Rayvon DeRay Welch (born ), better known as Ray Vaughn, is an American rapper from

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. After several independent releases, he signed to

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

in a move publicly announced on August 2021.

Biography

Born , Vaughn is from

. He began rapping when he was twelve years old. He grew up listening to

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

. In 2020, Vaughn signed with

(TDE), which was announced in 2021. Soon after, he released his

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Peer Pressure''. He also did a freestyle for

KPWR KPWR (105.9 FM broadcasting, FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Alex Meruelo's Meruelo Group, t ...

, rapping over the instrumentals of " Lay Low" by Snoop Dogg and " Feel It in the Air" by

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his association with Jay-Z and his label Roc-A-Fella Records, to which Grant signed ...

. On

June 19 Events Pre-1600 * 325 – The original Nicene Creed is adopted at the First Council of Nicaea. * 1179 – The Battle of Kalvskinnet takes place outside Nidaros (now Trondheim), Norway. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle cha ...

, 2024, Vaughn performed his song "Problems", for

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

's concert The Pop Out: Ken & Friends at the

Kia Forum The Kia Forum, also known as Los Angeles Forum and formerly Great Western Forum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located on West Manchester Boulevard, with Pincay Drive to th ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

, during the first set by DJ Hed, titled the Act I – DJ Hed & Friends. On April 25, 2025, Vaughn released '' The Good, The Bad, The Dollar Menu'' under TDE. The

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

features guest appearances from labelmates

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1985), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Rock signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major lab ...

and

Isaiah Rashad Isaiah Rashad Joel McClain (born May 16, 1991) is an American rapper. He first gained recognition following his performances on the 2012 Smoker's Club Tour alongside rappers Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA. He is a founding member of the Chat ...

, among others. In May 2025, he and

East Coast hip hop East Coast hip-hop is a regional subgenre of hip-hop music that originated in New York City during the 1970s. Hip-hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the Bronx borough of New York City. In contrast to other styles, East Co ...

rapper

Joey Badass Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper and actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he formed the regional hip-hop group Pro Era in 2011, with whom h ...

began a feud, releasing

diss tracks A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...

against each other, first Vaughn with " Hoe Era", mocking Badass' group

Pro Era Pro Era (short for Progressive Era) is an American hip-hop Musical collective, collective from Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. The group is a collective of Rapping, rappers and record producers that includes East Coast hip hop, East Coast ...

and fellow member

CJ Fly Chaine St. Aubin Downer Jr. (born July 6, 1993), better known by his stage name CJ Fly, is an American rapper and producer from Brooklyn, New York City. He is a founding member and the oldest member of the hip-hop collective group Pro Era. Throug ...

, followed by Badass with "

The Finals ''The Finals'' is a free-to-play first-person shooter, developed and published by Embark Studios. The game focuses on team-based matches on maps with a destructible environment, where players (who are divided into a number of distinct classes) ...

", in which he throws shots at Vaughn's label TDE and its founder Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, as well as calling out former label-mate Kendrick Lamar. The following days saw the feud escalate, with many other rappers releasing diss tracks, including Daylyt, CJ Fly,

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

AzChike Damaria Kayshawn Walker, known as AzChike (born July 28, 1995) is an American rapper from South Central, Los Angeles. He released his debut album, ''Rich & Ratchet'', in 2019. Early life AzChike grew up in South Central of Los Angeles. After ...

, and

Hitta J3 Dominicke Williams (born October 5, 1992), known professionally as Hitta J3, is an American rapper and songwriter, best known in the West Coast hip hop scene for his authentic sound and raw storytelling, as well as his collaborations and remixes. ...

, among others. In June 2025, Vaughn was selected for the 2025 XXL freshman class. Later in the same month, he signed with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

Discography

Mixtapes * ''Idle'' (2019) * '' The Good, The Bad, The Dollar Menu'' (2025) Extended plays * ''Blame Summer'' (2018) * ''Projects'' (2019) * ''Peer Pressure'' (2021) Singles * "Look @ God" (2025) * "Golden Eye" (2025) * " Hoe Era" (2025) * "Dollar Menu" (2025) * "Flat Shasta" (2025) * "Cemetery Lanterns" (2025) * "Impossible Patty" (2025) * "Crashout Heritage" (2025) * "East Chatt" (2024) * "FNBM" (2024) * "Everybody Dies" (2024) * "87 Cutlass" (2024) * "Ray Wop" (2024) * "Blasphemy" (2024) * "So Into You (Freestyle)" (2024) * "Problems" (2024) * "5:30 (Freestyle)" (2024) * "Ted Talk" (2023) * "Sandcastles" (2023) * "Plot Twist" (2023) * "Kim Possible" (2022) * "Tradeline" (2022) * "Dawg House" (2022) * " The Freak Brothers Theme Song" (2021) * "Explain" (2020) * "Worst Decision Ever" (2019) * "Hit Different" (2019) * "Under Pressure" (2019) * "Nerves" (2019) * "W.I.N." (2018) * "Attention" (2018) * "Clutch" (2018) * "Lovers Turn Enemies" (2018) * "Commit" (2018) * "Afraid to Fall in Love" (2018) * "Worry Nun "Back 2 You"" (2018) * "Plot" (2017) * "Stay Away" (2016) * "Fashionable" (2014)

References

{{Reflist 1996 births Living people Rappers from Los Angeles Musicians from Long Beach, California Top Dawg Entertainment artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers