Fear of God II: Let Us Pray

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Fear of God II: Let Us Pray
Fear of God II - Let Us Pray cover.jpg
EP by Pusha T
Released November 8, 2011 (2011-11-08)
Recorded 2010–11
Genre Hip hop
Length 45:04
Label
Producer
Pusha T chronology
Fear of God II: Let Us Pray
(2011)		 My Name Is My Name
(2013)My Name Is My Name2013
Singles from Fear of God II: Let Us Pray
  1. "Trouble on My Mind"
    Released: July 12, 2011[1]
  2. "Amen"
    Released: September 13, 2011[2]
  3. "My God"
    Released: March 29, 2012
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau (A–)[4]
HipHopDX 3.5/5 stars[5]
Pitchfork Media (7.1/10)[6]
Rolling Stone 2.5/5 stars[7]
XXL 4/5 stars (XL)[8]

Fear of God II: Let Us Pray is the major record label debut and extended play by American hip hop recording artist Pusha T, released on November 8, 2011, under G.O.O.D. Music. The EP serves as his first project with Kanye West's GOOD Music label, since the announcement of his signing back in September 2010. Pusha T claims his inspiration for Fear of God is that a vast majority of the people who he came in the music business with are in prison: "I Came in the game with super producers. We made hit records. I never thought that it gets deeper. But not for nothing, 2009 I lost eight of my friends to incarceration. Everybody that I came in to the rap game with, and when I realized that those components weren't there anymore, the 'Fear of God' really came over me. It's full of the dichotomy of 'right and wrong' and 'good and evil'. A lot of it deals with greed. A lot of it deals with instant gratification. Personally... life without instant gratification... I don't know what it is."[9]

Background and release

Pusha T established his solo career in mid-2010, while still in the Clipse with Malice, appearing on songs "Runaway"[10] and "So Appalled" by Kanye West, propagating his features.[11] On March 21, 2011, Pusha T released his first solo work, a mixtape titled Fear of God. Released independently, it included features from Kanye West, 50 Cent, Rick Ross, Pharrell Williams and Kevin Cossom.[12] The EP is a re-release of the mixtape,[13][14] which has different structure, production and additional tracks. The EP was originally set to released on June 21, 2011,[15] it was than pushed back to August 23, and for a while September 27, 2011, was believed to be the date, however on October 6, 2011, Thornton announced the EP is set to drop November 8, 2011. In addition it was revealed he added four more songs to the EP making it 12 tracks rather than just the nine tracks that were previously announced.[16] To begin promoting the album, he released a track produced by The Neptunes, titled "Trouble on My Mind", which features the frontman of rap collective Odd Future, Tyler, the Creator. The track "Everything That Glitters" featuring French Montana is also included on DJ Drama's third album Third Power (2011). The song "Amen" was originally meant for Young Jeezy and "Raid" was originally meant for 50 Cent for his third album Curtis (2007). "What Dreams Are Made of" samples a Ric Flair promo.

Singles

The album plays lead and Pusha T's debut single is "Trouble on My Mind", featuring Tyler, the Creator. Released on July 12, 2011,[17] the song was structured in two verses by both rappers.[18] The second single "Amen" featuring Kanye West and Young Jeezy was released August 11, 2011.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 66 on the Billboard 200 with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released.[19] It also entered at number ten on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number eight on Billboard's Top Rap Albums, and at number 25 on its Digital Albums chart.[20][21] On the second week of its release the album sold 4,300 copies, bringing the total to 13,000 copies.[22]

Critical response

Fear of God II: Let Us Pray received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[23] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave it an A– rating,[4] indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction."[24] Christgau quipped in his review, "The grand beats are safer than the clenched, confining, arrogantly hookless minimalism of Hell Hath No Fury. But every mean word delivers, and with cameos from Tyler the Creator to 50 Cent it's as if he never went solo."[4]

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "Changing of the Guards" (featuring Diddy) Terrence Thornton, Ricardo Lamarre, Sean Combs Rico Beats 2:29
2. "Amen" (featuring Kanye West & Young Jeezy) Terrence Thornton, Demetrius Stewart, Kanye West, Jay Wayne Jenkins Shawty Redd 4:36
3. "Trouble on My Mind" (featuring Tyler, the Creator) Terrence Thornton, Tyler Okonma, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Vyron Turner The Neptunes, Left Brain 3:32
4. "What Dreams Are Made Of"   Terrence Thornton The VIPs 3:35
5. "Body Work" (featuring Juicy J, Meek Mill & French Montana) Terrence Thornton, Ricardo Lamarre, Jordan Michael Houston, Robert Williams, Karim Kharbouch Rico Beats 4:29
6. "Everything That Glitters" (featuring French Montana) Terrence Thornton, Karim Kharbouch A-Traxx 3:29
7. "So Obvious"   Terrence Thornton, Shondrae Crawford Bangladesh 3:15
8. "Feeling Myself" (featuring Kevin Cossom) Terrence Thornton, Kevin Cossom Tha Bizness 3:34
9. "Raid" (featuring 50 Cent & Pharrell) Terrence Thornton, Curtis Jackson, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo The Neptunes 3:45
10. "My God"   Terrence Thornton, Chauncey Hollis Hit-Boy, Deezy (co.) 3:33
11. "I Still Wanna" (featuring Rick Ross & Ab-Liva) Terrence Thornton, William Leonard Roberts II, Rennard East, Leigh Elliott Lee Major 4:16
12. "Alone in Vegas"   Terrence Thornton, Dominick Lamb Nottz 4:31
Total length:
 45:04

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[19] 66
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[20] 10
US Top Rap Albums[21] 8

References

  1. ↑ Trouble on My Mind Amazon.com
  2. ↑ Amen (Explicit) Pusha T Amazon
  3. ↑ Jeffries, David. link. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-11-12.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Thornton, Alex. link. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2011-11-12.
  6. ↑ Sargent, Jordan. link. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2011-11-12.
  7. ↑ Trammell, Matthew. link. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-11-12.
  8. ↑ Bristout, Ralph. link. XXL. Retrieved on 2011-11-12.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Week of November 26, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-11-19.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Rap Albums – Week of November 26, 2011. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-11-19.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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