By: Savaun Brown
Dev McCray appeared on the Mezz Music Monday playlist three times last week, emphatically displaying his sonic range and diversity through “Missed Church,” “On It,” and “Rebel.” Although hailing from Albany, NY, Devin McCray’s sound and flow scheme extends far beyond his East Coast roots. Aside from the influences from his favorites (J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Fabulous, Notorious B.I.G.), McCray credits his sonic creativity to simply living his life. “I draw inspiration from living life and experiencing it.”
Amongst McCray’s seasoned, yet tasteful discography, it is hard to overlook the heavy-hitting “Missed Church,” the 6th single off of his 2020 LP, The Renegade. Since its release, “Missed Church” has amassed over 64,000 Spotify plays, along with nearly 8,000 views on YouTube. McCray describes the formulation of the classic that we know today as “organic.” He continues, “I freestyled the whole thing. It was a fun process recording it and I knew the video needed to have the same energy.”
As far as Dev McCray’s future in music, he is confident that he is here to stay. He aspires to change lives through his music. “I’ll be releasing some new music pretty soon. It’s overdue. The songs that I’ve been recording are amazing.” McCray views his brief hiatus as a testament to his desire to always be perfect. “I’m an over-thinker/perfectionist when creating. I [always] try to be better than I was before. One of my goals is to get bigger and bigger as an artist and have the world hear the art that I create in my room. Hopefully it can change a life or two.”
From a bedroom in upstate New York, to the rest of the world. Stream Dev McCray on all major platforms and keep an eye out for what is yet to come.