Project Pat - Real Recognize Real
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Project Pat – ‘Real Recognize Real’ Album Review

Project Pat - Real Recogzine Real album cover

“Play me some pimpin’ mayne.”

“Now they was thinking the Dirty South was like….hee haw hee haw/ is you worth over a hundred mill?/….we are we are!”

These were the words that came from a man that went for the ghetty green as a youngster where he was easily labeled a murderer and robber. From all of his extra-curricular activities in the streets, he built bonafide credibility and became known as “Mista Don’t Play” who had everything working because he was recognized as one who laid the smack down. Through revealing too much muscle for the smack he became a crook by the book and had his own fed story. After being released from hard time, he then returned to being a walking bank roll. Now after all of his life’s experiences he knows how the real recognize the real. This man is Patrick Stephen Houston better known as Project Pat and brother of Three Six Mafia member Juicy J.

“Play me some pimpin’ mane.” It has been a long time coming for Project Pat. He served time in prison on various charges in the mid-1990s, before releasing his first solo album, Ghetty Green in 1999. After serving nearly four years in prison (for possession of a firearm and violating his parole), he was released and motivated for the betterment of his life and rap career. Before his last incarceration, he was considered the spokesman for the entire southern hip hop movement. He released a major distributed album every year before being locked up in 2001, after his platinum release “Mista Don’t Play: Everythangs Workin’.” Today Pat releases his latest album entitled “Real Recognize Real” during the time of a recession where currently, in some states in the U.S., prisons are releasing tens of thousands of inmates because of overcrowding facilities. On another note, in being a rap veteran with acclaimed commercial success with his affiliation with Academy Award winning group Three Six Mafia and being featured on MTV’s reality show “Adventures in Hollyhood”, Project Pat in some instances has had his street credibility questioned. In this fittingly titled album, Pat answers the critics with his latest project, “Real Recognize Real.”

“Play me some pimpin’ mane.” “Real Recognize Real” is a Hypnotize Minds release and Project Pat’s first album to be distributed by Asylum Records. Pat maintains his hood credibility in various tracks on the album. One particular song that adds validity to his street credentials is the smash hit “Keep it Hood” which features So Icy Entertainment’s OJ da Juiceman and a heavy laden classic O’Jays sample from their hit song “Listen to the clock on the wall.” Three Six Mafia show their production genius by proving that a mixture of “OJs” is a fitting recipe for a gargantuan hit radio musical blast. “I got plenty cars/money wads/ ghetto star/hood broads/ felony charge/ I’ma’ keep it hood!” proclaims Project Pat on the chorus as he is supported by the live brass horns in the background. “Catch a Hot One” and “Dead in the Streets” are two of the darkest songs on the album where Project Pat reveals the wars that go on in the streets. “Ain’t Scared of Ya” is a typical Project Pat song where his hood story telling depictions keep listeners on the edge of their seats with possessed head nodding. “Slick Hater” is a common Hypnotize Minds song that sounds repetitive to past productions. The spin-chilling monster laugh in the background of the beat adds for an entertaining listen. “Gold Teeth” is another north Memphis anthem track that Pat delivers with production from DJ Paul who repeats “Drop it off, drop it off” in the beat’s background. Project attempts to take it back to Mista don’t Play with “Talk Dat Gangsta”. In “Choppa to ya dome,” Pat goes to his old self as if it was a song made for his underground album “Murderers & Robbers” where DJ Paul samples a young Pat rapping in his Killa Klan Kaze days. Pat describes what would happen if someone messed with his money in “My Money” which features DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia.

“Play me some pimpin’ mane.” Project Pat loosens up and puts his glock on safety and has a little fun on tracks such as “Bang Smack” which features the animated Gucci Mane, “Pogo Stick”, the strip club anthem where he salivates over a stiletto, skinny jean honey through his lyrics. Pat maintains his usual content of Sex, Money, and drugs with tracks such as “Dats The Way You Do It”, “Horny”, and “Stayin’ High.”

“Play me some pimpin’ mane.” A big hint for sifting out the heat-seekers on the album is if Project Pat’s brother Juicy J says “Play me some pimpin’ mayne” at the top of the song, from there it is a proven bumping banger. Other than the smash “Keep it Hood” which has taken radio airwaves for ransom, the best song on “Real Recognize Real” is “I Be Fresh”. After Juicy J asks for the “pimpin'” at the start of the song the explosion of soul runs through listeners’ ear buds as if they have just received an injection of that same magic that ran through the blood of the late Isaac Hayes and Otis Redding. Project Pat releases classic rhymes in his lyrics in “I Be Fresh” with what many in Memphis would say, “spittin’ that pimpin.” Project Pat spits “I’m riding in the Aston Martin/ Beg your Pardon/ Juicy lips like Gina/ Give me head like I’m Martin.” This song proves to be a Memphis rap classic.

“Real Recognize Real” overall falls short of being a “Mista Don’t Play: Everythangs Workin'” platinum classic but holds itself high as being one of Project Pat’s best albums yet. Some of the content fails to be relevant to the times, even though in “Stayin High” he claimed to stay high like the price of gas. This album was authentic nevertheless and revisited the Project Pat that many have grown to love. A lot of the tracks on the album were taken back to the basics with the raunchy, no holds barred style that has catapulted Pat to where he is today. The two strongest instant classic tracks “Keep it hood” and “I Be Fresh” both make the entire album a must buy. “Real Recognize Real” will send a wave through many hoods and keep the “pimpin” played.

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5 Comments

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  1. A Good Album All In All But The Best Songs Were Prereleased On Mixtapes So It Seems Familiar To A Hardcore Fan But If You Havn’t Heard The mixtapes You Definetly Gon Bump It.

  2. got it yesterday… put a system in yo car and you get a real a-s classic in 09….
    stop bootlegging cause the s--t wont sound the same,,,,,, fake niggaz

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