#Morray big decisions professional

He heard a lot of East Coast rap, but Drake soon became his favorite artist. Raised on the gospel and R&B albums his mother played, he discovered rap through friends when his mother briefly moved them to Pennsylvania. Though he sang in the church choir, Morray didn’t pursue music until his early 20s. Carless, he walked hours to work each day. At 19, shortly removed from his last bid, Morray fathered his first child and took a job in construction. Stints in juvenile detention eventually led to jail time. With little guidance and few role models, Morray began hustling in his early teens. They often lived out of motels or stayed with relatives. His mother worked tirelessly at low-wage jobs to keep a roof over their heads, but Morray’s absentee and abusive father added greater stress. Morray’s December and January singles, “Dreamland” and “Big Decisions,” only offer glimpses of his harrowing biography. I want to make sure that, if I do put it out, it’s exactly what people want to hear… They want to know more about Morray, so that’s what I’m going to give them.” In Los Angeles to work on his debut album, he claims to have recorded 12 songs in just 24 hours. I’ve never had nothing in my life, and where I’m at now is amazing,” Morray says, his voice brimming with gratitude and enthusiasm as he speaks via phone in his Hollywood hotel room. “When I got my first 100,000 views, I cried. Morray’s flattered by each comparison, but the millions of views and countless new fans have brought him to tears.

On “Switched Up,” his pained ballad of betrayal, he sounds somewhere between the Cee-Lo of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley. His voice is more resonant than Rod Wave’s, and his songwriting has greater depth than than the majority of Ricch songs. Morray says people have compared him to fellow crooning rappers Rod Wave and Roddy Ricch, but neither lands. Throughout the single, he strings together polished yet poignant lines with melodic cadences. Backed by bluesy guitar, quaking drums, and skittering trap percussion, Morray half-raps and half-croons about felonious hustles and nearly fatal altercations. With over 13 million YouTube views in less than three months, “Quicksand” is Morray’s breakout.

#Morray big decisions professional

That wasn’t the case with “ Quicksand ,” “ Switched Up ,” and “ Lowkey ,” all of which he re-recorded in professional studios before they received proper engineering.Īlso Read The 20 Most Interesting New Artists of 2020 He’d never had the money to get his songs mixed and mastered, and he felt many needed to be scrapped or reworked. “That was the best phone call I ever got in my life.”Īfter joining forces with Shalizi, Morray wiped all of his music from the internet. “I was praying for this opportunity to come, not thinking it would. He believed in Morray’s music and told him that he wanted to push Morray “as far as willing to go.” Then Moe Shalizi saw the video for “Quicksand.” The founder of Shalizi Group - the entertainment and management company behind EDM superstars like Marshmello - Shalizi called Morray’s wife’s phone. After years of slowly saving and paying for studio time and music videos, Morray contemplated never recording again. He had three kids, his phone was cut off, and few people were listening to his music. Last July, Morray lost his job at a call center in his hometown of Fayetteville after taking time off to perform at small venues. For Morray, the 28-year-old North Carolina native behind some of the most soulful trap music in contemporary rap, the call came in the darkest hour of his career. Or seemingly promising conversations with industry grifters don’t pan out. Many struggling musicians dream of the phone call that radically alters their career.