Stop Me (Christon Gray Song)

"Stop Me" is the fourth single released off Christon Gray’s The Glory Album. It is the second track on the LP, written by Gray and Chris Shaban and produced by Max Stark.

Background

In July 2015, while in Dallas to play rough cuts off what would become The Glory Album for label heads Kirk Franklin and Ron Hill, Gray met producer Max Stark. This meeting is documented at the end of the song "50 Shades", where you can hear the first time that Stark and Gray met.^[1]

Encouraged to work together by the label, Franklin asked Stark to play some instrumentals for Gray and Shaban. The first track he played was what would become "Stop Me". Immediately taken back, they both pleaded with Stark to save that for the album.^[2]

Two weeks later, at the Flutter Studios in Columbus OH, the three reconvened to work on the song.^[3] Having sent the instrumental early, Gray and Shaban wrote the lyrics a day before Stark arrived. After hearing the direction that the track was taking, Stark added some additional sounds to give it an increased sense of urgency.^[4]

The final version of the song was completed in early August 2015.

Theme

The song is a call to arms for people who believe in Jesus. It is a call to stop judging, stop cliquing and start loving.

In the first verse, Gray says he is speaking to those in the church and in the Christian Hip Hop community. He calls out judging ‘sinners’ and those who point fingers while covering up what’s really going on in their lives.^[5]

The second verse is much more direct. This is a message not just to the church, but to all of America. He speaks on the history of poor treatment that some African-Americans, homosexuals, and transgendered individuals have faced in the country. He goes even further to include some Christians as evidenced by the line, “So I apologize, for the Paul disguise, we’ve been wearing without solving the Saul inside”.

The last verse is talking about Gray himself. He ‘turns the mirror around’ in an effort to ensure he doesn’t get caught in those same traps. He also references that he has enough things in his life that he needs to change before he can worry about telling others how to live.^[6]

Critical reception

The song was a part of Gray’s The Glory Album which peaked at #5 on the Billboard R&B chart.^[7]

It was selected by ESPN to be one of the three songs used in March 2016 as part of Gray being an ‘ESPN Artist of the Month’. The track was featured all month on ESPN programming.^[8]

Next, it was used as the theme song for Honda’s 2016 Civic Coupe commercial entitled #AnotherMilestone.^[9]

It was also used by HBO’s Ballers in the commercial promoting episode 2 of the second season.^[10]

ESPN used the song once again during its live ESPY Awards telecast in July 2016 during the final award of the evening, Male Athlete of the Year, won by LeBron James.^[11]

It was used in a commercial for the FOX program Lethal Weapon, debuting on Saturday September 10, 2016 during the BYU/Utah game and going nationwide during Fox NFL Sunday on September 11.

Many other brands have used the song including Roc Nation Sports and Temple University Football.^[12]

References