Christian rapper Dre Murray was born and raised in the South Park development within Houston, Texas, but he moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 2000 for school. Murray's adopted home had a healthy Christian hip-hop scene that fostered his artistic growth. He released his first two albums, Project Ghetto and Manumit, in 2003 and 2008, respectively. Across 2010 and 2011, he and Wit issued the Hell's Paradise series. Along with Christon Gray, Alex Faith, and Swoope, Murray then formed W.L.A.K. (We Live as Kings). The group released a self-titled album in March 2013, and it was a crossover success, peaking at number one on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart while hitting number seven on Top Rap Albums and number 81 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. Four months later, Murray released Gold Rush: Maybe One Day for the Collision label. It peaked at number six on the Billboard Gospel chart.