Some journeys are measured in miles; others in the memories that surface along the way. As R.M. Almonte logs countless hours on Canadian highways chasing two more world records, a single song has pulled him back to the man who first showed him that the world was bigger than the streets of New York City.
As Almonte pursues his third and fourth world records, he pays tribute to Raymond “Voodoo Ray” Ultarte, grandson of Dominican music legend Joséíto Mateo.
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The track that stopped him mid-drive was “Voodoo Ray,” the 1988 house classic by British artist A Guy Called Gerald. But for Dominican American author and two-time world record holder R.M. Almonte, the name carries a far more personal weight. It was the adopted stage name of his late mentor and family member, Raymond “Voodoo Ray” Ultarte, who took the title from the influential recording that became a cornerstone of house music history.
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Hearing the familiar beat during his Canadian trek brought Almonte back to his boyhood on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the vibrant dance culture that defined the city, and the man who pushed him to face his fears head-on rather than run from them.
With the ninth anniversary of Ultarte’s death set for October 17, 2026, Almonte is pausing his international bookstore campaign to shine a spotlight on the person whose impact still steers his path.
A Musical Legacy Spanning Generations
Raymond “Voodoo Ray” Ultarte wore many hats — dancer, choreographer, actor, and nightlife promoter — and his work helped mold New York City’s house dance and hip-hop scenes. Growing up on the Upper West Side, he rose to prominence in the city’s ever-shifting dance landscape.
His lineage added another layer to his story: he was the grandson of Joséíto Mateo, the legendary Dominican merengue singer. While Mateo cemented his name in Dominican music history, his grandson carved out his own identity through dance, house beats, and entertainment.
Ultarte’s résumé included performances and entertainment ventures tied to major artists such as Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Run-DMC, Busta Rhymes, MC Lyte, Wyclef Jean, and the Backstreet Boys. Off stage, he organized dance showcases, promoted nightlife events, and bridged connections between artists of diverse musical and cultural backgrounds.
He stood alongside other pillars of New York’s house dance community, including Ejoe Wilson, Sekou Heru, and Caleaf “Big Leaf” Sellers. Together with their peers, they helped elevate house dance into a globally recognized art form, preserving its culture and traditions for audiences worldwide.
From 109th Street to the World Stage: The Rocwild Years
Before he was Voodoo Ray, he was Boogie Ray, a name he earned on the Upper West Side. Both Ultarte and Almonte shared Dominican heritage and a bond to 109th Street, a neighborhood that shaped their early years and aspirations.
Around 1980–1981, Ultarte teamed up with Julio Hernandez to found Rocwild, a neighborhood dance crew. Boogie Ray took the role of president, Hernandez served as vice president, and Eulises “Chino” Gago was captain. The crew counted Almonte’s oldest brother, Will Power, and Abraham among its members, along with many young dancers eager for creative outlets.
Rocwild was more than just a crew — it was a haven for young people seeking self-expression and a sense of purpose beyond their immediate surroundings. The loss of Abraham, a dear friend of Voodoo Ray, during the crew’s early years left a deep mark on Ray and the others, binding them closer through shared grief.
For Almonte, watching Rocwild evolve and Boogie Ray’s career take off proved that kids from his own block could reach far beyond New York’s borders. What started on 109th Street eventually launched Ultarte into a professional entertainment career under the name Voodoo Ray.
Before R.M. Almonte, There Was Stone Ray
To Almonte, Voodoo Ray was never just a successful entertainer. He was family, a guide, and one of the first people to show him that the world stretched far beyond the city limits.
The connection ran deep: Ultarte’s sister married Almonte’s oldest brother, making the two men cousins by marriage. Nine years Almonte’s senior, Voodoo Ray loomed large in his childhood, with memories of him dating back to first grade.
In the 1990s, when Almonte was 18, he took the name Stone Ray to set himself apart from his mentor. It was a nod to their bond during a formative stretch of Almonte’s life, years before he became a science-fiction author.
As a teenager, Almonte got his introduction to New York’s house music and nightlife through Ultarte, who brought him to parties and clubs — sometimes before he was of legal age. Those outings put him in the company of influential figures like legendary DJ and producer Little Louie Vega and celebrated house vocalist Barbara Tucker.
He rubbed shoulders with musicians, dancers, promoters, and personalities from all walks of life. These encounters taught him how to speak with confidence to people whose backgrounds differed from his own.
But Ultarte’s mentorship came with tough love. When Almonte hesitated or showed fear, his mentor could be unforgiving. Voodoo Ray pushed him to face uncertainty, silence self-doubt, and chase opportunities even when failure loomed. He dispensed advice freely and urged Almonte never to let fear steer his life.
Those lessons stayed with Almonte for decades.
The Candy Store: Sharing the Airwaves With Voodoo Ray
One of Almonte’s most treasured memories is working side-by-side with Ultarte on The Candy Store, a house music radio show broadcast on 89.1 FM. T.O. Sweet was the main host, with Voodoo Ray and Almonte joining in.
For Almonte, it was another chance to learn from someone already established in New York’s entertainment scene. Being part of the radio program let him dive directly into the musical culture he had admired his whole youth. It also drove home the value of communication, creativity, and forging connections across different backgrounds.
Long before Almonte was promoting books internationally, he was learning how to reach audiences through the universal language of music.
The Man Who Made the World Seem Possible
Voodoo Ray’s career took him around the globe, and he brought back stories of places like France and Japan. To a young Almonte, those destinations felt unreachable.
Ultarte was among the first people Almonte knew personally who had traveled widely and absorbed cultures far removed from their New York reality. His tales made the world feel both bigger and within reach.
