P Reign has experienced a uniquely Canadian rap career. He was unable to enter the United States from 2004 to 2015, due to a technicality stemming from a drug trafficking charge he caught at age 18.
"People don’t understand that making it out of Toronto or Canada is a hundred times harder than the US," he told Noisey. "They say that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. I say if you can make it out of Toronto, you can make it anywhere."
Click through the gallery to listen to of the most 10 important tracks of P Reign's career.
"Money In My Pocket"
When P Reign released his single "Money In My Pocket" in 2009, he was still facing weapons charges after police found three loaded guns in a rented SUV. (He was acquitted in 2011.) Indeed, "Money In My Pocket" might be compared to the swaggering, still-hustling feel of Jeezy's seminal breakout tape Trap or Die.
"In My Hood"
Drake made a cameo in the music video for 2010's "In My Hood," a tribute to Kingston-Galloway, the Scarborough neighborhood where P Reign grew up. Drake and P Reign were old friends at this point having first met when they were teenagers. "I knew him as an actor," P Reign recalled in an interview with Noisey, "and I was like, 'who the fuck is this guy?'”
"Call My Name" (feat. Lokz & Kim Davis)
"Call My Name" is P Reign's obligatory bedroom jam -- in the video, he consorts with a sexy maid who featherdusts his crotch: "The bathtub, the closet, the bathroom, the office, the balcony or the cottage/ just call my name and I'm on it."
"We Them Niggas" feat. A$AP Rocky
P Reign initially met Rocky through Drake's muscle man Chubbs. "We were on set [of the 'We Them] video shoot and he was like, 'Yo, P you gotta put on these skinny jeans and these Givenchy shoes and all these designer clothes,'" he told Complex. "I don't dress like that, I don't rock that type of shit, so he was putting me on all this weird European-designed expensive shit. I was like, 'I don't know if I can do this.'" Rocky ended up giving P one of his own pairs of Givenchy shoes to wear in the video, and keep afterward.
"Where You Been"
P Reign included "Where You Been" on his 2014 mixtape Dear America as a bonus track but it turned out to be something of a fan favorite. "I remember my boy Kevin Durant hit me and was like 'Yo, that ‘Where You Been’ is crazy!'" P Reign told RWD Mag.
"DnF" feat. Drake & Future
"DnF" is by far P Reign's best-known song, due in large part to Drake's immense melodic powers and Future earworm hook. But P's complicated relationship with his label RCA prevented the song from getting the radio push it deserved.
Drake and P filmed the music video on the island of St. Maarten.
"Chickens" feat. Waka Flocka
P Reign's parents grew up in Guyana, and he returned to his ancestral homeland with Waka Flocka to shoot the "Chickens" music video.
"Guyana is known for drugs," P explained to Complex in a 2014 interview. "The number one thing Guyana is popular for is cocaine. So they are into all the rap stars who speak about that."
"Realest in the City" feat. Meek Mill & PartyNextDoor
PartyNextDoor delivers one of the best verses of his career on "Realest in the City", which leads one to question why he couldn't have simply pursued this sort of sound on P3.
"Palm Trees" feat. Travis Scott
One tends to associate palm trees with warm breezes and pina coladas. On Off the Books standout "Palm Trees," Travis Scott subverts this trope with his signature brand of Mike Dean-style gothic synths and auto-tuned vocal runs.
"Dipped in Gold" feat. Young Thug & T.I.
"Dipped in Gold" features the ATL triumvirate of T.I., Young Thug, & London on da Track. This song is striking for a couple of reasons: first, it illustrates how Thug's delivery has evolved in the past 14 months, and second, P Reign raps with an impressive vocal authority that begs the question: is he a what-if rapper, foisted by the United States' stingy immigration policy. Perhaps. He is 31 years old -- there is still time for him to fulfill his potential.