Sky High: The YPK Raye Interview Digital Social Hour #17

Welcome back to the Digital Social Hour.

I'm here with my co-host, Wayne Lewis.

What up, what up, what up?

And our guest today, YPK Ray.

What's going on?

How are we doing?

Doing good.

How are you?

Good.

So you just moved to Vegas, right?

Yeah.

How you liking it?

I'm loving it.

I love the weather.

I mean, it's been a little bit cold, not what I kind of

left the cold.

So the fact that I came into the cold a little bit this winter is kind of

baffling me, but I'm all right.

I'll be all right.

It's heating up, though.

Yeah, it's better than Minnesota and New York.

So I'll be all right.

So you haven't experienced the summer yet?

No, I have.

Okay.

I was going to say, you should love right now because our summers last like

five months.

Yeah, they're long.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was crazy.

One, like, and it was a heat.

It was a heat wave during the summer.

I remember it was like 115.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

It was crazy.

I never come outside in the summer.

Unfortunately, you won't see me out.

How are the basketball runs here compared to Minnesota?

I didn't really do much runs in Minnesota,

but they were trash in Minnesota, at least the runs that I could get myself into.

But out here, I like it, like UNLV.

24.

I feel like it's a lot more competitive, but also it's a different style of play that I'm kind of like, I wouldn't say adjusting to, but it's just like,

I like seeing like how people play from everywhere.

Yeah.

Because like East Coast is different from West Coast and different from down south, the Midwest.

And you know what I'm saying?

It's all different.

So really?

Yeah.

Is it more fast-paced here, you say?

Uh,

yeah, I would see

I would say it's more fast-paced, but it's also depending on where you at.

Like, if you're not running with actual hoopers, everybody's just all over the place no matter where you at.

So it's just like, but like when I get into like gyms with like the pros and like the higher end basketball players, I feel like it's more of a slower pace as opposed to you know the east coast and you know down south.

I feel like it's more like

running guns.

Have you hooped with Sean yet?

Yeah, we played in a celebrity game, right?

Yeah, the Ball Dogs game.

Yeah, we dominated.

Yeah, mostly him, but

Sean, we on them boards, them put backs.

Yo, he'd be on the boards.

He'd be dunking.

Man, I seen him flying high.

I saw you just did a vertical jump test.

How high did you get?

Almost a 50.

I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Bro, like, I'm not sure exactly how it is.

How tall are you?

I'm 5'8.

Bro.

When did you discover that talent?

Like, when, when were you like, yo, I can jump?

All right.

So it's weird, like, saying this, but like, because I'm short, but I hit a growth spurt.

When?

Like, what is a growth spurt?

What's a growth spurt to somebody that's 5'8?

That's exactly my point.

So, like, when I was, I was very small growing up, and I was like, I want to say like 4'11 in eighth grade.

Whoa.

That was real small.

Damn.

So like I couldn't touch the rim yet.

Like I was touching backboard, which is kind of impressive.

Wait, wait, wait.

What do you mean you couldn't touch the rim when you're touching backboard at 4'11?

Yeah, that's not normal.

That's not in eighth grade.

That's not normal.

When you think of like, oh, he has bounce.

That's like, okay, he could dunk.

He could like almost dunk or something like that.

So I didn't really see it as like, okay, I got bounced.

Right.

Until like ninth grade, I grew to like 5'3.

So

that was the gross work you were talking about?

So I had a little

girl back then.

And then like by 10th grade, I was like 5'5.

That's when I caught my first dunk in 10th grade.

Like 10th, 11th.

That's 5'5.

Did you actually play on a high school team?

Yeah, so I played

then all my life.

So I started when I was 10

playing basketball, like organized, because football is my first sport.

Okay.

So I played football when I was 10.

I was like football or baseball.

Yeah.

I started football when I was five and then I got into basketball when I was 10, like organized.

And then like, I played damn near every year going up AAU, all of that stuff.

