Music
Babyface Ray and Larry June battled it out at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
Everything that went down at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit with Babyface Ray and Larry June. Find out who they ended up bringing on stage as guest appearances.
Over 1,500 music fans piled into Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center Saturday night on October 15th for Red Bull SoundClash Detroit, featuring Detroit’s Babyface Ray versus Larry June, who hails from San Francisco. Two stages were built on opposite ends of the venue for each artist which enabled fans to go back and forth between rounds to see each set.
Babyface Ray performing at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Joe Gall
Although the event was built as a battle between two hip-hop titans, it was more of a triumph of two cities with rich musical histories. The Bay Area and Detroit have had a long hip-hop kinship that goes back to the mid ’90s and Saturday night’s clash was a celebration of that.
With the home court advantage, the host Tay Crispyy introduced Babyface Ray to his stage first for a seven song warm-up. Ray grabbed the mic wearing a neck full of Cuban links, black pants, black button down shirt topped with a corduroy cap. He preformed “My Thoughts Part 2,” “Sincerely Face,” “What the Biz Is,” “My Thoughts Park 2,” and even pulled out his heavy hitters “#1 Fan” and “Paperwork Party.”
Larry June performing at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Jake Mulka
Larry June stepped to the mic on his stage next wearing white pants, denim shirt, an orange beanie hat, and a diamond encrusted #81 pendant hanging from a gold chain. His set included songs “Green Juice in Dallas,” “Tracy,” “Don’t Try It,” “Don’t Check Me,” “Feeling Good Today,” “Organic Tokens,” “Watering My Plants,” and “Lets Drive to Vegas.”
Part of the entertainment value that Red Bull has constantly brought to the SoundClash series has much to do with the coastal diversity and contrast of the artists it features. Ray’s a Detroit flamethrower. His stage persona is that of a drop-back quarterback firing lyrical darts at the crowd. He didn’t break-dance or crack a ton of jokes; he moved through his songs with his own brand of exciting precision and confidence. Larry June on the other hand is a Bay Area scrambler on the stage who incorporated a bit of dancing and call and response. June routinely told the crowd to say, “Good job Larry!” The sum was a disparate musical energy that the crowd was able to absorb from both artists.
Larry June on stage at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Jake Mulka
For the first round, both artists brought out multiple unexpected guests. June started with the song “Oranges on a Jet” in which he was joined by New Orleans emcee, Curren$y, who was greeted with tons of cheers. Soon after Detroit’s own Payroll Giovanni and HBK of the group Doughboyz Cashout performed “Stats” with June. Not to be outdone, Ray countered with “Dancing with the Devil” in which crooner Landstip Chip joined him on stage. Next up was a proverbial Detroit all star line-up. Icewear Vezzo stormed the stage as the duo performed “The Sitdown.” Next was one of the loudest moments of the night when Veeze came on stage to perform “Gallery Dept.” with Ray.
Babyface Ray at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Location: Detroit Photographer Credit: Jake Mulka
The second round took a melodic shift as Ray temporarily ditched rapping over a pre-recorded instrumental in favor of performing his songs “Mob” and “Real Niggas Don’t Rap” with a live pianist. The piano was the perfect accompaniment to Ray’s mild baritone flow. It was mesmerizing to watch fans lip sync along with Ray and the 30 second solo the pianist Mawzart performed at the end. June took it a step further and performed “Just Me & You” and “Dear Snow” with a live band that channeled that rich San Francisco funk spirit. June’s on-stage theatrics and the live band was the perfect combo. It ignited a litany of dancing from the crowd.
The Takeover felt like a magic trick round. June started his song, “Don’t Check Me,” but Ray took over the beat mid-song and finished it. June did the exact same thing Ray started with, “If You Know You Know.” It took the crowd a minute to realize what was going on, but the head nods of approval started to drop like a row of dominoes before the songs were complete.
Larry June on stage with T3 and Young RJ from Slum Village
© Joe Gall
Round 4 was full of more guest appearances by both artists. Ray brought out Baby Money for the song “Moncler Bubble” and Chicago artist Lucki for the song “Super Urus.” June responded with another Louisiana Monroe Flow who performed “Whats Best.” The last guest feature (and the most unexpected) was T3 and Young RJ of the group Slum Village who performed their 2004 mega hit, “Selfish.” The entire building was vibing and sang the catchy melodic hook to the song.
Babyface Ray and Larry June performing at Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Joe Gall
By the end of the evening it felt like the whole venue knew what was coming. Babyface Ray and Larry June joined the stage together for the first time and performed “Extra of Um” for the grand finale. The heaviness of the moment encompassed the energy of night as fans wearing Red Bull hoodies and tees held their phones up for the final time to record the duo. Confetti the size of fireworks filled the room as June and Ray said their goodbyes to the crowd. Both emcees have had monumental years, and the night was an exclamation point.
Red Bull SoundClash Detroit
© Joe Gall