Phonte is a 45 year old MC, singer/songwriter, producer & podcaster from Greensboro, North Carolina notable for being of the 3 founding members of Little Brother alongside Rapper Big Pooh & 9th Wonder as well as 1/2 of The Foreign Exchange with Nicolay. In the fall of 2011, he would break out solo with the acclaimed debut Charity Starts at Home followed by the sophomore effort No News is Good News roughly 7 a half years later. His first EP Pacific Time the next spring went full R&B/neo soul which makes sense considering that Drake was heavily influenced by Percy Miracles when he first rose to stardom, so hearing that a follow-up was coming down the pipe had me interested.

“Run for Your Life” starts us off going for a synthpop direction produced by Focus… talking about heading somewhere he can get a peace of mind whereas “Follow” featuring Carlitta Durand embraces a house flare instrumentally singing about themes of romance. “5:55am” starts the 2nd leg of the Pacific Time sequel working in a spacious atmosphere describing the vibes he’s getting in the early hours of the new day before the sun comes up & the final song “Outta My Head” featuring Carmen Rodgers hooks up a psychedelic guitar lead as they sing about being here together for a night.

The original Pacific Time almost 5 & a half years prior was more centered around R&B & neo-soul so I kinda knew what I was getting myself into for the sequel, but Pacific Time 2 takes it a step further developing further beyond of both those particular styles blending them with other sounds ranging from synthpop to house & even psychedelic rock with a couple decent guest performances joining him here & there.

Score: 3.5/5

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