When did you catch your first body?

And for reference, it's not like

dunking-wise.

When did you catch, like, when did you like actually yam on somebody?

Like, in a game, yeah, in a game.

Honestly, I wouldn't even say till

recently.

For real?

Like, within the past few years.

So, it was never like in high school or nothing?

Nah, I wasn't really dunking in high school.

Like, I was dunking in high school, but like, in-game, I wasn't really dunking because I got, like, I got games.

So it's not like I'm running and trying to dunk everybody every time.

So, like, I could shoot, do a little everything.

So, I wasn't really.

How did you get your vertical so high, or was it natural?

I don't know.

I guess that's natural.

As crazy as it sounds, like, I mean, yeah, I work out because I'm an athlete and stuff like that, but it wasn't really something specific that I did to just make my vertical just increase it, increase.

And it's crazy because I went to college for two years and I had crazy bounce in college.

But even people that I went to college were just like, yo, how do you got so much more bounce?

Like, what have you been doing?

I'm like, nothing.

Dude, you know, MJ has a 48-inch vertical, right yeah so you're jumping higher than him

that's 5'8.

crazy yeah crazy so how was that when you caught your like when you dunked on like what happened like what was it what

like was it an oop was it the like

i think my first real like in-game body i think it was like in a park

yeah i think it was in a park and i just it might have been like one of the first plays of the game And I'm pretty sure it was on video too.

That was my see, I consider it my first body because it was really on video.

I feel like I dunked on people before but I haven't really but this one I kind of count it so yeah it was one of the first players of the game and I just came down and people don't really expect me to jump the way I jump unless they know me yeah so he just got in the game and just tried to jump on me and I just

boomed on him but the reason why I haven't really tried to dunk on people much is because I'm light So it's just like if somebody knocks me out the air the wrong way, and I wish I could find this old video of me like on JV.

I went up for a layup and somebody like hit my arm and I did a cartwheel in the air.

Damn.

It fell on my head.

Yeah, I can only imagine.

how that is yeah

you're probably like 160 right yeah like 152.

okay okay yeah that's like especially in the air yeah yeah in the air you zero pounds it don't no matter who you are you zero pounds so if somebody hit you the wrong way that's why i'm scared of so i don't really be trying to

are you jumping off two feet i do both okay were you trying to uh go d1

yeah i mean that's every hooper's dream to go d1 nba but at the end of the day i feel like i'm more realistic with myself than the average hooper you know i'm saying so it's just like my real goals and aspirations was to just play basketball to the highest level that i can personally and then just like from that just stay within the game and you know i always wanted to coach train which i was doing you know heavy before i got into um social media and stuff like that and just like you know events all i just wanted to always do stuff so like social media has like taken that dream and like kind of just made it a reality for me yeah let's dive into the social media stuff you got millions of views on some of your skits i mean how do you come up with the ideas and execution um honestly I just feel like it's just stuff that I dealt with in real life.

So it's just like, I just make it as obnoxious as I possibly can to just make it funny.

So it's just like everything happens in basketball.

Just like, there's just so much situations and just thousands and thousands of situations that happen within basketball games, whether it's pickup, school basketball, college basketball.

And I just take all of that stuff and just like...

flip it and make it into like the funniest thing possible.

Like I blew up at first like making fun of my dad because he was a crazy parent.

So, I was just had this thing, like, A, you, dad, and I was just kind of making fun of him on the internet, and then, like, people just liked it.

So, I just kind of took that and just kind of just made trend after trend after trend.

And just try to,

yeah, you blew up on TikTok or was it YouTube?

Uh, I blew up on TikTok first, TikTok first, originally, yeah, and you got like five mil on YouTube now.

No, I got I got five mil on TikTok and 1.6 mil on YouTube.

That's impressive.

Yeah, that's and how long did it take you to uh grow it?

Uh, I started in 2020, so like when I got out of college, um, for COVID, they made everybody go online.

