Fear of God II: Let Us Pray
Encyclopedia
Fear of God II: Let Us Pray is the debut major label record 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, '09 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."
with Malice, appearing on songs "Runaway
" and "So Appalled
" by Kanye West
, propagating his features. On March 21, 2011, Pusha T released his first solo work, a mixtape titled Fear of God. Released independently as well as critically acclaimed, it included features from Kanye West, 50 Cent
, Rick Ross
, Pharrell Williams
and Kevin Cossom
. The EP is a re-release of the mixtape, which has different structure, production and additional tracks. 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 album Curtis
(2007). "What Dreams are Made of" samples
a Ric Flair
promo.
and Pusha T's debut single is "Trouble on My Mind
", featuring Tyler, the Creator
. Released on July 12, 2011, the song was structured in two verses by both rappers. The second single "Amen" featuring Kanye West and Young Jeezy was released August 11, 2011.
with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released. 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 twenty-five on its Digital Albums chart. On the second week of its release the album sold 4,300 copies, bringing the total to 13,000 copies.
s. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 74, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
, critic Robert Christgau
gave it an A– rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction." 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."
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
recording artist Pusha T
Pusha T
Terrence Thornton better known by his stage name Pusha T is an American recording artist, occasional actor and one half of the critically acclaimed hip hop duo Clipse. He is also the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Re-Up Records along with his brother Gene 'Malice' Thornton...
, released on November 8, 2011, under G.O.O.D. Music. The EP serves as his first project with Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
's GOOD Music
GOOD Music
GOOD Music is a record label and management firm founded by music producer and artist Kanye West. "GOOD" is an acronym for "Getting Out Our Dreams".-History:...
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
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. We made hit records
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
. I never thought that it gets deeper. But not for nothing, '09 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
Fear of God (religion)
The fear of God or fear of the is an attitude to religious practice advocated primarily in the Abrahamic religions. Since the term "of God" is singular, rather than plural "of the gods," the term implies monotheism.-Judaism:...
' really came over me. It's full of the dichotomy of 'right and wrong' and 'good and evil
Conflict between good and evil
The conflict between good and evil is one of the precepts of the Zoroastrian faith, first enshrined by Zarathustra over 3000 years ago. It is also one of the most common conventional themes in literature, and is sometimes considered to be a universal part of the human condition...
'. A lot of it deals with greed
Greed
Greed is an excessive desire to possess wealth, goods, or abstract things of value with the intention to keep it for one's self. Greed is inappropriate expectation...
. A lot of it deals with instant gratification. Personally... life without instant gratification... I don't know what it is."
Background
Pusha T established his solo career in mid-2010, while still in the ClipseClipse
Clipse is a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based hip hop duo. Formed in 1992 by brothers Malice and Pusha T , the group is heavily affiliated with production team The Neptunes and signed to Star Trak Entertainment.- Exclusive Audio Footage :The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx, New...
with Malice, appearing on songs "Runaway
Runaway (Kanye West song)
"Runaway" is a single by American recording artist Kanye West, released as the second single from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It features a guest verse from rapper Pusha T of Clipse. The single debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100.A 35-minute short film...
" and "So Appalled
So Appalled
"So Appalled" is a Hip-hop song by recording artist Kanye West and appears as the seventh song on the track-listing of his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Originally released unmastered as the seventh G.O.O.D. Fridays track, the song finally made its way onto My Beautiful Dark...
" by Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, propagating his features. On March 21, 2011, Pusha T released his first solo work, a mixtape titled Fear of God. Released independently as well as critically acclaimed, it included features from Kanye West, 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, Rick Ross
Rick Ross (rapper)
William Leonard Roberts II , better known by his stage name Rick Ross, is an American rapper. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Ricky Ross, to whom he has no connection...
, Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams , commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music...
and Kevin Cossom
Kevin Cossom
Kevin 'K.C.' Cossom is an American singer, Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer and arranger. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Orlando, Florida, Cossom has written for a variety of artists including Keri Hilson and Mary. J Blige...
. The EP is a re-release of the mixtape, which has different structure, production and additional tracks. To begin promoting the album, he released a track produced by The Neptunes
The Neptunes
The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s...
, titled "Trouble on My Mind
Trouble on My Mind
"Trouble on My Mind" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Pusha T, released as the first single from his debut EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray. It was produced by longtime collaborators The Neptunes and features hip hop collective OFWGKTA's frontman Tyler, The Creator...
