Black Kray, along with his long list of aliases, is a prolific rapper, producer, filmmaker, and founding member of the collective Goth Money Records. He is the master behind many of my favorite songs and the influence behind many of the trends in the underground rap scene. He is most well known as Black Kray but has explored many other pseudonyms, each with unique characteristics and style. I have scoured the internet to trace Black Kray’s journey through the underground, leading to where he is today.  

How It All Started  

Black Kray, born Timothy O'Neal on February 23, 1994, is from Richmond, Virginia, a place he refers to as the “Durt Road.” He dropped his first song on MySpace when he was in the 7th grade, and has been making music ever since. Goth Money members met over the internet in 2012, and Kray has since moved to LA to collaborate with them in person. 

He has over 41 solo EPs, mixtapes, and albums combined solely under ‘Black Kray’, excluding all of the other side projects and collaborations. You could say he’s using the Lil B Method, with the sheer volume of his work comparable to the other underground legend, Lil B. Through his body of work, he has explored many different genres, themes, and aesthetics and with that, alter egos. 

From Black Kreayshawn to Black Kray

Kray’s evolution has been completely natural, you can see him experimenting and finding himself through his music. His progression as an artist can be seen through each name change. It started in 2011 with his era as The Black Kreayshawn. 

The beginning of The Black Kreayshawn era can be traced back to his YouTube presence. You get a glimpse into his world, with the various skate clips, short films, music videos, and song uploads he posted to his channel. His upload of Kreayshawn’s song “I Just Wanna Be Your Friend” has amassed over 1 million views. During this time, Kray had a short-lived time as a part of Raider Klan, with members like SpaceGhostPurrp, Xavier Wulf, and Denzel Curry. He left in 2012 to pursue his group which was at the time known as Terrorist Posse, and would become Goth Money.  

By the end of 2012, Kray was an icon of the SoundCloud rap scene and a recurring character in underground rap folklore. He was creating a new sound, mixing witch house, trap, cloud rap, and horrorcore. It was like a goth Cash Money, who Kray himself says was an inspiration.

Goth Money Records 

Kray founded Goth Money Records in 2013 with the original roster consisting of himself, Marcy Mane, Kane Grocerys, Luckaleannn, Karmah, and Hunned Mill. Following his move from Virginia to LA and the birth of Goth Money, his music started to gain traction. 

The Beginning 

His music video for his song “Depre$$ed Ocean” was his own “Ginseng Strip” music video, complete with the bucket hat and all. Kray showed us his world; metal tee shirts, silk scarves, basketball jerseys, gold teeth, piercings, nature footage, and shutter effects. The unique backdrops for the video were referred to as Flexico by Marcy Mane. By this time, he was going by Black Kray pretty consistently.  

Shortly after, Kray released Ice Cream and Mac 10’s, his first full release under Goth Money Records.  Songs like “Texico Trappin” and “West Haux Stripclub”, the release showcased Kray’s style of glitzy, cloudy, and nonchalant trap music. This album is seen as his quintessential release. It solidified his place in the scene and laid the groundwork for many rappers to come. Rappers like Cartier God, Surf Gang, and even Playboi Carti. Ice Cream and Mac 10’s was where the Goth Money swag was established, and listeners were introduced to the world of “positive thuggin”.

After the release of Ice Cream and Mac 10’s many coined Kray as “Chief Keef meets Lil B” which I think is an accurate description. Though Kray is more than just the child of two existing, legendary rappers, he was paving the way for something new.

‘lilwitchhouseshawdy’

Kray’s most experimental and groundbreaking period was his witch house era, during which he went by lilwitchhouseshawdy. Witch house is a genre known for its trap-influenced beats, ethereal vocals, and goth or witch aesthetics. Kray was creating something completely new, he was the original witch house rapper.

He was ethereal, goth, darker, and cloudier than ever during this era. One of my favorite projects that shows the breadth of Black Kray’s talent is Back To The Witchhouse which is also where he coined his name ‘lilwitchhouseshawdy’. Though, he also coined a few of his other names on this album with songs titled “black kre$yshawn” and “gold mouf prince$”. He also released “water colour my tears”  as the final track on the album, tying together his style of witch house and ambient trap music. 

Kray was a big fan of the witch house genre himself, he even cites three big witch-house artists as his main influences in a 2015 interview, talking about Salem, Crim3s, and White Ring. 

Meeting Drain Gang

By 2014, Kray had met up with Drain Gang, and he was releasing songs with Yung Lean and Bladee such as “Famous,” “7 Roses,” and “Friday Nite” which are all now considered classics of the time. He released his album “Goth Luv” before embarking on an international tour with SadBoys/Drain Gang. Kray has continued to collaborate with Drain Gang and could even be considered an honorary member, but Kray has elevated his sound as well. 

He dropped his classic song “Stevie J and Joseline” which was not only the reason I started watching Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta, but a huge stepping stone in his career. The video is now approaching half a million views. The song is a great example of Kray’s themes in his music. The references and aesthetics are never forced, his music is nonchalant. A song like this that references a reality TV couple truly makes you feel like you’re hanging out and watching TV with him. During this time he also started to go by Persian Cellphone Prince. 

He also continued his other artistic ventures during this time, such as filmmaking. With the release of his two-part short film “Hood Doves,” he features witch house legend Salem’s song “Mine Mine” and lives up to his name lilwitchouseshawdy. 

Sickboyrari Debut

After collaborations with Drain Gang, Kray was on his way up. He spent time in Atlanta with artists like Lil Yachty and Metro Boomin. Barron Machat, who helped launch the careers of Yung Lean and Grimes, had Kray as his next project. In tragic circumstances, Machat passed and Yung Lean and Drain Gang members took a break from music. Kray transitioned to more solo work during this time. 

At this time, he started to go by Sickboyrari, he explains the name choice as partly because he is ‘sick’ and partly because he ‘stays in his lane like a rari’. He released Shitty Sickboy, which leaned even more into the horrorcore sound. With songs like “Elm St Horror Squad” and “Baby Cash Out Yount” he stayed true to his goth persona.

Kray aka Sickboyrari dropped three more albums and by the end of 2017, he was considered an underground king. With his song “Tearful” featured on World Star Hip Hop, he was on track to perform internationally alongside his girlfriend and collaborator Bootychaaain. 

The Birth of Tread 

Tread was a term coined by Bootychaaain to describe the high BPM, hard-hitting beats of Working On Dying production, and producers such as F1lthy and Kray himself. ‘Tread’ is characterized by distinctive 808 patterns, often off-beat hi-hats and trap triplets with icy synths and lethargic rapping. Kray could be called the ‘King of Tread’. His tape as Sickboyrari, Shitty Sickboy, illustrates the realization of this genre. 

Kray’s Impact

Kray is inventive, continuously experimental, and original. He has paved the way for rappers to come with his fearless experimentation and innovation. Through all his different aliases and projects, we can see his experimentation in real time and get a glimpse into his world. He is the definition of an underground king, your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, and an iconic figure in rap music.