That's when I had got into social media.

And then

crazy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What was the first viral video that blew it up?

I was doing like a, it was a few different things.

Like I was just like, I'm pretty versatile.

So like a lot of my dunking videos started blowing up.

And then like when I was making fun of my dad at first, a lot of that stuff started blowing up.

And it was just like, I feel like it was unique.

So people liked it.

Right.

And I was just like, you know, I'm just going to take it and run with it.

So that's when I kind of like put school on hold.

And I was just like, let me just see what this will take me because nobody was really doing anything during COVID.

So it was the perfect time for me to just experiment and just take a chance.

And it worked out.

Did you know that Mac McClung was going to win the dunk contest?

All right.

This is the craziest thing ever.

So I got called out to

Utah for my first like all-star experience.

Yeah.

Did you go?

Yeah.

And I did all-star rehearsal.

So basically they work on all the camera angles.

They bring influencers out.

And we go through the dunk contest.

We go through the three-point.

And I was reenacting Mac McClung in a dunk contest.

Before the dunk contest.

Before the dunk contest.

Wow.

And I was Damian Lillard for the three-point contest.

Wow.

And I was like, yo, wouldn't it be crazy if they actually won?

And they actually won the thing.

It was the craziest thing ever.

Mac McClung.

He's got balance.

Did you predict that?

When I seen his name, I said, well.

Dunk contest is back.

Bro, his coach is coming in after this episode.

Yeah.

It's going to be fun.

Yeah.

Yeah, I thought he was going to win.

I definitely.

Was he the first white person to win it uh i think in a while i think the last guy he jumped from the free throw line oh zach levine yeah no no

zach levine's not white is zach levine's white

i don't kiss that i don't kiss that

zach levine is white um no it was i had to be over probably like nine years but mac mcclung definitely um he changed his life that day oh yeah for sure could probably get on a team now yeah his stock is rise but he has to uh be become an nba player now though yeah actually he's nice too he's good he's just he's not sizable

yeah yeah so the height matters a lot it does when you're playing against anthony davis and then beat and you know you got um giannis and all these other players what's your favorite nba team uh it's been golden state for a while now since i was younger okay i like i gone i kind of like i don't want to say fell in love with stephan curry but like i kind of like you fell in love with him you know what i'm saying like i like this game when since i was like 11 or 10 and then i just kind of stuck with golden state I heard they're out of the playoffs now, aren't they?

Yeah, Curry's injured, so

Clay's been lighting it up, though.

He just dropped 13 threes the other day.

Yeah.

Dude's monsters, man.

What was it like meeting Zion and Jason Tatum at the All-Star weekend?

That was crazy.

Yeah, that's nuts.

That was literally crazy.

What's Zion's body type, bro?

He's big.

Like big, like tall, big, buff, big.

He's actually shorter than I thought he would be.

You know what I'm saying?

He's 6'6, right?

Yeah, he's 6'6.

He's not really that tall, but I feel like his body type makes him look shorter as well.

Okay.

Because he's big.

Like he's built like a football-like player.

Yeah.

Like a DN.

He's big.

Yeah, right.

He keeps getting injured.

Too much weight.

You think so?

Absolutely.

What is he?

Like 280?

Yeah, it's LeBron's weight, but he's shorter than, like, what, four or five inches shorter.

Yeah, that's the problem.

It's like when you're going up, and he jumps, he can jump high.

It's like when you're going up and coming down with all of that weight, it puts a lot of strain.

And

that's how I got injured.

You know what I'm saying?

All of these years of like jumping and stuff like that, and then just coming down, coming down, coming down.

It's like now I just need to rehab and get better.

What kind of injury was it?

It's somewhere with, and I don't know exactly what it is.

I haven't really got it checked out yet, but I don't think it's nothing more than like

overuse injury.

You know what I'm saying?

So I just feel like I got to rehab and build the muscle around my legs to be able to handle all of the weight that I'm going up and coming down with.

