Maren Morris - HERO

Maren Morris
HERO
2016
Spotify

The Hip Hopization of popular Country Music is nearly complete and that is no more apparent than on the debut major label release from Maren Morris. HERO seeks to combine elements from hip hop, pop, put a pretty face in front of it, add a little twang and poof you have yourself a country starlet. At a glance however it seems like Morris is causing more of a divide in her chosen genre than anything else. Her album has the country faithful proclaiming the end of times while the casual country fan has found their Beyonce. It is really interesting to watch a whole genre try and redefine itself and all the infighting that comes from that. But, we are here to talk about HERO, not just the state of country music. Morris' hip hop cadence is what stands out first. Her delivery is clearly influence a great deal from the hip hop she has heard on popular radio, but unlike a lot of other country acts she doesn't use it as the focus of her music or as a reason she is different, instead it feels organic like it is just a part of who she is. When you look at the lyrics through this lens they become less pandering and more the thoughts of someone who wasn't born until 1990. You'll find a great deal of Kacey Musgraves in this album, which honestly feels very weird. It is like Morris knows that these songs and themes are Musgraves' bread and butter but she is going for it anyway.

There are many tacks like "How It's Done" which bops along with an R&B swagger, but for the most part the record trends towards the more middle of the road pop-country. There are moments where you really start to enjoy the music, and buy in to what Morris is doing yet there are other times where the music feels just edgy enough to get by Wal-Mart standards and practices. Even when Morris cusses (which is very sparingly) it seems somehow forced in there to appeal to the more hip crowd. The second half of the record is far weaker than the first, slowing to an almost glacial pace. HERO does have it's own set of rules and refuses to stick to those set for Women in Country Music, but to often she takes that freedom the album gives Her and wastes it on a really generic pop song. This may be the start of something for Morris, but it is not going to set the world on fire. She sure can fucking sing though.

7.1 out of 10