Babyfaced songbird Stanley Ray recently made local history in his hometown Mount Vernon, Illinois where he was born and raised, when he debuted at number 1 for the 2nd time on internet radio.
But is this successful achievement niche? His first and lead single ‘SongBite,’ from his recent album Revelation debuted at number one, first on June 10, 2026 on Ouro Verde FM, an internet radio station in Brazil for one week and would go on to occupy the top five for four consecutive weeks and again for one week in July, during the week of the 19th and the 25th, on BMS Radio’s Urban Fire Chart.
Ray’s latest single ‘SongBite,’ begins with catchy melodies and beautiful harmonies all of which help create a truly uplifting and soulful track.
This follows the success of his 3rd album This Is Me, where the first and lead single ‘Attractive’ debuted at number one in June of 2024 for two weeks on BMS Radio’s Dope Urban Jamz Chart, now giving him two debut number one songs on that radio station and overall.
Ray says he began setting aside a budget of money and submitting songs to internet radio stations in February, 2 months after the album’s release, but that he stressed up until he went number 1 the first time on Brazil Internet Radio in June.
“It’s not all about going number one and winning when I release an album,” Ray says.
“But this is my 5th album and something in me just really wanted to do something monumental and achieve bigger things.
Debuting at number one is great but to do it twice blew my mind. I was especially happy that I hit number one again here in the States, rather than only hitting it in another country. It gives the song and it’s impact balance.”
This achievement solidified him as the very first independent artist in his hometown of Mount Vernon, Illinois, to score two debut number one songs on internet radio.
On August 1, 2026, the local newspaper would further solidify his milestone by recognizing him as the very first independent artist from Mount Vernon to accomplish the feat, adding another historic chapter to his growing career. Ray took to social media to share a photo of the ad, saying: “Mount Vernon, IL HISTORY?? I can’t even talk.”
Despite his rapid growth of success and consistency with dropping a full length album every year since he first came out 6 years ago, rather than just dropping a bunch of quick singles like every other artist does, Ray is still the target of online scrutiny, especially when it comes to his race and sexuality, though he refuses to comment on it to avoid giving it anymore energy or attention.
He says a couple of “internet trolls” that were also from his hometown spammed his comments on social media, accusing him of being inauthentic.
“Anyone who doesn’t like me or my music always has my name in their mouths DAILY,” Ray says. “They tell me ‘you suck,’ ‘you can’t sing or write,’ ‘your followers and streams are fake,’ blah blah blah.
Mind you, DSPs absolutely DO NOT allow Bots or Fake streams, so if i was doing that my music would’ve gotten taken down a long time ago. I have no reason to fake anything.
My success speaks for itself. If you don’t like me or my music thats fine, but I worked hard to get where I am and I still have a long way to go.”
This leads us to the question about his recent accomplishments being niche. Most feel that if an artist doesn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100 then it’s not really a solid win or achievement, therefore “it’s niche.”
Most artists who come from small towns and end up making a big impact musically tend to deal with the most harsh criticism, judgment, and unsolicited opinions.
Ray is no stranger to what he calls “small town hate,” but how does he deal with it? “I’ve been locally known for about three years now. It made me sad in the beginning cause it was all new to me,” Ray says. “But now I’ve gotten better at shifting my focus anytime I get negative comments.”
Apparently, this also tends to collide with the fact that he’s naturally a quiet, shy, and reserved individual, something most people tend to take offense to and can cause many to think you’re stuck up or cocky.
However, what makes him and his success specifically interesting (and ironic) is that from day one many people had doubts about him making it big with his music because he’s been recording and mixing on the (now) popular music studio app “Bandlab,” rather than a real professional studio, implying that his music isn’t good enough.
Ray often argues and defends his music, saying his preference, in terms of production, is simple sparse production, rather than over producing his music and using autotune (and now AI) on his voice “like everybody else.”
For ANY young artist who writes, mixes, and produces the vocals to ALL their songs would be sensitive about their music. “Trust me, anytime I’ve sang live, my voice matches what you hear on my records,” he says. “The more people push me to start over producing my music the more I rebel against it.
I’ve been defending my music since I first came out cause people always doubt and count me out because I choose not to make my music using the same old formula everyones been using for the last couple decades now. If anything, my success constantly and consistently proves that my music IS good enough the way it is.”
When asked about his work ethic and overall process, he boldly explains that he’s old-school with everything, from recording his music to shooting his music videos, and even doing interviews.
“As i said, I don’t cheat by using autotune or AI on my voice, so that means if I mess up during a take I have to re-record it over and over again until I get it right. I do wanna start using AI for my music videos. I think for videos its okay and can be very useful and convenient, however, I’ve still had quite a few music videos take me LITERALLY 24 hours of nonstop work, being that I’m picky, especially with how I look and show up on camera. Its hard but I’m fortunate to have creative freedom with everything I do in my career in general, so I don’t mind losing sleep. Its nothing new for me,” Ray explains, chuckling to himself.
Lastly, what makes Stanley Ray’s Revelation album good?
That’s subjective and there’s not one answer to that question, but it definitely is an album that has substance and is a great body of work, being that as a songwriter he continues to take risks and keeps a great balance of being open and transparent but also writing in a way that leaves the listener to interpret the song in their own way, ontop of keeping his streak going of having at least 1 song that’s titled after a word or phrase he made up, like the albums first and lead single (and most successful) song ‘SongBite,’ which talks about the euphoria a song gives you, meaning you’ve been “bitten by a song,” as well as ‘Vivitry,’ a song about a young boys first experience with an older DL man, with its definition being: “An intense level of emotional distress that feels out of body and traumatizing, usually from first time experiences.”
Then there’s ‘BabyBlue Smile,’ a song about being swallowed by crippling depression after losing faith and no longer wanting to exist.
Its definition is: “An inauthentic smile, often used to hide pain and despair.” Ray says: “People associate the color Blue with sadness and people often use a smile to mask and hide their sadness. But when I was brainstorming song title ideas while writing the lyrics, I felt like the word “Blue” by itself sounded too vague and plain. One of my favorite colors is Baby Blue, so I decided to call the song ‘BabyBlue Smile.’
But it’s also sung from the perspective of being a child, which is why in the hook I repeat ‘I’m a broken child, with a BabyBlue Smile.’ “
He says the albums title came from having actual Revelations all throughout these last couple years in his mid 20s, mostly about things that took place in his late teens, right after losing his dad and not having his mom step up the way she was supposed to. But as always, Ray stresses that he can’t elaborate too much and give too many details cause “I’m private and I have to keep most things for me.”
