Ray Vaughn just continues to keep proving himself as a bonafide star from the West Coast with each new single. What will really solidify him is an album, but almost every track he's dropped as of late has been a hit. That includes "CEMETERY lanterns," another preview of his upcoming EP, The Good, The Bad, & The Dollar Menu. A release date remains TBD sadly, but if it's going to be filled with carefully crafted material like this, then the wait time is more justified. At this point, Ray Vaughn's lyrical abilities should not be surprising to anyone anymore. He's been showing out, especially in the ongoing East versus West Coast battle that Joey Bada$$ started at the top of 2025.
The TDE signee decided to hop in and protect his home turf and has arguably been out rapping Joey. But what "CEMETERY lanterns" also provides is impeccable storytelling. It's a grim tale about the streets as Ray raps from his perspective and presumably from a friend's who joins a gang. The person he's talking about finds himself in a shootout and loses his life after succumbing to his gunshots. However, he may have had a chance to live if his "homies" tried to save him. Ray then closes the track out with a heartbreaking verse that highlights the funeral service for his friend. You can tell this single hits hard for the rapper as he said in part in a statement, "Every day, people make choices that lead them down the wrong path, and too often, those stories end the same way. This song is for them."
Read More: Amy Luciani Is On Her Grind: Talks "Love & Hip Hop," JT Dream Collab, & Rick Ross Co-Sign
Ray Vaughn "CEMETERY lanterns"
Quotable Lyrics:
N****s ran, tires screeched and left my name in the streets
All that talk about my rap and now they smokin' on me, uh
Eyes getting heavy, body stiff and it's cold
Momma warned me 'bout the streets but the set took control
All the love that I was promised, now I barely could breathe
Tryna be a real one and now they realer than me, ah
