Babyface Ray, who is having a stellar year after his 2021 breakout thanks to the release of his debut album, Face, falls back on one of Detroit rap’s most reliable staples in his latest video from the album, “Motown Music.” Nice kitchen? Check… Wait, that’s the whole list? Cool. The video works, the same way similar clips like Sada Baby and Drego’s “Bloxk Party” have in the era of the fast-and-dirty, low-budget music video. Why blow your whole marketing budget on a yacht when you could pocket that money and still land a viral hit?
The video’s concept seems simple but it’s on-brand for Babyface Ray, who mostly eschews the fancier trappings of his chosen profession in favor of austere visuals for tracks like “My Thoughts 3” and “Dancing With The Devil.” The Motor City rapper seems to prefer to let the music speak for itself; likewise, he’s a relatively low-key presence throughout his own promotion, presenting a stoic demeanor to anchor a lot of the visual and sonic chaos that surrounds him (and the chaos of coming up on the streets of Detroit). While it may give fans who are used to flashier personalities less to grasp onto, Ray’s day-ones love him for it, and all the more loyal to him, which could turn out to be the winning strategy in the long run.
Watch Babyface Ray’s “Motown Music” video above.