You know what I'm saying?

So you never worked out to get boosties.

You just was born.

I mean,

it definitely was more natural than anything, but me working out and working on technique and stuff like that did definitely help, though.

He's jumping higher than PJ.

Yeah, I mean, he's 50-inch vertical, bro.

That's insane.

5'8.

Yeah.

It's not normal.

That's like Spud Webb.

Yeah.

For sure.

No, was Spud Webb 5'8?

He was 5'8, right?

Yeah, I think he was like 5'7, 5'8.

He don't jump as high as I do.

Out of all the basketball content creators, YouTubers, who do you think has the nicest game?

There's a lot.

I mean, I feel like I like and respect a lot of people's games,

but

I think Frigga has a

pretty tough game.

J-Lou.

A lot of the Boilers' life guys are pretty good, but it's just like, I feel like if I don't see you in a real setting

of playing basketball, I can't

really say that you're really that good.

Because streetball,

that really don't mean nothing, and none of that stuff is really gonna work on a real court in a real basketball setting.

Like all of those park runs and this and that, it's like cool, like, yeah, you're doing your thing, but it's just like, I want to see these guys in a real basketball setting.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Playing against like pros and these runs and these runs and see what they do.

How often do guys try to fight you?

On the court?

Are you like a shit talker?

Nah, I'm never a shit talker.

I just like, I mean, I like having fun.

You know what I'm saying?

And I feel like my game backs myself,

backs myself up so it's just like i feel like people feel like i come in arrogant because of the fact that there's a camera so i don't know why just people just like a switch flips in their head and they just feel like the need to prove themselves to me for no reason at all 100 and it's like people just like shit talk me for no reason bro no reason i brought my videographer first time i've ever filmed myself at a at a run yeah everyone was coming at me yeah everyone at lifetime trying to hurt me and stuff this past weekend i'm not doing it again, bro.

Because everyone would just drive on me every time.

Yeah, just because I had a camera on me.

Yeah, and all those guys

living out their hoop dreams.

Yeah, that's what it is.

It's just like their egos are so crazy.

And it's like, if they're on my team, now they're not passing the ball.

And if they guarding me, they following me.

All the same for YouTube.

I'm just trying to hoop and get my content.

But you got to understand, too, they also don't want to be caught a million views that you, you know, catching them slipping.

Yeah, that's true.

And then it's funny, too, because then they're like, yo, can you you send me your, send me my clips?

And send me, no, what, what am I sending you clips for?

You know what I'm saying?

Like,

yeah, you didn't pay, like, it's funny.

It's so funny.

They're like, yeah, guys, yeah, he don't be sending nobody his clips.

The last time I walked in the gym, he's like, yeah, he don't be sending nobody his clips.

And I was like, you don't get paid to post your clips.

I'm making money from doing this.

You know what I'm saying?

They want to see me.

They don't want to see you.

So, like, what am I getting out of posting you on my YouTube or my TikTok shit?

It's like,

I just think it's funny, to be honest.

I feel that.

You in any leagues out here or nah uh i was playing in uh some league in hoop city okay but it was i was averaging like 35.

it was damn it's too easy yeah my first game had like 40 it was just like yeah we got to get you in the lifetime on yeah we got about that we got jason richardson in it a lot of xt1 players jay rich over there yeah wow yeah it's a nice league what's your what's what's like your ultimate goal with uh with what you're doing um just honestly to expand like What does expansion look like to you?

Like, well, what is expansion?

So when I was in college and stuff like that, like I said, I'm a a realist.

So my thing was, okay, I'm not making it to the NBA.

So like, I want to stick with basketball and just do the most out of what I feel like

is,

how do I explain it?

So like, I always wanted to coach.

Right.

So I want to get into coaching.

I always wanted to train.

So I want to get into training.

I always wanted to, you know, host events, host dunk contests, three-point, this and that.