Years later, Almonte would live in Japan, start his own publishing company, and drive across the United States and Canada in pursuit of world records. Though their artistic paths diverged, both men shared a core belief: opportunities belong to those willing to step outside their comfort zones.
A Devastating Week in October 2017
Raymond “Voodoo Ray” Ultarte passed away on October 17, 2017, while Almonte was living in Japan. The news came from a friend in America and hit like a freight train during an already brutal stretch.
Almonte’s grandmother was in a coma at the time. After learning of Ultarte’s death, he called his oldest brother, who was so overcome with grief he could barely speak. Almonte caught a flight to New York the next day.
When he landed, he discovered another childhood friend had died as well. Within days, Almonte lost both his grandmother and Voodoo Ray, mourning two pillars of his life nearly simultaneously.
The experience shook him to his core. Losing people who had shaped him so profoundly reinforced the urgency of chasing meaningful goals while there was still time. The emotional toll would later seep into his writing.
How Voodoo Ray’s Passing Influenced the United Earth Series
In his metaphysical science-fiction United Earth series, Almonte wrestles with themes of consciousness, mortality, identity, and the enigmas of existence. After Ultarte’s death, those themes took on a deeply personal resonance.
The death of a fictional character named JK, and the funeral scene that followed, was drawn directly from the grief Almonte carried after losing his mentor. Though the story unfolded in a made-up universe, its emotional core came from a real chapter of Almonte’s life.
That scene became his way of channeling the pain of losing someone who had helped shape his childhood and growth. Through his fiction, Almonte carried his mentor’s influence into the literary world he was building.
Voodoo Ray had spent his life expressing himself through music, dance, and entertainment. Now, his influence found a new outlet in literature.
An Unfinished Book and a Dream Yet to Be Fulfilled
Among Almonte’s most treasured memories is a phone call in which Voodoo Ray told him he was writing a book about his life as a dancer. For Almonte, that conversation was a profound honor.
His mentor had spent years performing, traveling internationally, promoting events, and working alongside entertainment heavyweights. Now he wanted to tell his own story in his own words.
Sadly, Ultarte passed away before that dream became reality. Almonte still holds out hope that he might one day help finish the book his mentor envisioned.
Such a project would preserve not just Ultarte’s personal journey but also a vital slice of New York City’s house dance and nightlife history. It would give future generations a window into the artists, music, and experiences that shaped the culture.
For Almonte, completing that project would be a way to give back to the man who believed in him long before his writing career took off.
From Stone Ray to a Two-Time World Record Holder
Nearly nine years after Voodoo Ray’s death, Almonte is living out the kind of life his mentor once inspired him to imagine.
After completing a bookstore-signing campaign across all 50 U.S. states in just 192 days, Almonte became a two-time world record holder. That tour included stops at 64 different Barnes & Noble locations.
On October 2, 2026, he kicked off his next international venture in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The current campaign features 93 scheduled bookstore appearances — 89 in Canada and four in the United States, including Alaska.
Slated to run through May 23, 2027, the journey aims to take him through all 10 Canadian provinces and three territories while pursuing his third and fourth world records.
Much of the campaign means long stretches alone behind the wheel, moving between unfamiliar towns and cities. Those quiet hours on the road invite reflection.
Almonte often thinks about the people who shaped his life and the lessons that pushed him toward ever-bolder goals. Voodoo Ray’s willingness to travel, meet strangers, and take creative risks despite uncertainty became a blueprint Almonte carried into his own path.
The boy who once listened to his mentor describe far-off countries is now crossing an entire nation in pursuit of his own dreams.
A Legacy That Must Never Be Forgotten
As the ninth anniversary of Voodoo Ray’s passing nears, Almonte hopes this tribute reminds people that Ultarte was more than just someone who worked with famous names. He was a contributor to the growth and preservation of house dance itself.
His work was part of a larger movement — dancers, DJs, promoters, and artists whose collective creativity turned nightclub culture into a global art form. From his early days as Boogie Ray and the founding of Rocwild to his professional achievements as Voodoo Ray, his life reflected a determination to build opportunities beyond the neighborhood he grew up in.
His artistic legacy was also part of a broader family story, linking the musical heritage of his grandfather, Joséíto Mateo, to a new generation of Dominican American creative expression.
For Almonte, though, his mentor’s greatest gift was personal. Voodoo Ray taught him to face his fears, connect with people from all walks of life, and chase opportunities that once seemed out of reach.
Those lessons shaped the writer, entrepreneur, and world-record holder Almonte became. His mentor never lived to see him finish his 50-state tour or begin his Canadian journey.
Yet his influence travels with him still. Decades after a young Stone Ray first stepped into New York’s house music world, the lessons of Voodoo Ray remain woven into Almonte’s path.
And when a familiar song plays along a quiet Canadian highway, the memories come flooding back.
The music continues. The journey continues. And the legacy of Voodoo Ray lives on.
About R.M. Almonte
R.M. Almonte is a Dominican American metaphysical science-fiction author, founder of R.M. Almonte Publishing LLC, and two-time world record holder.
His literary works include Fogs of Time and the United Earth series, exploring consciousness, spirituality, science fiction, and humanity’s relationship with the unknown.
Following a 50-state U.S. bookstore campaign completed in 192 days, Almonte launched an international bookstore tour in October 2026 in pursuit of his third and fourth world records.
Samuel Hamodey
R.M. Almonte Publishing
press@rmalmonte.com
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Why it matters: This tribute underscores how the legacy of a New York house dance pioneer continues to ripple through a new generation of creative ambition. As Almonte’s cross-continental tour demonstrates, the mentorship of figures like Voodoo Ray extends far beyond their own era, shaping the drive and vision of those who follow. It’s a reminder that cultural preservation is not just about remembering history, but about how those memories fuel future accomplishments.
