Album Review: Jim Jones- Pray IV Reign

Not even internal turmoil within his own crew could stop the capo of Dip Set, Jim Jones from releasing his fourth album, Pray IV Reign.

Notably absent are the customary suspects that usually accompany Jimmy on his projects with the exception of Juelz Santana. [Click to read Santana interview]

Even though 98 percent of the Diplomats are not featured on the album, Jim replaces them with heavy firepower like Ludacris,Ron Brownz, and Ryan Leslie. [Click to read album review]

Jim Jones starts his prayer off with a recap of his life up to this point with ‘Pulling Me Back,’ which leads right into infectious guitar-riddled ‘Let It Out’ (which doubles as the strongest record on the project).

Jim continues to put his past and present life on the forefront with ‘How To Be A Boss’ featuring Ludacris and NOE.

On ‘Frenemies’ Jim describes how close friends can soon become enemies with lines like, “We were inseparable, joined at the hip/I let you keep the checks, I kept the joints on the hip/snakes in the grass juts waitin’ for the moment/n*ggas on your team, and they’re really your opponent.” Subliminal shots towards a certain someone? Hmmm…

The Harlem native goes away from all the tough talk, and takes a smoother approach on ‘Precious’ featuring Ryan Leslie (who also produced as well). Over Ryan Leslie’s crooning and production, Jimmy explains to his main squeeze how he wants to shower her with material items, while calling out the goons if someone crosses her the wrong way.

Juelz Santana [Click to read Santana interview] reaches the scene on ‘Girlfriend,’ where they both trade notes on the girls they’ve had, and what they’re capable of.

Jim Jones finishes off the rest of his sermon with ‘Rain’ featuring NOE, Rell, and Starr, the new ‘Ballin’ anthem of ‘Na Na Nana Na Na,’ ‘Pop Off’ featuring NOE and Mel Matrix, and ‘This Is The Life.’ While his prayers might fall on deaf ears with songs like the watered down contributions of ‘This Is For My B*tches,’ ‘Medicine’ featuring NOE and Chink Santana, and ‘Blow The Bank.’

Jim doesn’t turn on his blinkers on Pray IV Reign, as he stays in his lane of money cash, hoes, and reality—which isn’t a bad thing because that’s how he built his fan base to begin with.

His lyricism isn’t going to change the world, and that’s obviously apparent, but with all his stories about “balling out of control,” he should have saved a few Benjamins to tighten up his album production-wise.

The beats aren’t the worst on the market, but it just seemed like on some songs he was looking for more of a bargain rather than putting something together that’s going to be memorable—and for true ballers, money is never an option.

Rating: 3.0