So just like expansion for me is just like doing that.

You know what I'm saying?

So it's just like eventually, hopefully this summer, I want to get my own AAU team and start my own AAU program, kind of get into that and just give back because there's a lot of

bullshit in the basketball scene.

And I feel like there's a lot of kids that could pay to play and do this and do that.

So I kind of just want to diminish all of that and kind of make my own thing to where everybody can get the opportunity to

play and do what they got to do.

You know what I'm saying?

There's too much politics.

Yeah, there's too much politics and I don't like that.

Especially now, the politics went from college to now, high school to AAU.

Now, it's political as soon as you start playing.

Because now everything's a business, though.

It is.

And everything got a price tag on it.

Every player got a price tag on it.

NIL.

Mikey Williams.

They're making that bag.

I wish I could.

I got three years of eligibility life.

I could go back to the college.

For real?

Yeah.

UNOV needs you.

Nobody knows that.

I got three years of eligibility.

Yeah.

And I can get some good NIL money.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you got a big following.

You might as well take advantage of it.

Yeah.

I've been thinking about it, but it's just like, I don't want to, I don't want to take the time away from my content.

And then now it's just.

Oh, yeah, that's true.

They wouldn't let you do content if you went back.

I mean, I feel like they would, but I would just have to find the time.

Oh, they would do it.

Yeah,

I feel like they would, but it's just like, I'm not going to skip practice to go to All-Star Weekends.

It's like, if I get opportunities like that, I'm going to have to pass up on those opportunities, but I don't want to.

Right.

You know, so there's networking involved too.

Yeah.

You never know.

Mikey's making money like that.

What?

I think Mikey's already like a two, three million dollar player.

What?

Mikey Williams?

How?

And Bronny.

Well, Bronny, yeah, but how Mikey?

NIL.

Yeah.

He's getting brand deals?

Yeah, Mikey's tatted from music.

Yeah.

Bro, he got some of the latest whips, chains, everything.

Damn.

Custom pieces, diamonds, everything.

What people don't know is the more followers you have, the more of a social media presence you have, the more money they're going to give you.

Yeah.

So like the Kavandere twins, I don't know if you know who they are.

The two girls, they go to like...

Miami.

Yeah, I heard something just happened with them.

They made over a million dollars.

What NIL?

Social currency, bro.

It's that yo, social currency.

My schools are making a million dollars right now?

Literally, yeah.

I would make a million dollars off NIL if I went back to school.

Absolutely.

This is the deals, yeah.

Holy crap.

Just because of his following.

That's nice.

It's marketable.

You know, he has a following.

And who brings the deals?

The companies.

They have console.

I guess back in the day, right, there was brown paper bags, you know, to kind of hand them money.

That's gone now.

Yeah.

It's straight up, yo, we'll give you 800,000.

And the NCAA gets a cut?

Well, they get their split already.

It's just allowing them to actually come to you and say, hey, we'll pay you this much.

But it's the right thing to do, honestly.

It is.

It really is.

The kids deserve it, bro.

They deserve it.

It removes them stealing.

It removes them, like, you know,

it's a lot of a lot of kids coming from, you know,

you know, different family backgrounds.

You know, so that money goes, it trickles down.

You know, they get a new car, you know, family, mom, rent pay for a while, you know, and while they're trying to figure it out.

So it makes sense, you know, sharing, spreading the wealth.

to some degree.

You know, I'm sure the college is getting still with the bigger cut.

Yeah, yeah.

Any closing thoughts on where people can find you?

Um,

tick tock ypk.ray.

My YouTube is YPK Ray.

Uh, Instagram, YPK.ray.

I'm starting to stream on Twitch, YPK Ray.

Okay.

I'll get my Twitch up.

All right.

But yeah, I'm just trying to

hoop.

Yeah.

All right.

We got to get some content soon.

Of course.

Hell yeah.

All right.

You heard it here, guys.

Digital Social Hour.

See you next week.