Texas bred emcee Nick Pratt entered the scene with his 2010 debut EP Fear of Falling, which led him to open for artists such as: Wale, Tanya Morgan, Wiz Khalifa, Dom Kennedy, Pac Div and Young Scolla.

The debut also scored Pratt online, national and international buzz reflected with several blog posts, BET’s “The Deal,” and JENESIS Magazine’s “Under the Radar” section.  Hoping to match the success of his previous EP, Pratt releases his sophomore EP The New Cool, presented by BlackOutPMG, CSB, The9elements, and YNotDream.

The title of the EP, definitely works as a fitting name.  The sound of the project hasn’t necessarily shifted from the first project–Pratt’s southern drawl, country grammar, candor, lyricism, wordplay and personality are all still present, however, there is a new and clear growth reflected in this project which leads to the title.  Featuring production from Texas production team, Red Prodigy, and DJ YS, the EP shows listeners and aspiring emcees exactly what you need to do to make a dope project from start to finish.

First, you must have dope production—shown with most of the songs on the EP however, specifically, “Peach Faygo,” “Last Call,” “All Mine,” “Sinner’s Prayer” “Killin It,” and “dumbFresh,” featuring Prophetic.  On any project, the production works with your lyrics.  If your production sucks, but your lyrics are okay, you will still suffer because you need more than a few good bars, or punch lines to help drive a song.

Secondly, you must have dope lyrics and this is Pratt’s specialty.  On the female driven, “Last Call,” Pratt raps in a way that I wish more rappers would when dedicating a song to a woman.  You can direct your lyrics to us, but remember some of us are hip-hop heads, and have more dimensions than overly corny or explicit lyrics and with the beat, and with this part in particular, I feel Pratt remembered that fact.  He raps, “So if they should yell the last call for our love/ I would stop what I’m doing to the bar I would run/ I would call out your name and tell them to bar me up/ Give me shot after shot till they say I’ve had enough but I’m punch drunk in love you’ve got me ripe/ If you say goodbye I hope it’s just for tonight.”

On the second leak from the project, “Sinner’s Prayer” Pratt says, “…but it seems like cool and Christian don’t mix and the cool means the Christian don’t exist/ And I been trying to find balance because I know I wouldn’t be here without the love you shown/ Though I’m broke and alone I aint lost and dead/ not a slave to these drugs or locked away in the Feds/ and for that I give praise/ I’m waiting for my rainbow but first I know I gotta see the rain/ but the sun will shine it’s face and the hurt will be replaced with even more of your love and your everlasting grace.”

Another notable on the lyric sector would definitely have to be “All Mine.”  A song based around the aspect of all of his hard work finally panning out.  The introduction to this song captivates listeners to want to have a good time, and really appreciate who Pratt is as an artist.   Pratt raps, “Pour another glass, just another splash to commemorate that this has happened so fast/ I’m living a movie this is my supporting cast, not just a entourage the play a bigger role than that/ Welcome to my life, welcome to the glamour/ Far from a baby but a nigga getting pampered/ shaking off the hate/ shaking off the lies and slander/ living for the moments you can’t capture on camera.

The third lesson this EP shows is that you must have “swag.”  Despite how cliche the word is, it’s necessary for a solid project.  Aside from having good production and good lyrics one of the factors that drives Pratt’s EP is swag and the way he flows making his lyrics both relatable and believable.  Always remember, just because you know how to rap, doesn’t mean that anyone wants to listen to you or your song could be a single.  What really drives a song is the “swag” or the energy you put out which makes people want to listen to you–”swag” is key.

Personal standouts: “Peach Faygo” “Sinner’s Prayer” “Killin it” “Last Call” “All Mine”

Download Nick Pratt’s The New Cool presented by BlackOutPMG, CSB, The9Elements and YnotDream here.