#grmod

Give me words Lord.

Dre Murray is a Houston born rapper that was raised by a single mother. His rhymes mainly speak of his personal struggles growing up in poverty. Through his personal experiences he comes across as a very genuine hip hop artist who's style is reminiscent of somebody leaving a trail of bread crumbs to Jesus... it sounds cheesy but that's how his rhymes come across to me.

In GRMOD, Murray doesn't so much as come right out and say that Jesus is the only person that can save people from their greed but focuses on the situations surrounding their greed and lust for wealth. Back in history there has been many historic gold rushs that have made some fortunate people rich. Currently in this world of ours it seems that everybody is obsessed with the idea of acquiring more wealth and riches in hopes that their life will become fulfilled. GRMOD aims to expose this mind set and show that it is truly foolish and empty to acquire more wealth in order to become happy because ultimately you can't take it with you when you die.

  The two title tracks on this LP are "Maybe One Day" and "Gold Rush". In "Maybe One Day", Dre Murray talks about how he is too busy hustling to be bothered by this man named Jesus and religion. Christon Gray sings a beautiful hook that will have you singing falsetto all day while your girlfriend looks at you funny for singing at such a ridiculously high level. Honestly, one of the catchiest hooks on this LP. 

And there are many great hooks on this project.

I imagine Christon Gray playing a piano in a park on a bright sunny day while Dre Murray spits hungry bar after bar about his hustle and his hard life. All this is complemented with a highly reverbed snare coupled with several heavenly snyth choirs, that introduces you to the masterful production present on this LP.

"Gold Rush" to me is one of the most underrated tracks on this LP. I mean it's hard to believe with Wes Pendleton providing your beat that the track would go unnoticed but this one does. A "Live from the 713" sample is chopped up throughout the track with what sounds like a ringing bell chiming continuously in the background. The drums on this track are on point and Dre adds rhymes about his personal gold rush. About when he was younger and how he was enticed by dope boys to sell drugs. When that didn't work out he started to play ball in order to get paid as well as write rhymes. Great track.

The obvious banger and track that is meant to be used as the spearhead of this project is "Pharaoh" and OH MY GOODNESS, this track does not disappoint. Before you even get into this amazing track you have to go through a Propaganda interlude of him describing the pointless idea of taking the things you have amassed on earth to the afterlife with you. He describes this by mocking the Egyptian kings and queens ideals of afterlife. If you know anything about Prop and Humble Beast then you know that this man delivers some truly radical sounding spoken word. I always laugh when he talks about him being on a hidden camera, cause from the outside looking in trying to take you riches with you when you die is utterly ridiculous. "Pharaoh" has a very loud 808 that beats while Tragic Hero produces, what I like to think as, the hook of the year. If there is such a category. This will be your favorite track upon first listen of this album but this project has ALOT more in it besides this track. 

"Fiend", "Benjamin's Curse", and "Alchemy" are songs that speak on the same things for the most part which is the ideal that your pursuit of more wealth is a drug that you eventually become a fiend of. "Benjamin's Curse" uses a Christon Gray sample from his LP "Even With Evil In Me". The song that was sampled was "Crazy". The most interesting part of this song is the ending, where the loop talking about Gray losing his mind is used to give you the belief that right before Dre's character dies, he hears the voice of God. You never know what the Lord says to his character which is the dark aspect of this song but this track is very convicting since the song talks about this hunger of fame and wealth in order to be happy but in reality you should be depending on God for what it is you need. When you don't depend on God you wind up in situations that you don't need to be in and that were never planned for you to be in. Thus the death of Dre's character in the song and the revelation of Benjamin's curse. The curse of chasing dollars. "Alchemy" uses another well executed hook from Tragic Hero. Tragic is gonna be big one day especially if he keeps producing hooks like this. This track spotlights some dark piano chords with double time hats that had me feeling like Tragic was in some dark room somewhere playing his piano while Murray describes his inevitable doom due to his lust for loot. It is only fitting that "Fiend" features production exclusively from Wit. Dre and Wit team up just like old times to bring you a track looking at the lives of both a dealer and a drug addict. If you know anything about a Wit and Dre collab, i.e through the Hell's Paradise series, you would assume that this track would be fire... well you'd be right. The duo do not disappoint on this track. Great guitar sample and drums from the mastermind Wit.

"Letter In A Bottle" talks about the struggles an alcoholic faces when they go through recovery. Or addiction in general if you really think about it. Dre talks about the rehab process and ultimately his recovery from alcoholism. Michael Guaglione sings a hook that somebody who is truly fed up with their addiction would sing. A hook crying for mercy... if that makes sense. This track features marching band style snares with gorgeous piano chords and melodies throughout. A delicate track just like the whole subject of addiction. 

"Hollywood Heist" is my second favorite track on this album behind "Gold Rush". This track features a verse from Christon Gray as well as a hook from Sean Johnson. Sean Johnson does his thing on the hook. His voice is in perfect harmony with the vocal sample and sampled horns giving you a very airy, atmospheric, "stroll through the park" type of feeling when you listen. Dre Murray and Christon Gray's verses are on point and loaded with plenty of word play about worldly relationships, those three alone will have this track on repeat but there song gives credit to four artists total.... Where Swoope at? I ain't heard a verse from him at all and this track about to end??? Well that smooth electric piano you were listening to for about a minute at the end was Swoope. He adds a professional sounding vibe to an already jazzy, high class sounding track. 

"Welcome To My Life" features a sample from the album W.L.A.K. Its a pretty good track and Alex Faith, Swoope, and Dre provide some excellent verses talking about their callings. 

The last two tracks "All Alone" and "Gray Tape" are the more somber tracks on this LP but I honestly love them, "Gray Tape" especially. Whoever sings the hook on "All Alone" DESERVES to be credited on the album. "Gray Tape" is my third favorite track off this LP... actually it gets into fisticuffs with "Hollywood Heist" from time to time for the second spot. I take "Hollywood Heist' over it for the most part due to the jazz samples and the fact that "Gray Tape", in my mind, is way too short. The Christon Gray sample from "Long Way Down" is used brilliantly. Two great tracks.

I used a lot of strong adjectives to describe this LP. And every last one of them were appropriate. This LP will have different meanings and revelations to everybody who listens to it. If I made this review any longer I doubt people would read it but you owe it to yourself to check out "Gold Rush: Maybe One Day". I read a tweet saying that it is the best project released this year and it'll be hard to catch and honestly I agree whole heartedly with that statement.