Breaking Musical Boundaries: Reviewing David Morris' Latest Genre-Bending Album

David Morris is the next singer to come out of Nashville with a country-rap niche. Morris makes quite a mark with his debut album, Bored in the USA, with clever play on words and lyrics that draw on pop-culture references, but also Morris in this album reveals a very touching and raw vulnerable side to his life.

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The intriguing mix of producing this album evokes listeners to hear Morris but also provokes questions for him and his songs but keeps them wanting to learn more as they go through his setlist.

An instant highlight and hit off this album is “Dutton Ranch Freestyle.” It has a fun dubstep track that is not only fun to listen to over and over on repeat but also plays on pop culture references and the hit show, Yellowstone. A shining moment of this song is the instant and genius hook when you hear the crack of a beer. If that doesn’t get you excited about this song and Morris as an artist, I don’t know what will. The lyrics are catchy and short to the point but fit well with the beat, which makes you not only sway your body and stomp your feet. Don’t be fooled by the catchy beat because Morris delivers great lines to introduce the audience to who he is and his background growing up. He includes references to Yellowstone, so many listeners will familiarize themselves with what he says as he compares himself to be "more like Kayce.” The song has hit so strongly with audiences that it was an instant hit on Tiktok, such as users line dancing to it–and now I am eager to learn this dance.

A few songs later, the tone shifts drastically with “Jenny’s Song.” It is a stripped-back song that is a stark contrast with his branded typical country rap, with spoken word poetry. However, the unique hook is so intriguing it pulls the audience in. The song makes you go “woah” and become lost in thought. In fact, it is so unexpected, as it makes you want to restart the song because now you know what to expect so you can appreciate it in its raw beauty. The song is about a woman rustling with difficult life obstacles, where she wants to “talk about life and find peace within.” The song does not introduce the woman, Jenny’s problem right away, but instead sets the scene that something is off and very wrong in her life until she says, “She lost her daddy to cancer and her brother to pills." Jenny is an addict but hides it in her everyday life when she “refills the water cups, and that smile turns back into a frown.” When Jenny shares her story, David Morris builds up a narrative paired with the instruments that feels more than just a story but a testimonial as “she feels the weight of the world lifted off her shoulders.” The song ends in a dream-like trance with Morris singing, “Hey hey, everything is going to be just fine,” but it actually leaves the listener wondering if Jenny is okay even after her share as the tone is not entirely light.

The last song of the album is "Stuck in My Hometown." It has more of Morris’s classic country-rap tone with spoken poetry elements. The song tells a story of people in his hometown and how Morris and the people in his life. “It was a Tuesday night, and they found him on the floor…Saturday morning, they laid him down in the dirt. Isn’t it scary how life ain’t fair, how addiction doesn’t discriminate? I am tired of the reality of where I am from. I am trying to be proud of where I am from… but I have tears in my eyes… I am going down, down, down.” The constant production of instrumentals in the songs fades to a steady clap as the only beat, then he stops singing and is just a plucking of a banjo. Again a question is raised to the audience of how well Morris really is doing and if he believes there is any hope for himself and the rest of the people in his life to dig out of the pitfalls he and others in his life have faced.

One thing is clear though: Morris has his own unique sound that creates quite an impression of musicality and lyrically clearly defines who he is and what he wants to be as an artist and we are invested.