Pray for Haiti

Last updated
Pray for Haiti
Pray For Haiti.jpg
Cover artwork by Noah Leigh
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 21, 2021 (2021-05-21)
Genre
Length39:19
Label
Producer
Mach-Hommy chronology
Mach's Hard Lemonade
(2020)
Pray for Haiti
(2021)
Balens Cho (Hot Candles)
(2021)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 85/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Beats Per Minute 76/100 [3]
Exclaim! 8/10 [4]
HipHopDX 4.1/5 [5]
laut.de Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Pitchfork 8.8/10 [7]
RapReviews8/10 [8]

Pray for Haiti is the twenty-second studio album by Haitian-American rapper Mach-Hommy. It was released on May 21, 2021, through Griselda Records and Daupe!. Production was handled by Camoflauge Monk, Conductor Williams, Denny LaFlare, Cee Gee, DJ Green Lantern, Messiah Muzik, Nicholas Craven and Sadhu Gold, with Westside Gunn and Mach-Hommy serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Westside Gunn, Keisha Plum, Melanie Charles and Tha God Fahim.

Contents

Mach-Hommy announced that 20 percent of the album's profits will be donated to the Pray for Haiti Trust Fund, which he set up to fund educational infrastructure in Haiti. [9]

Background

Mach-Hommy and Westside Gunn, though onetime collaborators, had fallen out of touch throughout much of the later 2010s. However, the pair made up late in 2020 and began to collaborate again. [5] In an interview with Rolling Stone , Westside Gunn states that once the pair had reunited, "[w]e picked up where we left off. And from there, we said 'let's just kill this.'" [10]

The album cover was designed by Noah Leigh, and is an imitation of Jean-Michel Basquiat. [11]

Critical reception

The album was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 85 based on eight reviews. [1] The album has received particular praise for Mach-Hommy's lyricism. Paul A. Thompson of Pitchfork described the project as having "razor-sharp bars and an exceptional eye for detail", and gave it a "Best New Music" award. [7] Riley Wallace of HipHopDX gave a similar appraisal, describing the album as "fram[ing] hard-as-nails themes with calmly delivered, tastefully complex wordplay", [5] while Fred Thomas of AllMusic characterized Mach's lyrics as "cutting, hilarious, and multi-dimensional". [2] The production on the album has been described as "varied" but generally "stripped-back". [7] [5]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."The 26th Letter"Denny LaFlare3:39
2."No Blood No Sweat"Camoflauge Monk1:54
3."Folie Á Deux" (featuring Westside Gunn and Keisha Plum)Conductor Williams2:35
4."Makrel Jaxon"Conductor Williams2:01
5."The Stellar Ray Theory"Conductor Williams3:15
6."Marie"Cee Gee2:49
7."Leta Yo" (Skit) 0:34
8."Kriminel"Nicholas Craven2:36
9."Pen Rale"Sadhu Gold1:41
10."Murder Czn" (featuring Westside Gunn)Camoflauge Monk3:28
11."Magnum Band" (featuring Tha God Fahim)Messiah Muzik2:47
12."Rami" (featuring Westside Gunn)Camoflauge Monk2:28
13."Kreyol" (Skit) 1:06
14."Au Revoir" (featuring Melanie Charles) DJ Green Lantern 3:48
15."Blockchain"Camoflauge Monk1:47
16."Ten Boxes / Sin Eater"Denny LaFlare2:50

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References

  1. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Pray for Haiti - Metacritic". Metacritic . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Thomas, Fred. "Pray for Haiti - Mach-Hommy | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  3. McMullen, Chase (May 26, 2021). "Album Review: Mach-Hommy – Pray for Haiti | Beats Per Minute". Beats Per Minute . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  4. Alavo, Antoine-Samuel Mauffette (June 1, 2021). "Mach-Hommy Bursts Out of the Underground While Retaining His Mystery on 'Pray for Haiti' | Exclaim!". Exclaim! . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Wallace, Riley (June 16, 2021). "Mach-Hommy's 'Pray For Haiti' Album Is Hardcore Hip Hop With A Vanguard Punch". HipHopDX . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  6. Gölz, Yannik. "Das nächste große Griselda-Album". laut.de (in German). Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Thompson, Paul A. (May 27, 2021). "Mach-Hommy: Pray for Haiti". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  8. Jones, Grant (December 21, 2021). "Mach-Hommy :: Pray For Haiti – RapReviews". www.rapreviews.com. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  9. Tigg, FNR (2021-05-21). "Mach-Hommy Drops 'Pray for Haiti' Album Executive Produced by Westside Gunn". Complex . Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  10. Buford, Jayson (2021-06-22). "How Mach-Hommy and Westside Gunn Made 'Pray for Haiti' a Modern Hip-Hop Classic". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2022-05-11.
  11. Dikanifuwa, Simba (2023-05-18). "Mach-Hommy's "Pray for Haiti": A Masterclass in Lyrical Technique". bellwetherdigest.co.za. Retrieved 2024-03-12.