Antoine DeRay Davis (born February 26, 1982) is an American stand-up comedian and actor.Todd Davis (February 2, 2008)
Steph Jones: Heart & Soul
''HHNLive''. Accessed July 18, 2008. He is known for his role as Ray the Hustle Guy in the '' Barbershop'' films and as host of '' Hip Hop Squares''. He is also known for his collaboration and appearances in several audio skits by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

Life and career

Davis was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He began his career in comedy clubs. Shortly after moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, he won the

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

Laugh Riots Competition and appeared on the

Cedric the Entertainer Cedric Antonio Kyles (born April 24, 1964), better known by his stage name Cedric the Entertainer, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and television host. He hosted BET's '' ComicView'' during the 1993–1994 season and '' Def Comedy Jam'' ...

Tour. Known for his role as Ray the Hustle Guy in '' Barbershop'' and '' Barbershop 2: Back in Business'', Davis has also appeared in other films, including '' Semi-Pro'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', and '' How High 2''. Davis' television roles and appearances have included programs such as

's '' Reno 911'', BET's '' ComicView'', FOX's ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'',

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Wild 'n Out'' and '' Short Circuitz'', FX's ''

Snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

'', and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' Entourage''. He hosted his first game show, '' Mind of a Man'', on

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

, and later appeared on the

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

reality show ''Living with Funny.'' He is also the host of the revival of '' Hip Hop Squares'' produced & narrated by

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

. The comedian also sounds on several skits on

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

's albums ''

The College Dropout ''The College Dropout'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 10, 2004, by Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. In the years leading up to its release, West had received praise for his p ...

'' and ''

Late Registration ''Late Registration'' is the second studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released on August 30, 2005, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. West recorded the album over the course of a year during sessions held a ...

'', impersonating Bernie Mac in both album's opening tracks "Intro" and "Wake Up Mr. West", and appearing as the lead of the fictitious fraternity "Broke Phi Broke." Davis, also appeared in West's music video for "

Through the Wire "Through the Wire" is the debut solo single by American rapper and producer Kanye West, who wrote and recorded the song with his jaw wired shut after a car crash on October 23, 2002. The song samples (and its title is a play on) Chaka Khan's 1985 ...

." Other music video appearances for Davis include

Lil' Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born 3 March 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. Raised in Houston, Texas, he began his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before signing with the local record label Sucka ...

's " Game Over (Flip)",

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

's "

Yo (Excuse Me Miss) "Yo (Excuse Me Miss)" is a song by American singer Chris Brown. It was written by Johntá Austin along with Dre & Vidal, Andre Harris and Dre & Vidal, Vidal Davis from production duo Dre & Vidal for Brown's Chris Brown (album), self-titled debut ...

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American hip-hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip-hop group, they went on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' became an influen ...

's " Doe Boy Fresh",

Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

's "

Roses A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...

", and Cassie's "

Long Way 2 Go "Long Way 2 Go" is a song by American recording artist Cassie Ventura, Cassie from her debut studio album, ''Cassie (album), Cassie'' (2006). It was co-written by Cassie herself alongside the song's producer, Ryan Leslie. The song was released a ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Stand-up Special

References

External links

Official DeRay Davis website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, DeRay 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American comedians African-American game show hosts African-American male actors African-American male comedians African-American comedians American game show hosts American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors Comedians from Chicago American stand-up comedians Living people Male actors from Chicago Year of birth missing (living people)