It appears Pulitzer Prize-winning emcee Kendrick Lamar is close to amicably parting ways with Top Dawg Entertainment. However, the Los Angeles-based record label is not slowing down on presenting fresh talent.
25-year-old Long Beach artist Ray Vaughn is the newest TDE signee. Vaughn’s introduction as part of Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith’s record label is accompanied by a 3-track EP titled Peer Pressure.
“I’d love to tell you how I created the project, but to tell you the truth, to revisit the place of brutal honesty these songs came from is a chaotic process,” states Ray Vaughn, “Don’t take me too seriously, honestly, just learn to have fun.”
Peer Pressure hosts the songs “Not Allowed,” “Top Shottas,” and “Tap.” The 8-minute project, released via Top Dawg Entertainment, follows Ray Vaughn dropping his 2019 independent album Idle.
Ray Vaughn’s rise as a recording artist began with his “Freestyle Fridays” video series which originally was just a way for the rhymer to entertain his friends and family. In 2019, he also spit a freestyle over Tsu Surf’s “What if’ instrumental on Bootleg Kev & DJ Hed’s Real 92.3 radio show.
Plus, Vaughn created the theme song for the upcoming animated series The Freak Brothers starring Woody Harrelson, Pete Davidson, Tiffany Haddish, and La La Anthony.
Ray Vaughn is now part of a Top Dawg Entertainment roster that also currently includes Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, SiR, Lance Skiiiwalker, and Reason.