Music
Raw Talent: Ray Vaughn
With his new mixtape, Long Beach rapper Ray Vaughn proves that determination and self-belief are the keys to beating the odds.
Ray Vaughn is the living embodiment of resilience. The Long Beach, California, native has navigated more than his fair share of adversity. He was raised in a single-parent household alongside six siblings, a childhood marked by frequent moves between his mother’s and grandmother’s homes before he was kicked out at 16. “It was a little unstable,” he explains. “My mother struggled with mental illness, but she tried.”
Despite his complicated relationship with his mother, it was her “Freestyle Friday” house parties where Vaughn, who started rapping at the age of 8, would showcase his MC skills alongside other kids from the neighborhood. “We’d rap for hours,” he remembers. “That’s when I knew I was gonna rap for a living.” This wasn’t his only path, however. After graduating high school as a valedictorian with a 4.2 GPA, Vaughn earned a scholarship to UCLA. Though he briefly considered a career as a forensic scientist, the allure of the stage proved irresistible. His rationale was characteristically bold: “My thinking was, if I rap and it works, I’m gonna make more money for one show than a DNA expert does in a year.”
His journey to stardom wasn’t without its false starts, though. After walking away from a deal with a local label that wanted to reshape his image to be more like “a Disney kid,” Vaughn found himself writing for Kanye West. “I’ve always had a superpower to walk in a room and make it mine,” he says, explaining how he landed an audience with West. This opportunity was expected to include a deal, but on the day of the anticipated signing, no one showed up to the meeting. Desperate for cash and living in his car with his daughter, Vaughn was encouraged to record a free verse for someone, which would ultimately change his life forever.
“I didn’t give a fuck about that song,” the 28-year-old admits. “I was broke and freezing.” Yet that very track found its way to Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the visionary founder of hip-hop powerhouse Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), the same label that launched the careers of Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Impressed by Vaughn’s raw talent, Top invited the young rapper to showcase his music, leading to his signing. “Everything happens when God wants it to happen,” Vaughn states, reflecting on the life-altering moment.
Now, Vaughn marks a significant milestone with the release of his debut mixtape, The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu, his first full-length for TDE. Riding a wave of early co-signs from influential figures like 50 Cent, DJ Khaled and the late Nipsey Hussle, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding the rapper. The delivery and raw intensity of his lyrics is what initially captures the attention of listeners, but while his bark and bite are loud, beyond the forceful exterior lies a wealth of deeply personal songs that strike a chord. “A lot of the music I make reflects on my real life,” he explains, describing his work as a form of healing. “I feel like there’s not too many people touching on the topics that I’m talking about on this project.”
Looking at his journey so far—with many more milestones ahead—Vaughn regularly takes stock of his progress. “From where I come from and where I was at in life, you don’t really take it all in until you watch it back,” he shares. His proudest achievement, however, is providing his children with a more stable upbringing than his own. “By now I probably would have moved six times. So for them to have stable living, going to the same school and having the same friends, that’s the most important thing to me.”
Ray Vaughn’s The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment.
Keep up with Ray Vaughn
Instagram @ray.vaughn
