St. Petersburg, Florida rapper and singer Rod Wave is back with his latest release Pray 4 Love, which arrived today (April 3). The album is his second studio project and follows last year’s Ghetto Gospel EP.
His early recognition came from the viral TikTok hit “Heart On Ice” in 2019 and ended up on JAY-Z’s end of the year playlist. Before that, Wave release a series of mixtapes called The Hunger Games 1-3 and PTSD. His inspirations include E 40, Kanye West, Kevin Gates, Boosie, and others.
Pray 4 Love is a 14-track set from the relative newcomer. He dropped off the song “Thief In The Night” last month and followed up with the single “The Greatest.”
Wave’s vocal abilities are remarkable, as he’s been singing since the fifth grade. In an era where new artists are expected to sing as well as rap, this 20-year-old artist is living up to his stage name and riding that wave all the way to the bank.
Pray 4 Love was released on Alamo Records with distribution via Geffen. The title track dropped earlier this month and has already racked up millions of views. Wave has proven that he knows how to leverage his music, videos, and social media in a way that keeps his buzz strong.
Earlier this year, he dropped a video for the album cut “Thug Motivation.” His time-release formula of marketing his music has helped build anticipation for the full album official drop.
The song “Dark Clouds” came out in late 2019, so this project has been simmering for a minute. Fans are waiting to see if his sophomore album is going to chart higher than his first, which peaked at No. 7 on Billboard. It debuted at No. 10 and spent a total of 21 weeks on the chart.
Listen to Pray 4 Love below.