Morray is one of the fastest-rising artists in hip-hop, blowing up off the strength of his hit single "Quicksand" and his follow-up moves. These days, the North Carolina native is on tour with J. Cole, putting on a show every single night and crooning about his struggles from not too long ago, when he was struggling to put food on the table.
As he continues to attract new eyes to his brand, Morray spoke with HNHH for On The Come Up, telling Alexander Cole about the creation of the song "m y . l i f e" on J. Cole's album The Off-Season.
"[J. Cole] FaceTimed me. He was like, 'Yo bro, I got a song. If you want to hop on it and do the hook if that’s cool with you?' And I’m like, 'Brother all you had to say was do this song and I would’ve did that shit,'" said Morray about their collaboration with 21 Savage. "I was waiting for a chance to get a song, but I ain’t want to ask him because I ain’t on that level yet so I’ll wait ‘till he hits me up. But once he said it I went to his crib immediately and we did the song. He let me really do my thing and have my way with it, which I think is so dope ‘cause most artists you get in the studio with -- if it’s their song they have a specific way they want you to do it. But he really let me explore my creative flow and he’s the G.O.A.T. for that."
He also spoke about J. Cole's willingness to help him out as a rising artist, saying, "He didn’t just give me advice throughout the recording process. He’s like a big bro. He’s always willing to help. If you hit him up and ask him for something or him how to do something, he gon' drop knowledge on you regardless. Whether you like it or not he gon' give you real good advice and that’s why I rock with him to the fullest. I even sent him a song before and said, 'What you think?' He was like, 'Bro I aint gon' lie to you, it may not be for you, but if you sell it off or ghostwrite for somebody it’ll be fire.' It’s that type of advice where I’m like, 'Yo I can’t believe you took time out of your day to write back.' You could’ve said my song was fire and I put it out and now my song is trash. He really took the time to be honest with me and that’s why I rock with him. It’s not even certain stuff he says, it’s his whole personality man, it’s fire."
Morray was ecstatic to hear the finished song, saying, "Bruh I was ready to die with that thang. I said, 'Bruh I can’t wait to hear this song.' Bruh, you don’t understand like ... I heard 21 Savage's verse before the song came out and I was like, 'Yo what is this??' I knew Cole was gon' slide and 21 slides on everything but the delivery he gave was so different."
Listen to "m y . l i f e" below and check out Morray's full episode of On The Come Up here.