''Pray IV Reign'' is the fourth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American hip hop recording artist

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

, released on March 24, 2009, under E1, Columbia and

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

. The album, his first not to be released under

Diplomat Records Diplomat Records is an American hip hop record label co-founded by Harlem rappers Jim Jones and Cam'ron. History In the early 2000s, Dipset was very popular for having star rappers with radio hits like Juelz Santana and Cam'ron, as well as t ...

, also serves as his first under a

major record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

. The album includes

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

from

Ron Browz Rondell Edwin Turner (born December 6, 1982), better known by his stage name Ron Browz (), is an American recording artist and record producer from Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded r ...

Chink Santana Andre Parker, known by his stage name Chink Santana, is an American R&B musician and producer from Washington, D.C. His achievements include co-producing '' Ashanti'', the debut album from the singer of the same name, as well as working on he ...

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having releas ...

Ryan Leslie Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur from Washington, D.C. He has produced singles for a number of prominent artists in a variety of genres, ranging from R&B, hip hop ...

, Michael Crawford, Triple-A and

Young Seph Joseph Holmes, better known as Young Seph, is an American music producer and songwriter born in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Young Seph has produced for artists such as 50 Cent, Jim Jones, Lloyd Banks, Troy Ave, Rocko Young Buck and Havoc, among ot ...

. Jones' fourth album also features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from Ron Browz,

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 si ...

, NOE, Mel Matrix, Rell,

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...

, Ryan Leslie, Chink Santana, Bree-Beauty,

Starr Starr may refer to: People and fictional characters * Starr (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Starr (given name), a list of people and fictional characters Places United States * Starr, Ohio, an unincorporated comm ...

, Rowana, Oshy,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the t ...

and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

Background

The album, originally titled ''Back 2 Back'', was his first album with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The album cover was photographed b
Thi Chien
There are several different album covers. The first version is the original cover, the second, third and fourth are all the original cover, but with different colored backgrounds, such as red, green and blue. The fifth cover is the Deluxe Edition with a close up of Jim Jones' face.

Music

In a 2008 listening session, a few tracks were revealed. The "Intro" was originally titled "Across 110th Street" and "How to Be a Boss" was originally titled "Follow this Blueprint". On the sixth track, titled "Frienemies", Jones' addresses his strained relationships with

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

and

Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introduc ...

. "My My My" is a song he recorded his deceased friend Stack Bundles. Jim Jones says he likes to call this track "Emotionless Pt. 2", referring to a previous single of his taken from his third album '' Hustler's P.O.M.E.'' (2006). According to Jim Jones, "My My My" is one of the hardest songs for him perform because of his emotions. The passing of friend and fellow American rapper Stack Bundles, was one of the main inspirations for the album ''Pray IV Reign''. A track that was rumored to be on the album was the remix to

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

's "

Electric Feel "Electric Feel" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their debut studio album ''Oracular Spectacular'' (2007) on June 23, 2008. The single was released as a 7" and CD single, and later on 12" vinyl. "Electri ...

": A bonus track on the album was "Jackin' Swagga from Us" featuring

and NOE, a direct diss to

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and T.I. mocking their song " Swagga Like Us".

Release and promotion

On July 8, 2008, Jones' released a song titled "The Good Shit", featuring production from

and a guest appearance from fellow

ByrdGang Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones (formerly Jimmy Jones), is an American rapper, music video director, and record executive. He is an original member of the hip hop collective the Diplomats ...

member NOE. It was intended to be the album's first single when it was titled ''Back 2 Back'', but was instead used for promotional purposes. "

Pop Champagne "Pop Champagne" is a song by American hip hop recording artists Ron Browz and Jim Jones, officially released as a single on September 4, 2008 by Columbia and Universal Motown Records. The song features a guest appearance from fellow American rap ...

", a song Jones recorded with Ron Browz and

Dipset The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) is an American hip hop collective formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew ...

cohort

, was leaked online in the summer of 2008. It quickly became a club banger and

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, peaking at #22 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. The song was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on September 4, 2008. The song proved to be Jones' second most successful single to date, behind his 2006 hit "

We Fly High "We Fly High" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Jim Jones, released as the lead single from his third studio album, '' Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment)'' (2006). The song is Jim Jones' highest-charting single to date, ...

". In October 2008, Jim Jones released a promotional video for the album, rapping his verse on his

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...

's "

Day 'n' Nite "Day 'n' Nite" is a song by American rapper Kid Cudi. The song was written and produced by Cudi alongside his longtime collaborator and friend, Brooklyn-based producer Dot da Genius. It was issued as Cudi's commercial debut single on February 5, ...

". Jim Jones initially wanted to release the album on December 9, which was coincidentally the same date

was going to release ''

The Blueprint 3 ''The Blueprint 3'' is the eleventh studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released September 8, 2009, on Roc Nation, through distribution from Asylum Records and Atlantic Records. It is the third album in the ''Blueprint'' series, preceded by '' ...

