East Orange, New Jersey rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Chris Patrick making his major label debut with his 3rd full-length studio LP. Introducing himself off his debut EP From the Heart along with it’s sequel & X-Files, it wasn’t until his last couple EPs Lost Files & most notably The Calm caught the interest of Def Jam Recordings last fall. He’s additionally caught my attention via some of his most recent guest appearances asking everyone to Pray 4 Me almost 13 months since getting signed.
“Audra’s Prayer” comes out the gate with a militantly hungry intro & removing the drums during the 2nd to speaking of his friends passing away whereas “Ramen Noodles” angrily talks about muhfuckas not lasting a day in his shoes “Frankenstein” featuring Marco+ links up over a boom bap instrumental from Conductor Williams boasting their prophetic statuses while “The Mayor” featuring Swavay dabbles with trap to promise that they won’t ever walk back on their word.
Reaching the halfway point, “Doremi” gets in his R&B bag on top of a summery beat singing about themes of love leading into “100x” featuring Amindi heading further down that trajectory for a tightly spacey duet. “Patience” brings back the hip hop vibes feeling like God’s testing his forbearance while “Screaming at the Sky” talks about a loved one who passed blending a soul sample & hi-hats. “Huncho’s Prayer” produced by Reuben Vincent finishes the album with a 9 minute closer pouring his heart out, including beat-switch at the backend of it.
Familiarizing myself with him through his features on projects like Reuben Vincent’s 2nd EP General Admission or Reason’s 5th mixtape I Love You Again & most recently WowGr8’s solo debut Howl at the Moon, I’m just as equally happy as Chris Patrick is that he didn’t wind up quitting music 3 months earlier since Pray 4 Me wouldn’t have happened had he done so. He’s honing in on his artistic range pulling from conscious hip hop, boom bap, drumless, R&B & neo-soul for a love letter to surviving all of his sleepless nights.
Score: 4/5
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