Raymond A. Dalton
(born May 10, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter based in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. He began his career as a
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
and
R&B singer.
Dalton gained prominence as the featured artist on
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are an American hip hop duo from Seattle, Washington, formed in 2008 by Macklemore, a rapper,Trust, Gary (2013)Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Can't Hold Us' Makes Hot 100 History, ''Billboard'', May 8, 2013. Retrieved January ...
' 2011 song "
Can't Hold Us
"Can't Hold Us" is a song written and performed by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring American singer Ray Dalton, originally released on August 16, 2011 as the second single from the duo's debut studio album '' The Heist'' ...
", which gained popularity between 2012 and 2013, eventually topping the charts in multiple countries including the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was certified platinum in the U.S. in April 2013.
[ He has won two ]MTV Video Music Award
The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
s.
Life and career
Dalton's mother is Mexican American and his father is African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
.[ He began singing at the age of 6 on the advice of his music teacher, joining the Seattle Children's Choir. He continued to sing through high school. He has described himself as a fan of ]Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
. Dalton spent his senior year in high school listening to Missy Elliott, Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
, and Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, according to an interview with MTV News
MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...
.[
Aside from music, Dalton is a tennis player who has worked as a ]tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
instructor.[ He gave up teaching tennis following the success of "]Can't Hold Us
"Can't Hold Us" is a song written and performed by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring American singer Ray Dalton, originally released on August 16, 2011 as the second single from the duo's debut studio album '' The Heist'' ...
" to pursue a full-time career as a musician.[ Dalton sings in the Total Experience Gospel Choir of Seattle, as of 2013.][
Dalton's work drew the attention of producer ]Ryan Lewis
Ryan Scott Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American record producer, DJ, videographer, photographer, graphic designer, music video director, rapper, and songwriter. Along with producing his own album, ''Instrumentals'', Lewis produced the alb ...
, who had heard Dalton's singing on a song for another artist.[ Lewis reached out to Dalton via ]Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
.[ Dalton soon began collaborating with Lewis and ]Macklemore
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty (born June 19, 1983), better known by his stage name Macklemore ( ; (formerly Professor Macklemore), is an American rapper and songwriter. A native of Seattle, Washington, he has collaborated with producer Ryan Lewi ...
in the studio.[ The first song the trio worked on together was Macklemore's and Lewis' 2011 single, "]Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...
".[
In June 2012, Dalton released his first single, ''So Emotional'',] which was mixed by Ryan Lewis. He also announced he was working on his 'own project' to be called ''The Dalton Show.''
Dalton, Lewis and Macklemore created the hook for "Can't Hold Us" in one day.[ Dalton shot his scenes for the single's ]music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
while on tour in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in March 2013.
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Guest appearances
Notes
References
External links
*
Ray Dalton
on Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Ray
Living people
1991 births
African-American Christians
American gospel singers
African-American male singer-songwriters
21st-century African-American male singers
American contemporary R&B singers
Musicians from Seattle
American musicians of Mexican descent
American hip hop singers
Singer-songwriters from Washington (state)
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
American male pop singers