For many, landing on Verzuz is an opportunity that comes with plenty of bragging rights – even if you lose – but for Ray J, it may have been one of the worst live shows of his career. In case you missed it, the "Sexy Can I" hitmaker was a part of the pre-show with a slew of other artists, though his vocals failed to impress.
Recently, he got on a call with Joe Budden for his self-titled podcast, during which the two friends chopped it up about what led to the unfortunate moment. "You making my job really f*cking hard today," the host told the R&B singer. "You know you my man, you making this really tough for me."
Ray likely knew what he was in store for ahead of the interview (and has already been cracking jokes about it online himself). "It's something that I didn't have planned," the 41-year-old said of his comedic vocal slip-up during "One Wish."
"I was having too much fun, and I woke up and I seen it and I said, 'That's me? Like, that's ME that's me!' And it's continuing to go," he added, speaking on the endless memes that have surfaced on social media since last week's episode.
"The plan was for me to stand right in the middle of the stage, with a mic stand like how I started, and every song I was supposed to stand there and not move anywhere – that was the whole structure of the rehearsal."
Budden told Ray J that there was no way he was off the wine and acting like that, pressing the recording artist to tell him what he was drinking before taking the stage. "That was Casamigos!"
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
The father of two pointed out that his sister, Brandy, was in the audience (and she didn't hesitate to flame him afterward), and because she's such a talented songstress, he feels as though he owes it to her and the R&B community to return to the stage and redeem himself.
"Because I really can go right," Ray said of his singing talents, "but last night, you just would never know. But, I will work harder... You know, I wanted to do something vocally that really woke people up," he joked.
After his Verzuz flop, the Mississippi native said he has plans to start a new Twitch channel where fans can follow him along on his journey to better himself. "I got Brandy – I gotta make sure my sister happy because last night was unacceptable," he admitted.
Check out the full interview below, and tap back in with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.