We know William Ray Norwood, aka Ray J as a part of the musical Norwood family which includes his sister, platinum recording artist Brandy Norwood and first cousin, Hip Hop Legend, Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg). Over the past few years, he’s been infamously linked to Kim Kardashian and reality TV, Love & Hip Hop. However, Ray J would like for you to call him by another name: transportation specialist.
“We’re taking music, TV and technology to the next level. I’m what you would called a Transportation Specialist,” says Ray J.
In addition to his new roles as husband, father and now full-fledged entrepreneur, 36-year old, Ray J is putting his money and his name behind a new consumer electronics venture, RayCon. After securing the $31 Million dollars last month, from the leading distributor of consumer electronics, which was paid in the form of equity and cash, Ray J has taken on a full-time role in the newly formed partnership, overseeing marketing and global branding strategy.
“We’ll be producing high quality yet affordable smart watches, headphones and of course the electronic bikes; more than 30 new products that are innovative to the market.”
Two years ago, Ray J became the front man for a new electric bike called the Skoot-E Bike, boasting endorsements from his crew of celebrity hot shots, including Snoop, Chris Brown, P Diddy and even Justin Bieber. The foldable two-wheeled electric bike, was billed as an ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘Bluetooth compatible’ and ‘enjoyable’ piece of electric transportation. The company that sells the Skoot-E bikes “Raytroniks” opened a brick and mortar retail store on Melrose in Los Angeles in 2016 but closed this year to focus on the expansion of consumer products.
Just after the success of his electric bike, in early 2017, Ray J was filming a music video in New York City and was told that the biggest electronics distributor in New York – Cowboy Wholesale – was right next door to where the shoot was taking place. Ray J made it a point to meet with the business owners of Cowboy Wholesale; a company that he quickly learned managed over $1 billion of consumer electronics with global corporations like Sony and Coby Electronics. They collectively agreed that electric powered transportation would be the future, and agreed to create a multi-million dollar partnership – an electronics brand across several electric-powered categories that would resonate globally with Ray J as its face of marketing.
The website states that ‘This new brand— Raycon — would not only take portable electric power to the limit, but also make it accessible to everyone, with products designed to power people through their everyday lives, whether it be through electric transportation or through a smart watch, the result would be a more innovative, eco-friendly, and productive world.’
“The world is moving towards renewable green energy, and electric transportation is a big part of that. With the Raycon movement, we are going to make sure we are one of the first ones there,” said Ray J. “Technology in the world is moving faster and faster everyday. At the rate that data and communication moves, it is incredibly quick and can be incredibly hard to keep up. And as an entrepreneur and entertainer, my life also moves very, very fast. So my goal in creating Raycon to create and design technology that keeps up with my fast-paced lifestyle but it also lets me concur that technology. We’re excited about creating products that are high quality but affordable too. While I’m not saying the Apple and Samsung aren’t great brands, not everyone can afford it. It’s important to us that everyone can access the latest in tech products through Raycon. We didn’t just create Raycon to make money, we want to empower peoples lives through affordable and accessible technology. And that’s very important to me.”
