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Born and raised in the Motor City, a young black man is expected to confirm society’s stereotypes and to basically end up behind bars or dead by age 17, but not in this case.
JaRay, a multi-talented singer/songwriter/producer and artist has been on a mission now to become not just successful, but appreciated in the world of music.
JaRay started singing as a child. He says singing definitely runs in his blood. As a teenager and in her early 20s, his mother sang in a group, and dreamed of becoming a successful singer. Her dreams of a successful musical career were not accomplished, but her love for music and the gift was passed on to her children, including JaRay. When his sisters were in elementary school, his mom discovered their musical talent and decided she would make them sing. He recalls stories from when they were awaken from their sleep and forced to practice. It’s funny because, although his mom never woke him up to sing, or made him practice, he is the only one of her four children who is interested in pursuing music.
You could say it all started on a church bus. As a little boy, maybe eight or nine, he rode the neighborhood church bus to The Church of The Messiah in Southwest Detroit, Michigan. The youth leaders would sing songs as they picked up kids from all over the neighborhood. JaRay never sang, and was quite shy and reserved most of the time. In fact, he didn’t even know he could sing. One day he decided to sing with them and as he sang he noticed everyone else started to stop singing, and eventually it became a solo. It was so embarrassing, but the youth leaders were encouraging, and very excited to learn that this little shy boy had such a great gift. That was the beginning.
From then on, he just wanted to sing. Whether it was on the front porch with my sister, church, school, or by himself music became my best friend.
After being a part of many different choirs in church, and school, taking private lessons, receiving awards for recitals, and performing all over Detroit and even in other states, he decided he wanted to see what it was like to record in a studio.
It was at Triple Platinum Studios in Detroit where he began to learn skills that would eventually give him a new title, artist.
He started to follow in the footsteps of his longtime mentor, advisor, and studio owner Wayne (DJ Mann) Clark, and lead producer Mark "3-1" Bingham. He absorbed as much as he could about production and would go on to complete and Urban/Gospel CD entitled “Just The Beginning.” He proudly produced 10 of the 11 tracks on the cd himself. JaRay recorded most of the cd himself, wrote 95% of the songs himself, and sang every single vocal. It was at this point in life that he decided he wanted a career in Music.
Last year JaRay signed on with "C" Note Productions and recently completed a demo project.
He is currently seeking opportunities to expand his career including a recording contract, and/or development deal.
- CrankRank Peak: 160
- Song: I Wanna Love You