Today we’d like to introduce you to Ray Jones.
Ray, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
When I was 13 years old my next door neighbor at the time had an extra copy of FL studio from his big brother who was at the time producing music for his artist. He uploaded it on my laptop to keep me out of trouble. I youtube’d everything I could find about music theory and how to play the piano and started trying to produce. I started trying to get people to sell them to; no one wanted them. I started trying to give them away; no one wanted them. When I got tired of hearing no I took matters into my own hand and taught myself how to write songs, I bought a cheap mic and started recording myself. I finished my first project titled Soma’s and Salem 100’s, it was a brief description of my childhood, and my families close ties with drug and alcohol abuse and the demons it brought along with the addictions. At the time I was 18, fresh out of high school and didn’t have any clue what I wanted to do with my life, but I knew I had found a gift in making music. So I signed up for a music engineering course at my local community college and began to learn to mix and master my songs.
After a while, I felt like I was wasting my time because I was teaching the people around me more than I the “Professors” were teaching me (That was my lesson in patience and maintaining ego). I left there and moved to Chicago because one of my family friends said she had a connection to a pretty big record label. The 4-month trip ended up a dud, and all I did was burn bridges and learn that I needed discipline and self-control. I’d wake up every morning make beats, rap, sing, and go out on this 50-mile trail in the neighborhood I was staying in that connected to the inner city. One day I came across this guys facebook page while I was taking a break on the trail and found out he did castings for extra roles in films. I sent him a direct message, and he sent over an address and some contact info, I took like four buses to get there on time for 5 pm. The lady I was staying with was a bus driver and only had one vehicle so I road with her to work at 4 am and took the right route to this small church in Englewood. I walked a few blocks and saw this short guy in front of the building laughing with a group of crew members from his shoot; it was Spike Lee. Somehow I got lucky enough to land a role (extra or not this was a big deal for a broke country black kid from Acres Homes) on his new film Chiraq. They cast me for a lot of different extra roles because most of the actors and people in Chicago didn’t want anything to do with the film because of its name, but you know how the saying goes “one mans trash is another man’s treasure.” At the time I didn’t have any money I was constantly arguing with the family friend, and I knew I was going to have to make my way home soon. I did as many shoots with Spike, Nick Cannon, Dave Chappelle, and Wesley Snipes as I could, saved the money and found my way back home to Texas. While I was hustling to find my way, I was recording my second album Somas and Salem 100’s 2. I released it when I got back home and it garnered the attention of Top Dawg entertainment President Terrence “Punch” Henderson (I just bugged the man a lot now he’s my friend/mentor, and I love, appreciate, and look up to the man so much), along with Houston legends Paul Wall, and Slim Thug. I continued making music while going to college and figuring out life, and I honestly think you can hear it all in my 3rd album “Only Time Will Tell.” I took a minute to live, breathe and fall in and out of love. That time helped me create my 4th album “Sophia’s Beach House” which was about a really (at the time) sweet girl with a lot of problems I wasn’t ready for. After that, I took a hiatus to get back to me, my roots, and to figure out what was next. Now I’m finishing my 5th self-written, produced, mixed and mastered album titled Acres Homes.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I rap, sing, produce, write, mix, and master my own music. After years of studying youtube, picking up instruments, listening/studying Pharrell, Nerd, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Miguel, Wiz Khalifa, everything that played on Houston’s Magic 102.1 and many other artists I can’t seem to think of at the moment I can honestly say I don’t know how I do what I do. I just sit down in front of my piano, and the ideas just flow sometimes. Well, the message is a weird one, I’m an only child to a single mother, and I spent most of my life alone and by myself. I felt like no one was like me, and I was really lonely and depressed about how life set up my chess board. Over time I’ve understood that that same depression, PTSD, and loneliness I felt were all things that other people felt. So I started singing and rapping my thoughts rather than talking them out with a therapist. So I believe my message is a simple one, you aren’t, and you should do whatever makes you happy on this weird. People go through things just like you, and people have high happy moments that they show rather than the good and bad on social media. I hope to have people take a couple of things away from my message is to let my fans, family, and friends know that they shouldn’t compare their lives to anyone else’s and that they have to be patient, dedicated, and have an unmatched hustle if they’d like to achieve the Quote on quote be unachievable. I think you should know that my albums are times stamps on my journey of life and that most of the time when I’m telling you guys to do something like to do whatever makes you happy without limits because 1. I need to hear it myself, and 2. you deserve to find happiness in this galaxy
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
My advice is be yourself, and treat people how you’d like to be treated. A lesson I wish I learned early on was to control my emotions.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can follow me on Instagram, twitter, and facebook to see my work: @KnowRayJones.
Along with going to my website: www.KnowRayJones.com and by streaming and buying my music. All you have to do is type in Ray Jones on your favorite streaming service and my beautiful face will be there.
They can also come out to my concerts or shows which happen really frequently if they’d like to support me and my craft. Just follow my social media pages for updates on what I’m doing around the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KnowRayjones.com
- Phone: 2818298085
- Email: bookrayjones@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowrayjones/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KnowRayJones/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/knowrayjones
- Other: https://youtu.be/8yi_or-CpXM
Image Credit:
Peyton: @PeytonHTX
Javier: @StarStuddedRoof
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
