Ray J

It probably tells you a lot about the current status of Ray J’s career that he’s best-known, to many, for appearing in a decidedly dubious videotape with Kim Kardashian that’s now widely available on the internet, but either way, it’d be a shame to overlook what he contributed to mainstream hip hop and R&B in the early part of his career as a result. In 1997, he saw his debut record, Everything You Want, flop in the U.S., but he fared much better on the follow-up, the aptly-titled This Ain’t a Game; perhaps similar sentiments had brought about a change in attitude for the rapper, who turned in a superb, hour-long opus that included production from The Neptunes and featured Pharrell Williams on two tracks.
Since those days, though - which saw him have two chart hits with ‘Wait a Minute’ and his duet with his sister, Brandy, a cover of Phil Collins’ ‘Another Day in Paradise’ - he’s struggled to reach the same level of commercial appeal. He still toured the U.S. throughout 2011 and 2012, though, appearing on bills with the likes of Soulja Boy and DMX and running through quick-fire, career-spanning sets with the aid of a DJ and a hype man. UK dates look a way off, though, unless he can turn his career around; he might need more than some internet controversy to pull that off, though.