Mixerr Album Reviews #2,550

Piece of Me is Lady Wray’s comeback album that marks her maturity and growth in the music industry as a lady. You will love her soulful voice and harmony as she sings. She gets better with every single album she releases. Her voice gets deeper, darker, and smoother as the years progress forward. That is evidenced on songs Piece of Me, Come On In, and All Alone. For those who don’t know, Lady Wray is Nicole Wray.  

Soul fans and Nicole Wray fans will not be disappointed as this album follows the same old school soul formula of Queen Alone. This is perfect deep Southern soul. Big Crown Records is doing something right by bringing back soul music everyone used to listen to. They put in soulful beats and soulful voices that speak to everyone’s heart and soul. That is no coincidence as Leon Michels produced her entire album. Leon Michels does no wrong when it comes to production, songwriting, or singing.

The album “Piece of Me” serves as a testament to the trials and tribulations in her life both good and bad. The songs on this album represent the few milestones she has encountered in life. She has grown and matured as a person.

The recording process of this album took place from 2018 to 2021. The album took as long as 3 years to records. Leon Michels of Truth & Soul fame produced a majority/bulk of the songs on this album which is why you can hear his production all over the place.



Come On In is a Nicole Wray composition full of heat! Not to mention deep. The song sounds very similar to Lean On Me by Bill Withers. The instrumentation gives Come On In a throwback sound which is smoother than sandpaper. The soulful beats give this song a soulful bounce hence the soulful sound. Leon Michels produced the song Come On In. Now the song Come On In only uses three instruments and her voice.

Nicole talks about being committed to a long term relationship throughout the song. She will move forward in life and progress if she has a man in her life.

The beginning of Come On In starts off with a couple of heavy piano notes which quickly turn into a piano solo. The percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used.

Nicole has been waiting for a man to come into her life. She is accepting towards a man coming into her life. She is willing to be in a long term relationship. She says she’ll be waiting. Waiting to be in a long term relationship with him. She will move forward in life and progress if she has a man in her life. Nicole talks about being committed to a long term relationship.

Nicole tells her man to set the bar and his standards high. They’ve come too far by faith to give up now at this point in the relationship. Nicole Wray took it to church with these lyrics “We come too far by faith".


Nicole wrote Piece Of Me with songwriter Leon Michels before she gave birth to her daughter Melody. The song was written in 2018 before she became a mother. Her alto voice gives off a jazzy vibe in this particular song. Now the feeling, tone, and mood for this song is filled with sadness.

Piece of Me is a sad heartbreaking love song that is filled with uncertainty and emotional attachment. Nicole and her man have been thru the best of times even through her darkest days. They’ve been through the best of times and the worst of times. Why must it turn around? She asks herself.

Life has its uncertainties. Life is not fair. So many questions with so many answers. She’s not sure these days. He has been good to Nicole. That’s why it’s hard for her to walk away.

The song is a perspective of her world. Throughout the song, she sings about sacrificing for her family even if they don’t always help, contribute, or give back. She broke us off a piece of her with this song soulfully speaking as this song represents the few milestones she has encountered in life. She broke herself off a piece of herself with this song.

These lyrics explain the burden and pain of life being unfair.

You've been the best at times
You walk me through my darkest days
Why must it turn around?
I ask myself (I don't know)
This just ain't fair, so hard to bear (It's not fair)
I'm not really sure these days
Sure these days, sure these days (Ooh)
I've stashed the memories to ease the pain

Those memories of hers are hard to let go of. So she stashed the memories away to ease the pain and as a way to cope. That is what the lyrics “I've stashed the memories to ease the pain” mean.


Under the Sun is a beautiful feel-good song with that upbeat laid back summer vibe. Nicole just wants to have fun with her friends. The sun is shining and all the kids are running around. So pass the joint and take a hit. The wind is free under the sun.

Nicole just wants to have a carefree life under the sun. She expresses so in lyrics to Verse 1 and the chorus.  

[Verse 1]
I wanna be free, under sun
Life for me has just begun
The sun is out, the wind is free

[Chorus]
Feel like living under sun (I feel likе living under the sun)
Feel like laughing undеr the sun (Laughing, baby, laughing baby)
Feel like loving under the sun (Oh, you gotta love)
I feel so good under the sun (Said I'm feeling so good)
(Said I feel so good)


The song Through It All is about dedication through better or worse. Through It All uses more upbeat soulful bounce with the beats and vocals. Its percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used. The sound is smoother than sandpaper. A pitch-shifted soul sample seems to have been used looped throughout various parts of this song.

Nicole hates when people only pretend to love each other. She wants real love. She expresses this in lyrics to Verse 1.

[Verse 1]
Even though we fuss and fight
We don't always get it right
We're not even perfect friends
I hate when people love pretend
Every night we kiss and hug

She can’t believe people supported her even when she was wrong. At times when Nicole kept getting pushed back down. She was pushed back down several times throughout her career in music.

[Verse 2]
Can't believe we held on strong
At times, it even felt so wrong
Then we got a gust of wind
That kept pushing us right back in
Can't believe it still feels new


Where Were You uses more upbeat soulful bounce with the beats and vocals. Its percussion selection is fairly balanced with not too many drums used. The sound is smoother than sandpaper.

Here Nicole sits all alone in her room after a long night of drinking all by herself. She wakes in the morning wondering what in the hell she did wrong. She asks herself, “What in the hell did I do wrong?” At this point things start getting heartbreaking with uncertainty. That is because she spent the whole night getting drunk. So things don’t end on a high note for her. Her lyrics tell all.


The queen marks her beautiful piano-laced comeback with the song Storms. Her vocals are amazing as always. Lady Wray can’t go wrong with the Big Crown sound. This song has Lady Wray tapping into her early years singing in church harmony. She goes straight to the point with Storms. Even through storms Lady Wray manages to overcome all odds. Leon Michels produced Storms using his own style of production and arrangements.

Lady Wray lets her man know that she is not playing games with her man’s heart and they can both overcome everything as a couple in a relationship even through storms. She asks her man to take all her love which she has given to him freely. There are so many reasons she believes in him. He is all hers. She will be waiting patiently as he takes his own sweet time. So Lady Wray tells him take all the time he needs.

Lady Wray lets her man know that she is not playing games with her man’s heart and they can both overcome everything as a couple. This is discussed in Verse 1.

[Verse 1]
You need to know, yeah
That I am not playing games with your heart
Told you before, yeah
Trust me, we can get through anything


I rate this album 5/5*****!!