"Flashing Lights" By Badnews (New Interview with RAY J!!)

This is the man beside the man, the dastardly kid Destro, coming back at you live, in living color. Yo, it's about 4 am in the morning, but hell, when I got a dope piece on deck, I can't sleep on it. Yesterday evening, BadNews, interviewed the controversial and shall I say, genius, Ray J. You may know him (William Ray Norwood Jr.) as Brandy's little brother and all, but fall back for a minute, he's definitely alot more than that. With the release of his infamous video with the vivacious Kim Kardashian (read here), his former romp with Whitney Houston, as well as the recent success of joints such as "Smoking Trees" featuring Snoop Dogg, "Where You At" feat. The Game and "Sexy Can I" featuring Yung Berg added with the future release of his tell all, memoirs called "Sex Machine" (read here), Ray J's proving that he's the industries new "Badboy"...move over Bobby B!! Well, without further adu, I invite, no, I encourage you to take about 5-10 minutes of your day to check out this spectular and quite candid convo with him and Badnews...

Ray J: WHAT UP PIMPIN’!

Badnews: Ray J, what’s the deal with you?

Ray J: Chilling man, just doing my thing you know, how you feeling?

Badnews: It's one of those days, you know how it goes…

Ray J: Yeah, I feel you.

Badnews: Okay, well let’s do it, I don’t want to hold you up.

Ray J: Oh nah, let's do it.

Badnews: Ok. Well you been doing this music thing a very long time, but before you got into that, you were in television and one of the first major things we seen you was in was a sitcom starring Sinbad. How did you get to meet Sinbad?

Ray J: Yeah man. Well, I was real young when we moved to Carson (California)…and I was just doing auditions for a while, my father would pick me up from school and drive like an hour and a half to go audition. Finally I got a call back to from the show and then I got on it. That was my first big break. I played a foster kid.

Badnews: Yeah I remember that. How old were you then?

Ray J: I was 13.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Now a while back you had a run in with Pamela Anderson over your fur coat? What happened?

Ray J: Yeah she was trippin’! We were in the club and then she came at me and was like “I work with P.E.TA.” and “Come on, lets go throw this coat away, i'll give you your money back…"

Badnews: (Laughs) Damn!

Ray J: That was a $20,000 chinchilla, that was specially dyed. And then she just comes at me and tells me to give it away, she was straight trippin’. And she didn’t give me the money back! I still wear fur though; I still buy it and wear it.

Badnews: Damn hold up… she made you throw away a $20,000 chinchilla coat! Where I’m from, that’s two used Buicks (Laughs). I would have told Pam to fall back.

Ray J: Yeah. But you know how women are.

Badnews: Yeah, when there on to something, they’re on it.

Ray J: Yeah! When they mean it, you better do it.

Badnews: (Laughs) Ok. Well going back into music, growing up as an artist you were dubbed “Brandy’s little brother”, how difficult was it to step out of her shadow and become Ray J?

Ray J: I never really tried to step out of her shadow, I was having fun being her little brother. I was going to awards, getting on Moesha, to knowing her homegirls—and knowing her homegirls was a big plus. But as far as a career, I never tried to step out or outdo her. There was no compeition between us, that’s my family, I love her and I’ll always be there for her. It's just love all around.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. That’s what a brother is suppose to do.

Ray J: Right I love her and my whole family.

Badnews: Cool. Now you have the #3 or #4 song in the country right now with Yung Berg, it’s a crazy song. But how did you meet him or how did he meet you rather?

Ray J: His song Sexy Lady was playing crazy out here on the west coast, and we just gave each other a call and met up at a restaurant and he made a deal out where I do a song with him and he does a song for me. And while later, I was writing "Sexy Can I" in Lil’ Kim’s house with Shamel the producer from New York and I just gave that to him and he killed it. Then, we put out a video to it with the cameras and girls all in it, and then re-shot another video for BET to fit theie censors. It’s the #1 video right now on 106 and Park. It's #3 or 4 like you said on the charts. And it’s all a blessing. We did this all independent with Knockout entertainment as we did with One Wish. It was crazy that One Wish, did so well independently for it being a ballad. So then we got the deal with Koch, and the rest is history.

Badnews: Right. I you could never tell that the last two hit songs from you were independent. Now the first video for "Sexy Can I" with the girls and the cameras, that was a coincidence right… that wasn’t a idea of yours was it…

Ray J: (Laughs) Nah, that was just being creative. I got Shaq holding the camera and my people in the video I was just trying to make it creative that’s all (Laughs).

Badnews: Alright (Laughs). Now ,we’ve been seeing a lot of Yung Berg lately and he’s been referring to you as his big brother. Is it a big responsibility to maintain a proper image of being a “role model” to the younger artists that look up to you?

Ray J: I mean it’s just a blessing for people to look up to me period. Yung Berg is doing his thing and he’s the homie.

Badnews: That’s what’s up. Now we see you in the rumors 24/7. On websites, on the whack ass TMZ concerning, you know who. (Laughs). But, does it get difficult at times to handle the paparazzi and keep your composure when they are flashing cameras at you and asking you wild questions?

Ray J: You just have to deal with it and don’t let that affect you. They have a job, I have a job so you just have to do the best you can. But you don’t let that stuff affect, you just keep doing your thing.

Badnews: Ok. It’s cool to see that you can handle them like that, you know like not throwing water at them or something crazy. It looks like it gets real crazy. Now speaking of rumors, I heard that you’re featured on a single with Shar Jackson.

Ray J: Shar is family. We hosted that 25 freakiest people on BET. It’s cool to know that she can rap and I would love to work with her if she was trying to put out a single.

Badnews: So there’s no truth to a single being out right now?

Ray J: No, not yet

Badnews: Alright. Now you also have been in the media lately one in particular is Tyra’s show where you talked about the whole thing with the tape. Do you think that hurt or helped your mainstream image? Personally, I thought you were being honest.

Ray J: It put me out there more, whether it hurt or helped. People know I'm wild and crazy and they respect that. But whether it hurt or helped, it just put me out there. I was on Tyra!

Badnews: (Laughs) Kk. Now do you have any tour dates? Where can we catch you at?

Ray J: I just finished a promo tour. I talked to Snoop and some other people about touring but, I’m just busy promoting the album All I Feel out April 8th. Go get it.

Badnews: Ok. Now do you have any other music dropping or out right now before the 8th?

Ray J: I got the Mixtape out right now hosted by Kay Slay and that’s really it, until the album drops on the 8th.

Badnews: Ok. And did you decide to drop it on the 8th and not a week earlier on the 1st because it was April Fools?

Ray J: (Laughs) Nah… I didn’t even think about it like that though. I wanted to keep pushing it back, so I could at least get two songs out there. But the demand is high and I still want to treat this like an independent project.

Badnews: Ok that’s what’s up. Well thank you for the time. All I Feel is out on April 8th, the Mixtape hosted by Kay Slay is out now (click here to listen), your working on some tours with Snoop...everything is going great right now. One last question? What do you think about Kim Kardashian’s new show on the E! Channel?

Ray J: I love it… I love it. I think she’s found her way.

Badnews: (Pause and Laughs) Ok ,that’s what’s up. Well, thank you for your time.

Ray J: Hey! Let me know when this goes up now. I want to see this.

Badnews: No doubt, I'll let you know. It’s a Ray J interview why wouldn’t I? (Laughs)

Source: BadNews - Writer for HipHopRuckus

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