Victor Ray has a unique ability to connect. As a teenager, he was a busker, singing songs to grab the attention of passers-by. Fast forward a couple of years, and he’s playing some of the biggest venues in the land, speaking his truth to audiences who hinge on his every word. Bold, soulful songwriting that feels at once classic and completely modern, Victor Ray writes music that unlocks cherished areas of your heart. With more than a million monthly listeners on Spotify, and nods from MTV Push 2025, Amazon Music, Music Week, Apple Music, BBC Radio 1 and The Independent under his belt, the coming year could change Victor Ray’s life – and he’s ready to change yours. But let’s start at the beginning. Born in Uganda, his family lived in Kenya when he was a baby – his mother’s home – before relocating to Newcastle. The youngest of three siblings, Victor Ray’s childhood was tough at times, particularly after his father left the family home but overall it was joyous. Believe it or not, as a kid he was extremely shy – he longed to perform, but it took an inspiring teacher shoving him out onstage for Victor to find the one place where his shyness disappeared. Infatuated by massive pop artists like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and Michael Jackson, he was particularly fascinated by R&B god Usher – indeed, the moniker Victor Ray is a nod to the singer’s own name, Usher Raymond. Dream big, as they say. Bursting with ambition, Victor Ray spent his teens playing anywhere that would have him – bars, cafes, even the streets. “I felt like I was doing my own thing, ” he recalls. “I really love busking because it's genuinely the most raw type of performance there is. It was an amazing way for me to learn some important skills. ” These experiences formed his bedrock – long days on cold North East streets, Victor Ray learned his skills the hard way, the only way that matters. “It prepares you for anything, ” he laughs. “I’m drawn to big songs. I’ve spent years singing songs with big choruses on the streets that I know are going to grab people – that’s just ingrained in me now. It’s something I echo in my own writing, because I’ve seen how effectively it can cut through. ” Accepted into revered music school BIMM, Victor Ray packed his bags to relocate to London. For a quiet kid in a Northern city, it was a huge leap of faith, but one he was determined to make. “The first time I ever came to London, I thought: woah, what is this place…?” he recalls. “When I moved down, I thought: I’m never going to understand this city, but I’m going to make sure it doesn’t scare me. ” Pushing his way into the city’s music scene, Victor Ray quickly built a following. A young guy with a big voice, he could sing virtually anything – soul, R&B, pop, or hip-hop, anything with feeling would grab his attention. “When I first moved to London, I put post-it notes all over my walls – all my goals, everything I wanted to do. It was a really good way to find focus, and by the end of the year I’d done most of them! It helps to speak these things into existence. ” But then came the pandemic. Venues shut down, classes went remote, and Victor Ray was pushed back home, back to his teenage bedroom. Working with alacrity, he turned this challenge into an opportunity, pouring out his feelings across song after song. Writing every single day, the time spent locked away from the world simply sharpened his skills, and magnified his ambitions. Returning to London, he hit the ground running. A clip on TikTok went viral, and more followed – within weeks, his profile online was exploding. “I sang my version of the Hozier song, ‘Take Me To Church’ . I posted a seven second clip of it, went home and ate some pasta, and when I was finished it had about 500,000 views. And I was like: oh… this is mad!” A friendship with the emerging producer Humble the Great quickly bore dividends – the pair worked on his extraordinary debut EP ‘i was. ’ , and the follow-up ‘i felt’ . “It was such an exciting time – I seemed to blow up out of nowhere!” he says, looking back on those releases. “I wanted to display my early writing, and catch up to the present day. I wanted to explore the influences that make me Victor Ray. I see them as an introduction to me as an artist. ” Everything Victor Ray does is haloed in purpose - moving with intent, operating with purpose, his third EP ‘i tried. ’ landed at the end of 2024, followed by a sold-out show at London’s vital KOKO venue. Now working with powerhouse label Decca Records, the singer is ready to complete this chapter with a fourth EP – ‘I WILL. ’ – broadening his sound still further. The four EPs all hinge together – his singer-songwriter introduction; the soul follow-up; his R&B exhibition, and finally a portrait of his hip-hop infatuation. Somewhere in that heady mixture, that’s where you’ll find Victor Ray. “I’ve always admired artists who are unapologetic in their sound, ” he says, drawing on different elements to “somehow make it all make sense. ” His new EP makes complete sense. Lead single ‘Sticks And Stones’ was an astonishing act of soulful autobiography; produced by Owen Cutts, it looked back on his adolescence as a Black kid in Newcastle trying to make his way into music. Aided by features from Strandz and Mercury-nominated wordsmith Kojey Radical, the single took Victor Ray into different lanes. A song framed by the “doubts and trials and tribulations that come with doing what I do, ” it’s also deeper than that: those universal human emotions are mixed with his own unique experiences. “How many Black artists do you see from Newcastle doing pop music? It’s not a lot, and I’m aware of that” . Refusing to be hemmed in by those memories, ‘Sticks And Stones’ presents Victor Ray as triumphant, cherishing his background while looking to the future. “I wanted to present me winning against those thoughts, and not being held back – instead, I’m being inspired by it. ” Jack Tench-produced follow-up ‘Hearts Break & People Change’ deals with the loss of a friendship, and the importance of trust. “It’s about how life sometimes doesn’t go the way you thought it should, ” he says, “and that sometimes people won’t always be around in the capacity you envisaged for them. ” The one true place of solace in Victor Ray’s life is music. “Writing is how I process a lot of emotions, ” he says. “I’m a sensitive guy, but I can only really let my emotions out through music, through performance and writing. I can talk about it but I struggle to get to the root of the problem. I can only write about something true, something that’s happened to me. I have to be honest. ” The braggadocios ‘Still The Same’ flips the script once more – pushing back against the vision of glitz and glamour, Victor Ray hones in on his roots. “I wanted to tell the story of singing on the streets, busking to passers-by, and now I’m in a better place, doing way better than I ever thought I would. My resolve is still strong, and I’m still manifesting my future in the best way. It’s about taking stock of where I am now, and just being grateful for it. ” The EP is completed by the bold ‘World At My Feet’ , produced by LA figure STINT. “Sonically, it’s a bit different, ” he admits, but that’s OK – he wants to challenge his audience, and feel challenged in return. “I feel like I’m a real artist. I’ve arrived at my sound. ” The coming year could change everything. Fresh from touring with Teddy Swims, Victor Ray knows the levels he wants to reach, and how he’s going to get there. Lauded by tastemakers and grabbing the cover of music and fashion title Wonderland, this is his breakout moment. “I’ve never tried to chase big moments, because that just sounds so stressful!” he laughs. “I’m trying to create something I’m proud of. I want everything I do to make sense, and create whole worlds. I just want to put out an album I’m super proud of… and hope it gets to number one as well!” A clear-headed kid with talent to burn, Victor Ray is the genre-hopping songwriter transforming new sounds into something timeless. Realising long-held dreams with each passing day, his rise is testament to the immortal power of songwriting, and the urge to connection that he earned through those years playing on the streets. I’ve got a lot of spirit and resilience and a really solid foundation, ” he points out. ethic. It’s the way I was raised. ” “I’ve got a strong work Embedding himself in culture, Victor Ray is already thinking about what’s going to happen years, if not decades down the line. This isn’t some social media hype – this is era-building. “For me, legacy is important, ” he states. “I’m always thinking about the kind of artist I want to be, what I want to leave behind. ”