Pray for Haiti
{{Short description|2021 album by Mach-Hommy}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Pray for Haiti
| type = Studio
| artist = Mach-Hommy
| cover = Pray For Haiti.jpg
| caption = Cover artwork by Noah Leigh
| released = {{Start date|2021|5|21}}
| genre = * Underground hip hop
| length = 39:19
| label = {{hlist|Griselda|Daupe!}}
| producer = {{hlist|Mach-Hommy (exec.)|Westside Gunn (exec.)|Camoflauge Monk|Cee Gee|Conductor Williams|Denny LaFlare|DJ Green Lantern|Messiah Muzik|Nicholas Craven|Sadhu Gold}}
| prev_title = Mach's Hard Lemonade
| prev_year = 2020
| next_title = Balens Cho (Hot Candles)
| next_year = 2021
| misc =
}}
Pray for Haiti is the nineteenth 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 as well as Tha God Fahim and received universal acclaim from critics.
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.{{Cite web|last=Tigg |first=FNR |url=https://www.complex.com/music/mach-hommy-pray-for-haiti-album-produced-by-westside-gunn |title=Mach-Hommy Drops 'Pray for Haiti' Album Executive Produced by Westside Gunn |publisher=Complex |date=2021-05-21 |access-date=2022-05-11}}
Background
Mach-Hommy and Westside Gunn, though onetime collaborators and labelmates under Griselda Records, had fallen out of touch throughout much of the later 2010s. However, the pair made up late in 2020 and began to collaborate again. 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.'"{{Cite web|last=Buford |first=Jayson |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/mach-hommy-westside-gunn-interview-pray-for-haiti-1187804/ |title=How Mach-Hommy and Westside Gunn Made 'Pray for Haiti' a Modern Hip-Hop Classic |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=2021-06-22 |access-date=2022-05-11}}
The album cover was designed by Noah Leigh, and is an imitation of an untitled painting by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, colloquially titled "Fishing". Leigh's design is identical to the original except the artwork has been flipped and the figure sports a Haitian flag bandana, similar to the one Mach-Hommy wears in public appearances.{{Cite web |last=Dikanifuwa |first=Simba |date=2023-05-18 |title=Mach-Hommy’s “Pray for Haiti”: A Masterclass in Lyrical Technique |url=https://bellwetherdigest.co.za/mach-hommys-pray-for-haiti-a-masterclass-in-lyrical-technique/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=bellwetherdigest.co.za |language=en-US}}
Critical reception
{{Album ratings
| MC = 85/100{{Cite web |title=Critic Reviews for Pray for Haiti - Metacritic |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/pray-for-haiti/mach-hommy/critic-reviews |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=Metacritic |language=en}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Fred |title=Pray for Haiti - Mach-Hommy {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pray-for-haiti-mw0003541507 |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}
| rev2 = Beats Per Minute
| rev2score = 76/100{{Cite web |last=McMullen |first=Chase |date=May 26, 2021 |title=Album Review: Mach-Hommy – Pray for Haiti {{!}} Beats Per Minute |url=https://beatsperminute.com/album-review-mach-hommy-pray-for-haiti/ |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=Beats Per Minute |language=en-US}}
| rev3 = Exclaim!
| rev3score = 8/10{{Cite web |last=Alavo |first=Antoine-Samuel Mauffette |date=June 1, 2021 |title=Mach-Hommy Bursts Out of the Underground While Retaining His Mystery on 'Pray for Haiti' {{!}} Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/mach-hommy_pray_for_haiti_album_review |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=Exclaim! |language=en-ca}}
| rev4 = HipHopDX
| rev4score = 4.1/5{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Riley |date=June 16, 2021 |title=Mach-Hommy's 'Pray For Haiti' Album Is Hardcore Hip Hop With A Vanguard Punch |url=https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.3748/title.mach-hommy-pray-for-haiti-album-is-hardcore-hip-hop-with-a-vanguard-punch |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=HipHopDX}}
| rev5 = laut.de
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite web |last=Gölz |first=Yannik |title=Das nächste große Griselda-Album. |url=http://www.laut.de/Mach-Hommy/Alben/Pray-For-Haiti-116439 |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=laut.de |language=de}}
| rev6 = Pitchfork
| rev6score = 8.8/10{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Paul A. |date=May 27, 2021 |title=Mach-Hommy: Pray for Haiti |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mach-hommy-pray-for-haiti/ |access-date=May 10, 2022 |website=Pitchfork |language=en-US}}
| rev7 = RapReviews
}}
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. 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. Riley Wallace of HipHopDX gave a similar appraisal, describing the album as "fram[ing] hard-as-nails themes with calmly delivered, tastefully complex wordplay", while Fred Thomas of AllMusic characterized Mach's lyrics as "cutting, hilarious, and multi-dimensional". The production on the album has been described as "varied" but generally "stripped-back".
= Accolades =
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| title1 = The 26th Letter
| length1 = 3:39
| extra1 = Denny LaFlare
| title2 = No Blood No Sweat
| length2 = 1:54
| extra2 = Camoflauge Monk
| title3 = Folie à Deux
| note3 = featuring Westside Gunn and Keisha Plum
| length3 = 2:35
| extra3 = Conductor Williams
| title4 = Makrel Jaxon
| length4 = 2:01
| extra4 = Conductor Williams
| title5 = The Stellar Ray Theory
| length5 = 3:15
| extra5 = Conductor Williams
| title6 = Marie
| length6 = 2:49
| extra6 = Cee Gee
| title7 = Leta Yo
| note7 = Skit
| length7 = 0:34
| extra7 =
| title8 = Kriminel
| length8 = 2:36
| extra8 = Nicholas Craven
| title9 = Pen Rale
| length9 = 1:41
| extra9 = Sadhu Gold
| title10 = Murder Czn
| note10 = featuring Westside Gunn
| length10 = 3:28
| extra10 = Camoflauge Monk
| title11 = Magnum Band
| note11 = featuring Tha God Fahim
| length11 = 2:47
| extra11 = Messiah Muzik
| title12 = Rami
| note12 = featuring Westside Gunn
| length12 = 2:28
| extra12 = Camoflauge Monk
| title13 = Kreyol
| note13 = Skit
| length13 = 1:06
| extra13 =
| title14 = Au Revoir
| note14 = featuring Melanie Charles
| length14 = 3:48
| extra14 = DJ Green Lantern
| title15 = Blockchain
| length15 = 1:47
| extra15 = Camoflauge Monk
| title16 = Ten Boxes / Sin Eater
| length16 = 2:50
| extra16 = Denny LaFlare
| total_length =
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|2503801|Mach-Hommy – Pray For Haiti}}
Category:Griselda Records albums
Category:Underground hip-hop albums