Morray – Street Sermons (Album Review)

Morray finally decided to release his debut mixtape “Street Sermons” (It’s about time).

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TOP 5

5. REAL ONES

“Real Ones” will make you want to unfollow a bunch of people on Instagram (Bye, Lisa with the big booty but dope-ass food pics).

“Real Ones” is about the power of real friends, the annoyance of fake friends, and the spending of money. Since the song features an instrumental that both knocks and saddens, you get a version of Morray that is aggressive, perturbed, and hella emotional.

Like the great Jeezy once said, who gives a f**k about friends? If you mix the baking soda wit it you can get a Benz! (As I think about it, that’s actually a very unproductive line by Jeezy)

4. CAN’T USE ME

“Can’t Use Me” will be one of the singles from this album (Remember that I said this).

Do you know why I think “Can’t Use Me” will resonate with folks? Because it sounds like some s**t we’ve heard before. The combination of the song’s riveting country-hop beat and Morray’s lyrics about fake-love/welcoming smoke/making it out of the mud with a 2.2 gpa is copied by 75% of the rappers you hear on the radio today (There’s nothing wrong with that either).

I know what you’re thinking, how could a song that sounds like everything else resonate with someone? I’ll give you an answer right after I finish this Klondike bar (This Klondike bar is good as s**t, y’all. Is there butter in this s**t?).

3. TRENCHES

If you are NOT a casual hip-hop fan, you’ve heard “Trenches” by Morray before.

“Trenches” is touching as s**t. The song features an instrumental that features these piano notes that will make your heart melt. As for Morray, the passion that he sings with on the track will eek through your speakers, walk down the hallway and slap your dog, then break a few glasses that you forgot to put away in your kitchen.

2. MISTAKES

Dammit, I couldn’t get past song number one without tearing up (This is about to be a sad-ass day for me).

The amount of passion that Morray raps/sings with in “Mistakes” is astonishing. He legit sounds like a dude that is surprised by his success, but at the same time, satisfied by his success because he knows how much work he puts in.

The beat attached to “Mistakes” knocks but also has these divine feels that are hard to ignore. As for Morray, the lyrics he drops will strike a chord with you, while the melodies he gifts us with are way too powerful to ignore.

1. QUICKSAND

“Quicksand” is a song that I’ve heard one million times. I had no clue that Morray made it (I hear it every Friday night when I hit the streets. When you’re drunk, you don’t think to pull out Shazam)!

Do you know why I like “Quicksand?” Because I haven’t quite heard a song like it before. Morray hits us with a hook that is completely unique and flows/melodies that are very dynamic. He also gets to tell us his own come-up story; a story that differentiates from Rod Wave’s come-up story (I know y’all want to compare the two so bad).

Turn on “Quicksand” during all turn-up sessions.

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. MISTAKES (4/5)

2. TRENCHES (4/5)

3. QUICKSAND (5/5)

4. THAT’S ON GOD (4/5)

5. NOTHING NEW (4/5)

6. REFLECTIONS (4/5)

7. BIG DECISIONS (4/5)

8. CAN’T USE ME (4/5)

9. KINGDOM (3/5)

10. SWITCHED UP (4/5)

11. FACADE (4/5)

12. REAL ONES (4/5)

13. BIGGER THINGS (4/5)

RGM GRADE

(B-)

Morray will end up being one of the biggest players in the hip-hop game. If he’s selling NFTs, purchase that s**t now, because I can one day see it being worth 10x more than you bought it.

So the question is why am I so high on Morray? Here’s why:

First and foremost, I think that he has a level of passion for music that is necessary to succeed. Throughout Street Sermons, he shows zero fear in singing his heart out or plowing through his verses sounding like a dude that had to find success without a left arm. All in all, folks will be blown away by the rap and vocal performances that Morray puts up for sure.

Secondly, Morray knows how to turn some street-inspired lyrics into lyrics that are relatable to your everyday Joe. Throughout Street Sermons, I absolutely love how vividly the Fayetteville rapper talks about his rough come-up and street ties. It’s almost like he’s regurgitating what he saw into more riveting/simpler forms that we can digest (Ew, that line I just said almost made me upchuck). That’s something I am noticing that a lot of people are doing.

Thirdly, Morray knows how to pick beats. Matter of fact, Morray and Rod Wave pick similar bears (Rod Wave is Morray’s closest comp). Right now, hood emotional beats are winning; Morray understands that, so he threw so many down our throat, you might f**k around and choke (OK, I’m stopping with the analogies right now).

Fourthly, Morray has proven he can do s**t all by his lonesome. I absolutely love that Street Sermons features nobody (Zilch, Cleveland Browns’ 2017 season, nada, zero). If the hottest rappers in the game want to hop on Morray’s wave, cool, but now that I know that he can entertain us for a whole album by himself, I’m glad to know that I don’t need to see him work with many others.

While Street Sermon kind of loses some steam towards the end, at the end of the day, I think the mixtape is good enough to make you excited for Morray’s future.