Though he describes himself as shy, “The Walking Radio” can be seen throughout campus wearing his classic pair of black Beats headphones, humming or listening to any song of choice. Devin Ringer, the said-radio, was never quite positive he could make music rather than just listening to it; that was, until, he formally gave it a try back in October of 2020.
Stuck inside the house and not able to play basketball, Ringer found himself trying to escape the quarantine’s boredom by making rap music. Ringer had always been a writer ever since he was young, keeping his songs enclosed in a book or melodically weaved into a series of voice memos.
“At first I had a speaker, and I would connect it to my computer to play a beat until I learned how to rap into an actual mic,” Ringer said. “Making music was refreshing. I enjoyed it, [even though] I wasn’t sure if I was gonna enjoy making it as much as I did listening to it. [But] It was natural for me.”
Ringer would watch interviews of various rappers, including one of his favorite artists, Playboi Carti.
“He talked about how he was a shy person,” Ringer said. “Everything he said, I , because I feel the same way. I thought, ‘if he could do it, then so can I.’”
Ringer, filled with newfound inspiration, began to create music similar to Playboi Carti. Sophomore Devin Wright, a friend and teammate of Ringer, claims that the similarities are there, but throughout time, Ringer has “grown into his own style.”
“The vocals, the ad libs, everything. You could sense Playboi Carti, but in a ‘Devin’ type of way,” Wright said. “He found his strengths and where he sees himself in music, he got confidence and started doing his own thing.”
Wright met Ringer this year after joining the basketball team and began to listen to his music after getting to know each other. When Ringer had his first official performance at Wright’s birthday party, Wright “couldn’t believe” that Ringer was the same person he had been before.
“Devin is an introvert, but through his music, you wouldn’t be able to tell he’s [shy], because the way he raps is so extroverted,” Wright said. “When he was performing, I saw a whole different human being.”
Though Ringer has support from his friends and family, he is also assisted by not one, but four producers, whom he found through TikTok and Instagram.
“[They help me] with finding the right sound for me. I don’t want to be a typical LA artist, or underground artist,” Ringer said. “They said I was one of the first people to reach out to them, so it was a genuine [connection]. That’s why I work with them now.”
According to Ringer, his producers help him find the “right beat,” which can be challenging, since Ringer is fastidious when it comes to making a track for one of his songs.
“I’m picky with beats. The smallest things tick me off. If the beat connects with me, I find a flow and freestyle to myself,” Ringer said. “I replay the beat probably about ten times. Sometimes it doesn’t take me long to [make songs]. It can take me fifteen minutes.”
Senior Nico Brancato, a fellow student athlete and friend of Ringer, has commented on his “exceptional” music, recognizing that Ringer has gained popularity on social media, growing as an upcoming artist.
“His music is very upbeat. He’s creative with his words, and he’s a young rapper that’s going to make it big one day,” Brancato said. “He’s a good person you can [think of] when [imagining] a [teenage] music creator.”
Ringer, ever since he was a kid, has been surrounded by music. He grew up with a father who loved to play all kinds of music, especially hip hop, and his mom was a singer in her twenties. Ringer continues to branch off of the musical gene in his family by releasing his own music, and is even planning to release another album
“A whole bunch of people have told me basketball can take me wherever I want, [but] I wanted to see [what will happen] with my music,” Ringer said. “I want to see how far it takes me.”
