Christon Gray leans fully into his R&B instincts on “Vanish,” a new song featuring fellow Collision Records artist Swoope.
The track comes from Gray’s forthcoming album, School of Roses, and showcases the range that has made him difficult to fit into a single category. He moves between singing and rapping without treating either as a side project, building the song around smooth melodies before leaving space for Swoope to sharpen the edges.
“Vanish” is rooted in relationship tension, attraction and the uneasy point where confidence begins giving way to vulnerability. Gray’s vocal performance carries most of the emotional weight, while the production keeps the song restrained enough to avoid turning every feeling into a dramatic emergency.
Swoope’s verse adds a different texture. His more direct delivery cuts through the polished R&B atmosphere without sounding dropped in from another record, giving the collaboration the push and pull its subject requires.
The song also offers another preview of how School of Roses will move beyond the usual boundaries placed around faith-driven hip-hop. Gray has always been as interested in soul, jazz and contemporary R&B as he is in rap, and “Vanish” makes no attempt to rank those influences or separate them into different rooms.
School of Roses is Gray’s first album for Collision Records. The project takes its title from the idea that life teaches through beauty and pain at the same time, with Gray writing openly about relationships, failure, desire and faith rather than presenting a carefully edited version of himself.
The album will be released March 25 through Collision Records.
Listen to “Vanish” below.