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By e. pepper
Cleveland’s favorite son Ray Cash proves that his
own f*#@in’ mind isn’t the only place he’s a pimp.
It is already 90 degrees at 10:00 in the morning, and everyone at Ray Cash’s Miami photo shoot is sitting in a pool of their own sweat. Which isn’t to say that the atmosphere on the set is unpleasant. How could it be when there’s more booty on-hand than the Goonies could have ever hauled out of One-Eyed Willie’s little-ass pirate ship? The only problem is figuring out how to get Ray away from the models long enough to answer some questions.
As it turns out, Ray Cash will talk to just about anyone. He’s got that secret ingredient that guarantees success: charisma. This is evident when young Hollywood star Nick Cannon stops by and jumps into the shoot, simply to show some respect. That’s what’s so exciting about Ray. Other artists respect his craft. He’s an artists’ artist, even if he still doesn’t realize it.
It’s almost as though he doesn’t know his video for “Sex Appeal” is all over MTV and BET. The vibe Ray puts off says that, even if he didn’t have a major label deal with Sony Urban Music, he’d still be okay. An argument could be made that once a hustler, always a hustler. Which is good, because with the overwhelming task of promoting his new album ahead of him, he still has a lot of hustling to do. Today, however, Ray’s having a little fun. He loses focus every once in awhile, but who wouldn’t with Miami’s finest models all over the place? We better make this quick…
How did you get into music?
I was always a big hip-hop fan. I used to bullshit with freestyling and rapping in high school, and people would think I was nice and tell me I should do it. But I didn’t take it seriously, because it wasn’t what I really wanted to do at the time. Then I started working with my managers, Kevin and Shalik, and we put a little company together. I was taking the Greyhound from Cleveland to Philly and Harlem, just working. We’ve been doing this since 2001.
How did you get your deal?
My man Kevin was in Atlanta with Hip-Hop [A&R, Roc-A-Fella] and Hip-Hop introduced him to KP [EVP, Sony A&R]. Kevin just gave him the CD and said, “I know you got people every day giving you stuff to hear. We’re not looking for you to sign us. We just want to know what you think.” KP heard “Sex Appeal” and some other songs. “Sex Appeal” is old—I did that in Philly in 2002. He heard it, loved it, and saw that I could actually rap. I wasn’t like a lot of these new dudes. He saw some potential. It was on the humble. KP and Hip-Hop just bumped into each other and had a conversation. It was just meant to be. We didn’t really shop the record, either. We went to Shady Records and maybe a few other labels, but Sony was the heavyweight, so when they came into the picture, we were like, “Fuck it, we might as well take a chance.”
Do you have any
favorite cuts on your new album?
My favorites are probably the hood songs, like “P.A.N. (Pussy Ass Nigga)” or “Payback.” I like “Payback” because it’s saying, from Cleveland to the public, “Y’all thought we were wack. Everywhere we go, you compare us to Bone.” From my city, people got tired of hearing that, especially for the rappers who wanted to get on and actually had connections. They were looking for us to be like that, but that’s Bone’s style. All the respect in the world for them, but that’s their style. I had to say, “This is payback.” I can actually rap. I can drop a whole album and drop some jewels on you. It’s not a crunk album. Some people just come out and their whole album is just straight crunk. I’m gonna take you anywhere.
Who were some of your influences?
UGK, Jay-Z, B.I.G., Scarface, MJG, Eightball… There are so many damn people, man. You know what I mean? The classics.
Cleveland is one of the poorest cities in America. With unemployment rates sky-high and poverty running rampant, how does that influence your music?
When you think of New York, you think of hip-hop. You think of the cars, you think of the ice, you think of Jay, you think of the floss. Just like down South, you think of the gold in the grill, and when you think of the West, you think of the ’64s. But when you think of where we’re from, you think of nothing. And it’s lightweight true because we don’t have nothing. It’s fucked up here. We got one of the worst school systems in the country. I wanted to show people that, yeah, we do floss, we do all that shit, but at the same time, there’s a lot of pain here. That’s why I can do a song like “Better Way” with Beans because I understand the pain. I see the shit every day. Just coming from here, it’s a struggle. People don’t see that. There isn’t anything attracting people to come here to see it. If someone says they live in the city of Cleveland, then ten outta ten, they’re in the hood. There’s really no part of Cleveland that’s nice. It’s all one hood. So that’s why my music is the way it is, because that’s where I’m from and that’s what I’m going to give you. It’s where I grew up.
Continued In Issue #22 - GET IT NOW!
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