Marlon Craft's father is a jazz musician, and he grew up in Manhattan, New York, spending his time listening to hip hop tracks that would navigate his own musical path. "Dear Life" runs through his East coast influences, and the jazzy live instrumentation lays gently onto the beat that moves with Craft's lyrics like clear water.
The artist spent years mastering the flows he's so fluent in now, and the social and mental health themes are his comfort trajectory to which he abides. "Dear Life" holds them close too as Marlon goes: "I'm just tryna hold on for dear life/I been fightin' so long it feel like/I been writin' my song, my real life/Dear life."