The Black version of goth kids: how an outsider built a genre
In short: Growing up in rural Virginia, Timothy O'Neal Mills felt like a cultural anomaly. He was too different for his peers but faced backlash for being "white" enough to enjoy skate culture and skinny jeans. This isolation birthed a unique musical identity that bridged the gap between underground aesthetics.
Born in 1994, Mills spent his youth in the rural "sticks" of Ashland, Virginia. His development was shaped by two primary pillars: skateboarding and a heavy consumption of media. He began skating in 2006, spending all day at local parks, while simultaneously immersing himself in the CDs and DVDs his father owned. This combination of skate culture and diverse media provided the foundation for his later transition into music production around 2009.
Mills’ artistic identity was forged through a sense of alienation. Identifying as a Black iteration of goth youth, he felt excluded from popular circles and encountered prejudice within his local community. This friction forced him to stick to a small group of similar outsiders. His early work, starting on MySpace in the seventh grade and moving into projects like Crack Cloud$ Over Art$$ Kitchen in 2012, began to solidify his role as a pioneer in underground rap scenes.
His influence expanded through strategic global collaborations. By 2014, Mills was working with the Swedish cloud rap collective Drain Gang—including Yung Lean and Bladee—and the producer collective Working on Dying. These partnerships were instrumental in the development of "Tread," a subgenre of trap music that gained popularity in the mid-2010s. His style is characterized as melodic, hazy, and ethereal, blending elements of witch house, cloud rap, and Southern hip-hop.
In 2016, Mills adopted his current moniker, Black Kray (also known as Sickboyrari), explaining the name as a play on being "sick" and staying in his lane like a Ferrari. Today, he remains a foundational figure for Goth Money Records, a label credited with pioneering emo rap. His legacy continues through high-profile features, such as his 2024 appearance on Bladee's album Cold Visions, which was recognized by The Fader as one of the year's best songs.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Black Kray
- Also: Wikidata — Black Kray · CC0
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