Musician, art director, graphic designer, and writer, Racayan embodies creativity in its true form. His latest release “Deep End” is the new rave of the town. His work is something the crowds can feel, something the people can relate to. His other releases, “Believe in Us” “What I Need” as well as projects “Cathartic”, “Scorpio SZN”, and SMMR LVR’s 1&2 embody the same. Carving a niche for himself in the music industry, his single “Deep End” hit number 2 on R&B charts in Submithub, and he was named the Breakthrough Artist (September) by Dark Magazine.
The LA-based musician shares the story behind his name, Racayan. “In 2014, I was touring the world with Blackalicious. So while we were traveling through France, I was in and out of sleep in the van and I was filling something out on my phone and then I misspelled my name on a form. My full name is Ronald Gacayan Jr. and I filled in “Racayan”. I loved how it looked. And whenever I created anything I went with that name.”
Journey Till Date
In 2012, he received a bachelor’s in Sound Engineering and began working with the legendary Hip-Hop Group, Blackalicious. “I worked closely with Chief Xcel (Producer / ½ of Blackalicious) and learned the ins and outs of the music industry.” He recalls, “During my time with Blackalicious, I was able to work with Grammy-nominated artists such as Ledisi, Vincent Segal, and Bosko Kante in the studio, attend meetings with various A&Rs and Label executives, tour the world, and work at music festivals including the ones at Glastonbury and Clockenflap.” With all that experience, he developed as a producer and came up with the moniker “Racayan” while on tour in France. After his time with Blackalicious, he moved to Los Angeles to further pursue my dreams after being convinced by a couple of his mentors; music producer Bedrock ( who has been associated with Tyga, Iggy Azelia, Goapele, YK Osiris) and mix engineer Erik Madrid ( who has worked with Khalid, A$AP Rocky, Demi Lovato, Kehlani). Once he arrived in LA, Racayan worked closely with Bedrock where he furthered his skills as a producer.
Inspiration And Starting His Brand
This was always his dream, the ultimate goal. While working various jobs and working for other people, he realized he wasn’t truly happy and wasn’t fulfilling his purpose. He kept waiting for the right moment to venture off and do his own thing, “but there’s never the perfect moment, so I just decided to just take the leap.” “I always wanted to create and I had learned so much, so in June 2019 I decided to move to LA because I felt that I had outgrown my situation in the San Francisco Bay Area. I linked it up with some good and started creating. In the top of 2020, I released my first EP “Cathartic”, which was a collaboration project with IIIX (formerly known as DEKU), and released singles with Jimmy Burney and Courtney Bennet after that.”
His way of inspiring people is through action. He is not afraid of putting his real self out there and believes in the power of words combined with action above all. “I inspire others by just doing shit.” He goes on, “I just want to show people that we could take all the good and the bad and create something beautiful out of it. We could create beauty in the life we are given.”
His Love For His Job And Future Plans
Creating art, opportunities, and inspiration for himself and others keeps him going. “Staying creative helps me be in constant movement, I don’t want to be stagnant. I need to be contributing to my mission/purpose constantly and being able to create helps me do that.” He plans to manoeuver through the post-covid era by being flexible in his approach, knowing when and how to pivot.
He shares his vision for the next five years, and it is brimming with creativity and creation. “Music is just the first step. My vision is to constantly create things that will help people, whether it’s a poem, a piece of art, music, clothes, books, etc. I want to be able to reach as many people as possible.”
