Issue 12

Hometown: Carson, CA

Written by Addy Gomez Santiago:

Just 18 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles is Carson, home to up and coming alternative hip-hop rapper and streamer, RuinDaRay, 24. UNDRGRND first met Ruin through fellow Carson creator, Koin of El Koin Bag.

Ruin has been in the music game for about six years, but has also recently delved into the streaming world, under the name ‘RadboyRu.’

“I used to always want to be a Youtuber back in high school,” Ruin said. “I wanted to entertain people more, I wanted people to watch me play. Eventually I wanted to do streaming full time, so I invested in a PC and went crazy.”

Ruin has always had an interest in gaming and music, but it wasn’t until 2020 when he first shared this interest to the public. In February of that year, Ruin dropped his first official release — “Words from the W” — a three-song EP featuring Blaz & Mali.

The Carson-native’s first full-length project came one year later — “Back Of The Bus,” featuring WeebCooley, D-Mack, Baby Badu, and ComicKelevra. 2021 was a memorable year in general for Ruin. His July single, “Backseat,” went mini-viral throughout the second half of the year, totalling over 67k plays on Spotify to date.

“I wrote the whole song in my car,” Ruin said. “I knew this was a hit. Off the rip, the beat was crazy and then I just started flowing the whole song.”

Ruin tells UNDRGRND Magazine that he drives his influences from XXXTentacion, Ski Mask The Slump God, and the overall high-energy sound that blends abrasive beats and clever lyricism.

Aside from being an upcoming artist, Ruin is an active creator on Twitch, TikTok, and YouTube. He streams games like Apex Legends, GTA5, Overwatch, and the game that initiated his streaming career, Call of Duty.

“I want people to see that I’m a rapper, but what else can I do?” he said. “I just wanna be myself to the fullest extent and showcase my talents to people by showing them it's ok to be different.”