With only three previous albums under his belt Jim Jones has somehow managed to push himself to the forefront of the entire Dipset movement. Four years ago it would have been absurd to believe that Jones would be outshining both Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana but a string of likeable efforts in On My Way To Church, Harlem: Diary Of A Summer, and Huslter’s P.O.M.E. have proven to all be viable efforts in the eyes of most hip hop consumers. After a more than two year layoff Jimmy returns with his latest effort, Pray IV Reign, his first major label distributed album to date.

Jim Jones blasts off his fourth effort on some 70’s blaxpolitan shit on the album’s “Intro” which ends up serving as an actual track. Producer Supa Dave West laces Jones with a fresh springtime mixture of unfamiliar sounds on the effectively experimental “Let It Out.” Compared to Noe and Jim Jones, Ludacris sounds most at home over Ron Browz’s commanding production efforts on “How To be A Boss.” Jimmy sticks with unconventional wisdom as he connects with Ryan Leslie on the super sultry “Precious” as well as the pre-determined soundtrack to the newest urban concept on “Frenemies.”

Jim Jones has obviously decided to leave the streets alone as evidenced by his newfound desire for women on tracks such as “Medicine”, “Blow The Bank”, and the over-the-top “This Is For My Bitches.” Fortunately for the hood’s sake Jim Jones seems to revert back to his older self on another one of the album’s delightfully experimental tracks in the Triple-A produced “This Is The Life.”  

For most of the album Jim Jones moves in directions that may seem questionable by most hip-hop standards but tracks such as “Pop Off” and the Ron Browz produced first single “Pop Champagne” prove that the Capo just doesn’t give a fuck about protocol. When Jones isn’t going off on random club tantrums or isolated drug deal rants he actually proves to have a penchant for piecing together soulful efforts as evidenced by the standouts “My My My” and “Rain.” The album closes on a pretty good note as Brittney Taylor assists Jones on the already familiar “Na Na Nana Na Na” where the two show their love for tough party nights over a solid ILLFONICS knocker.

I must say that I give Jim Jones credit for breaking the mode and dropping an album full of unheard of sounds but in the end its those unfamiliar sounds that hamper the over all project the most. The other persistent gripe that I have with Pray IV Reign is the over abundance of party and female joints. It seems as though Jim Jones has been so busy “baaaallllllinnnnn” in the boardroom that he has all but forgotten about his Harlem street origins. In all honesty Jim Jones seems to be steadily declining each time he comes out and Pray IV Reign might just not leave any room for anticipation for his next effort by fans or critics.

VERDICT – 11 / 20
LYRICS: 3
PRODUCTION: 3
DELIVERY: 3
CONSISTENCY: 2