Age: 19
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
twitter.com/raysdocument
reverbnation.com/rayellis
youtube.com/iamstr8recline
facebook.com/danielrayellis
For instrumentals, video, photography, and features rayellismusic@gmail.com
5. Violin Practice (Prod. by Soriginal) by dokedollaz
A few days ago I came across this guy Ray Ellis via twitter (where I seem to find the diamonds in the rough), and I got a chance the hear a few tracks from his project "Document the Occasion". For me there are many factors that go into a first listen, I take EVERYTHING into consideration. Delivery, beat selection, & lyrical content weighing the heaviest. Initially I thought dude was a singer because they tend to go for the use of their real names but he is indeed a rapper and right out the gate I could tell I would dig the music. First track I jammed was "violin practice" I immediately expected a sweet beat to match the title. Ray comes in ultra smooth and eats on the track, more importantly his delivery is nice and I get the feeling that its actually him not an attempt to be someone else. As I continued to listen to a few more tracks I hit up Ray to get more insight on him, his music, what he has going on right now and what's to come in the future. Here's what he had to say:
"I have been creating music since I was about 13 years old. Recorded my first song in my moms office. The mic I used was on one of those headsets that wrap around your head, you know the kind hook into the computer. Ha, you couldn't tell me I didn't have studio quality back then. I have been a student of Music (not just Hip Hop) since. Some artist that I have always got inspiration from were Eminem, Little Brother, Gorillaz, A Tribe Called Quest, 9th Wonder, Daft Punk, and Lupe Fiasco. There's definitely more but those are a few. I released my first EP Mixtape "Document The Occasion" in January of this year. I am currently working on my second Mixtape that i am VERY, excited about. I'm not sticking to just Hip Hop on this one though. I'm stepping into different genres and also having some well known featured artist. I am currently building a home studio which will be complete by June. As soon I get that up and running I will have a release date for my next project. I'm working on getting signed under 9th Wonders label, IWWMG (It's a Wonderful World Music Group). It's going to happen, just got to keep grinding until it does..Stay Tuned."
For a music lover its a joy to hear to something fresh and know that there is promise in the future of the artist, not only am I excited to hear what's next but I also can't wait to see what comes of a possible IWWMG deal. As you may have noticed from previous posts I am a huge fan of 9th's movement and the artists on the label. I hope to one day intern at IWWMG in marketing and promotions, who knows me and Ray might cross paths very soon! Until then keep watching and enjoy the music. I do this for the love, this is pretty fckn dope musik!
-@dOKEdOLLAZ
