Babyface Ray Proves the Haters Wrong at UH Homecoming

Thursday night, October 16th, the University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall hosted Detroit rapper, Babyface Ray, for this year’s homecoming concert. The announcement, which was made the day before, sparked controversy among the student body. 

Photo by @uhspb via Instagram

“Who is this [crying emoji]?” one Instagram user commented. “Why can’t we get someone from Houston like Meghan Thee Stallion?”

Another user said “How can i dislike a post?”

Babyface Ray clapped back in the comments, jokingly “I’M FILLING IN FOR SEAN KINGSTON CHILL.”

Nevertheless, the concert sold out, and Babyface Ray and his opener, local pop metal band Valhalla, gave the crowd a night to remember.

Photo by Yuqian Wei

Valhalla ripped into some crowdpleasing covers of heavy metal classics like Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” before playing some original songs like their new single “Better Off Alone”. The band had a restless energy, with all but the drummer running, jumping, and rolling around onstage. The singer, Samuel, was even running into the orchestra while belting out falsetto runs, doing laps through each section. They closed with a rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain” with guitarist Ibra handing his axe to Samuel, who tore into the iconic power ballad’s solo.

Photo by Yuqian Wei

After a brief intermission, Babyface Ray popped out promptly at 9, opening with “What The Business Is”. From that moment on, any doubts that Babyface Ray would not deliver were silenced. The concert was a testament to the enduring wit and artistry that made hip hop fans all over the world fall in love with Babyface Ray and fellow Michiganders like Tee Grizzley, Veeze, and Rio Da Young OG. Babyface Ray himself was an engaged performer, rapping along with his tracks instead of letting them play out and adlibbing as many of his contemporaries tend to do. For one song, he even hopped off the stage to rap in the audience. The crowd was buzzing, rapping along the words to hits like “If You Know You Know”, “Real N*ggas Don’t Rap”, and “Ron Artest”. By the end of the show, people were getting out of their seats, swarming the stage, holding their phones up either with song requests or in hopes that Babyface Ray would pick up their devices for a selfie while rapping. Before closing out his set, Babyface Ray, shouted out his opener for the Prince cover and mocked his haters.

Photo by Nehemia Tekleab

The night was proof that what one sees in the comment section is not always a reflection of real life, and that sometimes our biggest haters can be our biggest motivators.