to know who I was. I now have a firm belief of who I am and I have a core set of values that I live by. I don’t think I’d change anything in my life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think something that separates my music from others is that I’m always looking to deliver the best raps in the most creative way possible. I want a listener to walk away from a record thinking “wow, that’s a Ray Rags song, I’ve never heard anything like that” but at same time I want the listener relate with the issues I talk about on my records. I want to be as vulnerable as possible, it shows humanity and can be very therapeutic for someone who may go through the same struggles I deal with on a daily basis. I’m excited because I’m releasing my project, “Forever Flourished” in March. I think I have a very strong body of work that I can’t wait to share with the world. It even feels crazy saying that honestly. I think I was able to get to where I am now because of my dedication to hard work and having confidence in myself. To be honest, I think the biggest lesson through my trials and tribulations is that confidence will take you far places if you believe in yourself. I’m proud of myself for realizing this truth especially since I lacked it as a little kid. Lastly, I want the world to know that I’m just a young boy who’s learning how to grow into a man through my musical journey. People treated me like an outcast, and I played into that role in when I didn’t know any better. Now, my mission is to take that title back, and express myself in the best way possible. I encourage you to give my music a listen.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Man, I would say I’m taking them to get a cheesesteak from one of the papi stores. Shoutout to the one on Wayne Ave. They probably have the most underrated cheesesteak in Philly. Next, I’m taking them to the KOP mall, it’s where a lot of people go to get clothes and meet new people. I feel like I oddly made friendships with some of my closest friends through that mall. I gotta take them to south street for sure. That’s basically home to me and you can’t go wrong with anything over there, you might even get led into Penn’s landing which is fun. And lastly we probably might have to go to a sporting event in Philly, maybe a Sixers game is the safest because Philly fans take our teams the most serious out of other cities. I really mean that too, people have beaten up and killed people over sports here, no joke. But it’s very rowdy sporting event and you see perfectly through sports how people in the city have that grit which separates us from other places. It’s an odd language only we can understand.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank my mom, she raised me to be the man I am today and watching her work while being the main caretaker of a child is very inspiring. I’m forever grateful for that.

Website: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/rayrags/forever-flourished-2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raymndxx/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/YVNGRAGS

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwhTGUIoKkKgVHgOk3oVIfQ

Other: Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ray-rags/1574583681 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/15nrtd11F5ZEW9yOA1bQ3G?si=pekUJ7OYQgCZUlOtptWhXw Tidal: https://tidal.com/artist/17443315%20https://tidal.com/artist/17443315 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ray-rags-610296655

Image Credits
Credit: Dennis Perkins Instagram: @dennistookthese / @dennisllloyd Twitter: d3nnisperkins