“If You Pray Right” by Brockhampton

Posse cuts are usually of the sort that the individual artists are allowed to rap about whatever they want. Put differently, there is only a lukewarm attempt to focus on one particular concept. And in this particular case it seems that it was Kevin Abstract who came up with the overarching theme of “If You Pray Right”. And accordingly he is the one who sticks to it most faithfully.

For a couple of the artists, such as Dom McLennon and Joba, thire way of adhering to an obviously religious motif is by dropping direct references to certain religions in their rhymes. For Dom McLennon, he starts off his verse by spitting nouns which allude to Christianity, Rastafarianism and Islam as well as dropping indirect referrals to Hinduism and Buddhism. Meanwhile Joba seems to be quite frustrated by the fact that a Jehovah’s Witness is at his door.

Conversely Matt Champion and Merlyn Wood don’t seem to make any overt efforts at all to harp on religious topics. It has been theorized that Champion may himself be referring to Jehovah’s Witnesses when he states “don’t leave your door cracked”. However, both his and Merlyn’s verses read more or less like your average streets raps. Merlyn in particular brings up the subject of other artists copying Brockhampton’s style as well as the financial struggles he faced growing up.

Chorus

The chorus, which is provided by Kevin Abstract, also comes off as being directly ‘hood-based. 

Outro of “If You Pray Right”

However, it is during the outro where he gets overtly-religious. It starts off with him spitting really-ambiguous lyrics. But then he gets specific and remembers a “brother” of his who apparently died via “drunk driving”. This leads to him exclaiming that he is “walking with Jesus”, “Jesus Christ” and ultimately “with the Lord”. Arguably he can be referring to his aforementioned brethren being with such entities in the spiritual realm. But overall, it can be concluded that he is also rapping about himself.

Conclusion

So all things considered, it would be a stretch to say that this is a religious song, though it is founded on religious beliefs. Outside of Abstract, the Brockhampton members who do make references to religious concepts don’t do so in terms of espousing them but rather for the most part using them as wordplay. It is only Abstract, caught up in the emotion of losing one of his closest companions to an untimely death, who seems inspired to really transform “If You Pray Right” into a praise song.

Release of “If You Pray Right”

Question Everything Inc. (which is a label owned by Brockhampton) released “If You Pray Right” on 7 August 2019. As of that date, this song is considered to be a feature on Brockhampton’s “Ginger” project.

Kevin Abstract began teasing the release of this track via Instagram a couple of months prior to it actually coming out. 

Source of Song’s Title

The track’s title is derived from a 1987 Nina Simone track entitled “If You Pray Right (Heaven Belongs to You)”.

Writing and Production

“If You Pray Right” was produced by Brockhampton members Romil Hemnani alongsided Jabari Manwa. They also contributed to its lyrical composition with the five vocalists contained therein:

• Kevin Abstract
• Matt Champion
• Joba
• Dom McLennon
• Merlyn Wood

Music Video for “If You Pray Right”

The music video was released at the same time as the song.  It was directed by Spencer Ford. Ford also directed the video for Brockhampton’s “I BEEN BORN AGAIN” song.

FYI, towards the tail end of the visuals of “If You Pray Right”, there is a snippet of another Brockhampton song entitled “Hood Still Love Me”. And that particular section was directed by Brockhampton member, Kevin Abstract.