'' and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

was going to release '' Before I Self Destruct''. To promote the album, Jones worked with

Damon Dash Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of Roc-A-Fella along with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke. Early life Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbe ...

and director J. Kyle Manzay to stage the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

''Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones''. The “Hip-Hop Monologues” is a musical theatrical experience, co-written by Jim Jones, using the music from ''Pray IV Reign'', as the platform. An ensemble of professional

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

s portray various characters from Jones’ past, while Jones performed his new songs in the context of a scripted story. The two-day only play pulled in a packed audience of fans, media, and celebrities. Infused with a live band the performance "Gives you that live instrumentation feel — more like a real Broadway type of feel as opposed to just seeing a hip-hop track. So, you’ll get to hear both the real music from off of the album and then the band comes in and it takes over and it gives you that really funky feeling" said Jones of the play. On January 1, 2009 a song titled "

Na Na Nana Na Na "Na Na Nana Na Na" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Jim Jones, released as the second single from his fourth studio album, ''Pray IV Reign'' (2009). The song features vocals from Brittney "Bree-Beauty" Taylor and was produced by pr ...

" was premiered and on February 17, was released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. It serves as the album's second single and features up-and-coming singer Brittney Taylor

AKA Aka, AKA or a.k.a. may refer to: * "Also known as", used to introduce an alternative name Languages * Aka language (Sudan) * Aka language, in the Central African Republic * Hruso language, in India, also referred to as Aka * a prefix in the n ...

Bree-Beauty. Jim Jones also teamed up with

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

, to promote the album as well. On March 2, 2009, Jim Jones appeared on BET's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

'' to premiere the music video for "

". Later on in the show he announced that from March 2 to March 24, he would be announcing a new item out of his "Swag Bag". The goal for the fans was to keep track of all the items announced each day and once you've collected all the items, you had to log on to BET.com/JimJones on Friday, March 20 to enter the contest for a chance to win Jim Jones’ "Swag Bag". Who ever entered all 24 items correctly won the "Swag Bag" and its items. Jones partnered with

, which had a "Countdown to Jim Jones Pray IV Reign". On February 17, they released the second single "

". On March 3, they released "Precious" featuring vocals and production from

, on March 17, the song titled "Frenemies" was released, and on March 24, the entire album was released. The

from ''Pray IV Reign'', "

", which spent two weeks as America's #1 urban single, was also incorporated into the countdown and was already available for sale.

Reception

Critical response

XXL gave the album a 4/5, stating that the album is an extreme improvement with many heartfelt tracks, but many disappointments. XXL complimented the lead single, "

", "My My My", and the promo singles "Precious" and "Frenemies", but disliked the second single "

", "Pop Off" and "This Is the Life". Alex Thornton of HopHopDX liked the songs "How to Be a Boss" with Ludacris saying it stole the show, "Precious" with Ryan Leslie and "My My My". He also liked the lead single "

" but like most critics he hated the second single "

Commercial Performance

The album debuted at #9 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 42,982 copies sold in its first week released.

Track listing

;Notes * "Intro" contains interpolations from the composition "Sunday and Sister Jones" written by

Gene McDaniels Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart with " A Hun ...

and performed by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

on '' Quiet Fire''. * "Frienemies" contains interpolations from the composition " Ballad for the Fallen Soldier" performed by

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

. * The

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

for "This Is the Life" was originally used by

Yung Berg Christian J. Ward (born September 9, 1985), professionally known as Hitmaka, is an American record producer and former rapper from Chicago, Illinois. Ward began his career as a rapper under the name Yung Berg, having released his debut album '' ...

Ray J William Ray Norwood Jr. (born January 17, 1981), known professionally as Ray J, is an American singer, actor, and television personality. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Carson, California, he is the younger brother of recording a ...

on a song titled "Exotic". * "Jackin' Swagga from Us" contains samples elements from "

Paper Planes A paper plane (also known as a paper airplane in American English or paper aeroplane in British English) is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made out of single folded sheet of paper or paperboard. A simple nose-heavy paper plane, thrown like ...

", as performed by M.I.A., and is an alternative version of " Swagga Like Us", a collaborative song of T.I. and

, featuring

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

, from T.I.'s album ''

Paper Trail An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

''.

Chart positions

Pray IV Reign: The Mixtape

Jim Jones released a

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

, titled ''Pray IV Reign: The Mixtape'', on March 3, 2009 to promote the album. Most of the songs on the mixtape are tracks that failed to make the album's final track listing.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pray Iv Reign 2009 albums Jim Jones (rapper) albums E1 Music albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Chink Santana Albums produced by Ron Browz Albums produced by Ryan Leslie Albums produced by No I.D.