Black Kray's Shyne: From Crack Clouds to Cloud Nine
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Rari O'Neal (Black Kray aka SickboyRari) is a 28 year old artist from Richmond Virginia who is widely known as one of the pioneers of cloud rap and internet rap culture. His raw, unfiltered, and unique style of music has brought him a prominent and loyal following over the years.
Influences and Growth
Black Kray gained some minor internet popularity even before the start of his official music career after reposting the music video for Kreayshawna's "I Just Wanna Be Your Friend" on his YouTube channel in 2010. Funnily enough, this video has since amassed over 1.1 million views and is currently the most viewed video on his channel. From the start, Kreayshawna has had a major influence on the artist, from his stage name, to his fashion sense and style of music. One other notable influence on Rari is the Berkeley-native rapper Lil B, who became famous for his freestyle-like rapping over out of the ordinary beats.
Throughout the years, SickboyRari has worked tirelessly to create and refine his craft. His discography features a long list of 32 albums, mixtapes, and EPs which were released starting in 2011. On top of this, he directs and edits many of his own music videos. This speaks to his strong work ethic as an artist; he has consistently been putting out quality music and content for over 10 years.
In 2013, he founded the Goth Money Records label with five other like-minded artists including MFK, Luckaleann, Kane Grocerys, Hunned Mill, and Karmah. With this brand, he has gone on to drop several music projects along with frequent releases of Goth Money merchandise.
Dissecting His Craft
It's hard to classify Black Kray’s music into one specific genre. His songs include elements of hip hop, trap, and cloud rap but he's constantly experimenting with new sounds and flows that are often far from the norm. Rari works with several talented and unique producers, which pushes him to try different styles. He has even collaborated on multiple songs with DJ Kenn, a producer who played a key a role in the early success of Chief Keef's career. Within his lyrics, Black Kray tends to use a ton of slang. A few frequently recurring words are whoadi (meaning 'bro' or 'homie'), glime (meaning style/fashion-sense), and shyne (meaning his positivity/aura/light).
Early Music
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One of his first releases Crack Cloud$ Over Arts Kitchen (2012), which has recently been gaining more attention, show early signs of his originality as a musician. The 11th track of the album titled Hydrocodone is an especially noteworthy song. Although the production itself is in essence a bootleg version of the song BREED by CRIM3S, Black Kray manages to make it his own with the use of a sample from Kreyshawna's Gucci Gucci and of his own unique voice and flow. All these elements come together to create a chaotic and rough yet appealing sound.
The 28 year old has proven he can be a versatile artist. His 2014 song Stevie J and Jocelyn featured on his 2014 album 700 Dagreez, displays the more 'emo' side of his persona. The tune is based on the rocky relationship between the rapper/DJ Stevie J and Joseline Hernandez on the reality drama TV Show "Love & HipHop". It's a heart-break song in which Black Kray expresses his emotion over a slow and mellow beat with a sombre guitar melody. This soft gangster side of the artist is shown in multiple other occasions such as in Shorty 13 Onah Block and Amongst the Dead.
Current Music
The most recent album released by Black Kray, Chain Gang Halo World (2021), demonstrates that he is still able to develop his music capabilities. The project incorporates first-class beats from producers like EvilGiane, Taylor Morgan, and 4EVR. Compared to his earlier work, this album has a cleaner and more professional sound but Rari still brings his classic energy and style which matches the beats' melodies in perfect harmony.
It's certain that Black Kray will continue to evolve as an artist and put out music that pushes boundaries. He has not reached mainstream popularity just yet, but he has all the right characteristics as an artist to achieve it and display his 'shyne' to the world.
My Current Top 7 Black Kray Songs
- Hydrocodone (2012)
- Daydre4m (2012)
- Stevie J and Jocelyn (2014)
- Shyne Like Heaven (2016)
- LUH 4REN (2016)
- Shorty 13 Onah Block (2018)
- Infrared (2021)
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