Check out our interview with Morray during his recent press conference.
Following the announcement that Fayetteville, North Carolina artist Morray made XXL’s 2021 Freshman Class he held a press conference giving writers a chance to learn more about his apparent overnight success. After releasing hit single “Quicksand” at the end of 2020, Morray quickly rose to prominence with cosigns from legends like J Cole, Rick Ross, and Dababy. After only a month of releasing the music video for “Quicksand” he had already accumulated over 10 million views on that video alone. Although Morray’s popularity jumped after this release, he’s been working on his music for the past 6 years slowly perfecting his craft. During the early part of his career, Morray was creating “flashy” music that he admitted he didn’t feel had much substance. In early 2020 Morray shared some of his recent work with his wife who supported his creativity but mentioned that the music didn’t reflect who he is, it was after this conversation that Morray went back to the drawing board and “Quicksand” was born. Although he wrote the single in January 2020, it wasn’t released until October 2020. Produced by Ant Chamberlain and Hagan, “Quicksand” paints a picture of Morray’s life and his trials and tribulations. During the recent press conference Morray held he addressed many topics like including what it’s like to parent and be an artist at the same time. Find out what else Morray had to say during our portion of the press conference below.
The Knockturnal: What age were you when you started experimenting with music?
Morray: 4 years old. I was in a church singing choir. That’s when I started singing and realized that I may have something that has potential and I got excited.
The Knockturnal: What have been the 3 biggest highlights of your career so far?
Morray: Buying the ring my wife wanted. Buying my first house, that was amazing. And my kid going to a private school, that is the sh*t.
The Knockturnal: How do you feel about making it on XXL’s list? Did you expect to make it so quickly?
Morray: No, before I got signed I made a post on Instagram saying I would love to make XXL and I archived it. Now it’s crazy how I made it on XXL. I made the post last year in February after I recorded “Quicksand” and all of a sudden I got signed by Pick Six. “Quicksand” came out and this year and I’m on XXL.
The Knockturnal: What is your favorite record off “Street Sermons”? And why?
Morray: Other than “Quicksand” I would have to say, “Mistakes.” That was a song that I wrote as a reflection of my own life. I understand that just because I got money and got famous doesn’t change who I am. I gotta continue being myself through everything no matter what because at the end of the day once my money is gone, my family will still be here. So “Mistakes” is one of my favorite songs.
The Knockturnal: Can you talk about balancing being a parent and an artist?
Morray: Being a parent and an artist is hard. But you find ways to adjust, as long as you stay around your kids and FaceTiming, you’re there instead of using the money to be a crutch you actually invest your time thats where its important because at the end of the day you don’t want your kid to grow up knowing daddy got money this and that we could do whatever we want, that’s not the case. You still have to be a real parent and not a friend and I’m starting to understand that as I grow and am not home so much that I can’t just use the bread for just a toy but you really have to hug and kiss them to let them know you love them.
