And while the city’s climate may be unforgiving, it undoubtedly builds resilience.ĭespite many hearing Ray’s name for the first time with the arrival of his last album, Unfuckwithable, the 31-year-old rapper has been pounding the pavement for a decade (it’s hard to tell by looking at him, which explains his innocuous moniker). Throughout the 57-minute-long project, Ray remains true to the off-beat-by-a-millisecond cadence that defines modern Detroit rap, the slightly proper, slightly street accent, and the dark tales that can only occur in a city where for five months out of the year, thick, gray clouds are relentless, and the cold pierces every square-inch of city goers like ten thousand pins and needles. In a coolly nonchalant tone, commonly understood as the Detroit way, Ray recounts his conquests, wealth, struggles and triumphs, at moments “straddling the fence” between his upbringing and “being in the streets,” he says. Seconds later, the album darts into a piercing 808 Mafia beat, as Ray effortlessly unfolds rhymes detailing the very darkness his father prayed he’d be protected from. “Giving him protection, prosperity, and peace, in a dark and dying world.” “Our Father and Our God … I come asking your choice blessings on my baby boy Ray,” he prays. He isn’t spitting a verse - instead, Randal covers his son with a blanket of divine safe-keeping.

Baby Keem: 2021 R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the YearĮighteen years later, Ray’s father, Randal, is the first feature heard on his 2022 breakthrough album, Face.

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