", which features the frontman of rap collective Odd Future
OFWGKTA
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, often abbreviated OFWGKTA and also known simply as Odd Future or Golf Wang, is an alternative hip hop collective from Los Angeles, California...
, Tyler, the Creator
Tyler, the Creator
Tyler Okonma , better known by his stage name Tyler, The Creator, is an American rapper, record producer, music video director, actor, graphic artist and fashion designer from Los Angeles, currently signed to English independent record label XL Recordings and his own record label, Odd Future...
. The track "Everything that Glitters" featuring French Montana
French Montana
French Montana is an American rapper and singer of Moroccan and Somali descent. He is the founder of Cocaine City Records.-Background:Karim Kharbouch, better known by his stage name French Montana, was born in Rabat, Morocco...
is also included on DJ Drama
DJ Drama
Tyree Cinque Simmons better known as DJ Drama is an American hip hop artist and the official DJ for Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I.....
's third album Third Power
Third Power (album)
Third Power is the third studio album by American hip hop artist DJ Drama, released on October 11, 2011. It marks his first album not to be released in the Gangsta Grillz series, after his previous two studio albums Gangsta Grillz: The Album and Gangsta Grillz: The Album ...
(2011). The song "Amen" was originally meant for Young Jeezy
Young Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins , better known by his stage name Young Jeezy, is an American rapper. He is the member of the hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America and a former member of BMF...
and "Raid" was originally meant for 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
for his third album album Curtis
Curtis (50 Cent album)
Curtis is the third studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released September 11, 2007, on Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album features production from Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Timbaland, among others...
(2007). "What Dreams are Made of" samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
a Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
promo.
Singles
The album plays leadLead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
and Pusha T's debut single is "Trouble on My Mind
Trouble on My Mind
"Trouble on My Mind" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Pusha T, released as the first single from his debut EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray. It was produced by longtime collaborators The Neptunes and features hip hop collective OFWGKTA's frontman Tyler, The Creator...
", featuring Tyler, the Creator
Tyler, the Creator
Tyler Okonma , better known by his stage name Tyler, The Creator, is an American rapper, record producer, music video director, actor, graphic artist and fashion designer from Los Angeles, currently signed to English independent record label XL Recordings and his own record label, Odd Future...
. Released on July 12, 2011, the song was structured in two verses by both rappers. The second single "Amen" featuring Kanye West and Young Jeezy was released August 11, 2011.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 66 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released. It also entered at number ten on Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number eight on Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
s Top Rap Albums
Top Rap Albums
Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004....
, and at number twenty-five on its Digital Albums chart. On the second week of its release the album sold 4,300 copies, bringing the total to 13,000 copies.
Critical response
Fear of God II: Let Us Pray received generally positive reviews from music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 74, based on 11 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
MSN Music
MSN Music was a part of the MSN web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. In 2004, Microsoft created an MSN Music download store to compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store, though its sales in comparison were...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave it an A– rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction." Christgau quipped in his review, "The grand beats are safer than the clenched, confining, arrogantly hookless minimalism of Hell Hath No Fury
Hell Hath No Fury
Hell Hath No Fury is the critically acclaimed second album of Virginia hip hop duo Clipse, released on December 7, 2006 in the U.S. and in November of 2006 in some parts of Europe. Like the group's debut album, Hell Hath No Fury is produced by The Neptunes. The guest appearances are limited to...
. But every mean word delivers, and with cameos from Tyler the Creator to 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
it's as if he never went solo."
Track listing
Personnel
- Sean "Puffy" Combs - Composer
- P. Williams - Composer
- The Neptunes - Producer
- Kanye West - Composer
- Nottz - Producer
- Shawty Redd - Producer
- Fabian Marasciullo - Mixing
- Emeka Alams - Design
- Jason Goldwatch - Photography
- Tha Bizness - Producer
- Hit-Boy - Producer
- Dave Kutch - Mastering
- Lee Major - Producer
- Deezy - Producer
- Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford - Producer
- Steven Victor - A&R
- Terrence Thornton - Composer
- Terrence Thornton - Executive Producer
- Terrence Thornton - A&R
- Rennard East - Executive Producer
- Rennard East - A&R
- Elizabeth Gallardo - Assistant Engineer
- Rico Beats - Producer
- Rashid Anthony - Composer
- Rashid Anthony - Producer
- Omar Dubois - Creative Director
- The VIP's - Producer
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
66 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
10 |
| US Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004.... |
8 |