Arin Ray

Contemporary R&B artist Arin Ray parlayed appearances on TV's The X Factor into work as a songwriter for names like <a href="spotify:artist:07YZf4WDAMNwqr4jfgOZ8y">Jason Derulo</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2retT7MFwHDVTeGKDdybEx">K. Michelle</a> before making his full-length solo debut with 2018's Platinum Fire on a major label. Artists including but not limited to <a href="spotify:artist:7c0XG5cIJTrrAgEC3ULPiq">Ty Dolla $ign</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0Ek89uaJyo6NfWK22awFvI">VanJess</a> contributed to the singer and songwriter's second album, 2022's Hello Poison.

During the first season of The X Factor in 2011, the Cincinnati native was eliminated as a member of the bootcamp-stage group Intensity. He returned in 2012 for the second season, mentored by <a href="spotify:artist:26dSoYclwsYLMAKD3tpOr4">Britney Spears</a>, and finished tenth. Ray self-released a single, "Turn It Up," in 2013, but within a couple years had co-written songs for <a href="spotify:artist:07YZf4WDAMNwqr4jfgOZ8y">Jason Derulo</a> ("Love Like That") and <a href="spotify:artist:7bXgB6jMjp9ATFy66eO08Z">Chris Brown</a> ("KAE"). Ray resumed solo work with the Phases EP in 2016, the same year he was credited with co-writing songs for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:2retT7MFwHDVTeGKDdybEx">K. Michelle</a> (the charting single "Ain't You"), <a href="spotify:artist:7r2oyrNc0YjSC7hZL87V0Y">Ro James</a> ("Ride"), <a href="spotify:artist:0YinUQ50QDB7ZxSCLyQ40k">DJ Mustard</a> ("Another Summer"), and <a href="spotify:artist:1c5SlzViAqsaB0kXygfSjh">Jahkoy</a> ("Don't Stop the Vibe").

In 2018, Ray made his major-label debut with Platinum Fire on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a>. The album featured collaborations with <a href="spotify:artist:7MNEVabc4cs19CbzAFZmXz">Terrace Martin</a>, Nez & Rio, and <a href="spotify:artist:4bMNzAopkqYTwkBLwMKsF1">Childish Major</a>, among others. Included was the single "We Ain't Homies." A deluxe version of Platinum Fire followed later that year and added three more songs including "Always" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3aVoqlJOYx31lH1gibGDt3">Babyface</a>. In December 2019, he came back with the <a href="spotify:artist:0cGUm45nv7Z6M6qdXYQGTX">Kehlani</a>-featuring Phases II EP.

It would be over two years before Ray returned with new material in the form of seductive single "The Mood" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:23rK0hajv5ix2yPM4IIgOo">D Smoke</a>. It arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Interscope%22">Interscope</a> in April 2022, just two months before it showed up on Ray's second long-player, Hello Poison. That album also included several collaborations, including tracks with <a href="spotify:artist:0Ek89uaJyo6NfWK22awFvI">VanJess</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1vaQ6v3pOFxAIrFoPrAcom">Ari Lennox</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:7c0XG5cIJTrrAgEC3ULPiq">Ty Dolla $ign</a>. ~ Andy Kellman & Marcy Donelson, Rovi