Ray Vaughn – 2025 XXL Freshman

INFLUENCED BY: “My influences are Kendrick Lamar, André 3000, Meek Mill, Future and Sade. I think Kendrick Lamar is at a level of his career that I don’t think there’s any artist from the West Coast that isn’t influenced by him directly because he’s done so much. He’s covered so much ground. His whole career has been something to watch.

André 3000, it’s more his lyrical ability and his tonality. If people listen to my music, some songs, they say I remind them of André. I think that’s because the influence is there, for sure. Meek Mill with his energy and his aggression, for sure. I rap with that same type of style. I’ve had it forever. I feel like once he came in, it gave me a better way to project my voice for the most part.

Future for the party songs and the uptempo vibes that get people going, and the melodies. He’s like one of the kings of melodies to me because he just does it so effortlessly. It doesn’t even sound like he’s trying at all.

And Sade because she’s so damn smooth. She has music that you can listen to anytime, anywhere, no matter where you are on the planet. If you’re in a club and they turn on Sade, you’re not mad at it. If you’re on a beach and they turn on Sade, you’re not mad at it. That’s what I aspire to be in the end game.”

TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “My whole life, I was like, I’m going to be a Freshman. I feel like everything is just timing. To keep it 100, it took a quarter century to get here. I think it was Meco who called me first. He’s my manager, but he’s also one of my best friends. So, we talk every day. My team had hit me and was like, ‘Did you hear? You’re going to be a Freshman.’ I was like, ‘Yay, I’m going back to high school.’ I’m just playing. I was like, ‘That’s dope. Let’s get it.’ I told my mama and my grandma. My mama was like, ‘XXL? I used to read those.’ I was like, ‘Fire.’

I feel like [being a Freshman] solidifies artists and lets the world know that they’re up-and-coming, for real. I feel like it stamps them. They might be the next big thing. Now, if they fail after this, that’s on them. But it’s a spotlight to validate them for sure.

[What I bring to the Freshman Class], a lot of human music. A lot of bars that people could feel. A lot of music that’s going to move people emotionally in a positive way. I feel like I’m the cloth of the Kendricks, the Coles, the Drakes, the Meeks, and I feel like we haven’t seen that displayed with XXL for a little while now, just because the artists that have been up-and-coming haven’t really wanted to take that on. But I’m the pioneer of trying to take that on right now.

That’s how we even got here, with human music. I feel like we was based off human music at first, where people just talk about their day, ‘One, two, three and to the four.’ It was that type of music. Now, it’s watered down to the lifestyle when it’s not even that. Half of these rappers don’t be doing what they say they’re doing or be living what they say they’re living. So, when you find somebody who’s relatable, because they’re talking about the same things that you’re living through, then you have a way to cope. It’s healing. It’s a form of therapy. I feel like that’s important.

A lot of these rappers, they make music and you don’t know ’em. You don’t know anything about them. I could listen to a whole album by somebody now and won’t know anything about you. All I know is your block, but I still don’t know you. So, me, I feel like that’s important because then people fall in love with the person, not just the music.

[When my fans see me on this cover], I know they’re going to be like, ‘Damn, about time. We’ve been watching you grind for a long time, and now the fact that you finally getting the recognition a little bit…’ I feel like they’re going to f**k with it heavy. They’re going to be like, ‘Hell yeah. There he is.’

[To the people being introduced to me for the first time], don’t f**k with me. Shut up, sit back and listen, and allow yourself to feel.”