FACE

Michigan street rap has been experiencing a renaissance in recent years; on the Detroit native’s most ambitious album yet, Babyface Ray hopes to parlay a decade of regional success into national stardom. As an MC, he’s equal parts hustler and Zen master: “Nah, I ain’t trap, I’m just moving off survival/Tryna figure out how to sell the church Bibles,” he murmurs on “Me, Wife & Kids” in his mellow, understated way. On *FACE*, he splits the difference between the funky, rough-edged gangster tales his hometown is known for (“Sincerely Face,” “Richard Flair”) and big-name collabs that aim to infiltrate the mainstream (“Dancing With the Devil” and “Kush & Codeine,” which feature, respectively, Pusha T and Wiz Khalifa). But the highlights are somewhere in between, like “Overtime,” an unlikely meetup with Swedish sadboi Yung Lean that submerges rubbery Detroit basslines in spacey atmospherics so weird it works.

The Detroit rapper’s world is bleak and flashy in equal measure. On the followup to 2021’s Unfuckwitable, he’s getting better at balancing his opposing tendencies.

Having broken through to mainstream audiences with 2021 EP Unfuckwitable -- and its 14-track, deluxe version -- Detroit's own Babyface Ray looks to make his statement piece with FACE, his latest full-length LP.

Detroit’s Babyface Ray has been on a decade-long journey to the top. Out now, and featuring a plethora of big name features,