This summer, PnB Rock’s rendition of French Montana’s “Unforgettable” infiltrated radio giving the 25-year-old Philidelphia singer a prime spot on one of hip-hop’s hottest songs of the year. Just off the heels of his feature on YFN Lucci’s ”Everyday We Lit,” the 2017 XXL Freshman just wants to be the soundtrack to your complicated relationship on his second major label album, Catch These Vibes. Although his knack for melody is notable, it’s less daring than the work of Ty Dolla $ign and dangerously teeters along the monotony of Fetty Wap. It’s an album of symmetry bouncing between hip-hop and R&B, and while PnB struggles to push past the boundaries of his previous work, it shows a young singer slowly finding his way in the major-label apparatus.
At the start, PnB doesn’t want to confuse you with his intentions. Opener “Friends” reads as a text thread from a “Where is this going?” conversation gone wrong. “I wish I could cuff you but I can’t/I wish I could love you but I can’t,” he sings. A relationship is the furthest thing from his mind, and fame is too potent to be sobered by monogamy. PnB’s honesty is admirable and could serve as a comprehensive guide to the conversations you’ve avoided well into your twentysomethings. Towards the end, “You know you my ride or die” is repeated in a distorted loop, somehow undoing all of the transparency he professed for much of the song. Catch These Vibes sits in that warped space of emotion, engulfed in lust, infatuation, and remorse.
PnB Rock is a bit heavy-handed with 10 guest features on an 18-track album, many of which add little to the overall project. Buried nine songs deep is PnB’s melody against the Diplo-inspired track crafted by NGHTMRE. The LA producer challenges PnB, stretching him across his version of EDM, juxtaposing jaded lyrics about an ex who “talks too much.” On “1Day,” PnB sounds as if he’s floating, reverberating over the loops and dips of the production. He remembers the days he received the harshest criticism from someone closest to him: “Mama told me that I wouldn’t be shit/Told her one day, I’ma be rich.” He and Ugly God channel the cadence of Gucci Mane, down to the adlibs, a formula that creates a larger-than-life energy for the usually mellow singer.
Of the eight songs that PnB rides solo, “Pressure” and “Rewind” offer some introspection amid the salaciousness that purveys Catch These Vibes. “Pressure” reflects on the friends he’s lost to the streets, whether it be to death or in jail. “Thinking ’bout my brother, man, I miss that nigga/When he got killed that night I wish that I was with that nigga/Swear I wish heaven was like jail and I could visit niggas.” On the hook, he’s pushing past the pain, trying not to acknowledge it at all: “I gotta stay strong through it all, and act like I ain’t going through it all, through this pressure.” Here, PnB takes a page out of his old notebooks, recounting events like the stories he used to tell during his 33-month prison stint, a moment of honest sentimentality in a way that has been distorted by PnB’s quick rise to fame.
As a closer, “Rewind” feels like the perfect complement to “Friends.” PnB croons over a guitar as he reminisces about the girl who got away. On much of Catch These Vibes, PnB leans on repetition in his songwriting, which at times is underwhelming and a little lazy. This works only on “Rewind,” where repeating elements of the song reinforces the notion of looking at relationships in reverse. He interpolates Usher’s “Confessions” an appropriate melody for the amount of transparency he offers on the record. In his better moments, it’s obvious that PnB Rock could tap into a candid, cohesive project. But the range of emotions Catch These Vibes takes you on feels a little like a Sunday morning hangover—the kind where you promise you’ll never drink again, but are back at the bar next Saturday.
