born on the internet
prayboymantis

8 TRACKS (24:08) // 04/07/2026


prayboymantis’ debut album is a short, yet sweet bundle of atmospheric, introspective DnB and club-style music polished down to a T, doubling as a lesson in human integrity.


The presentation and visual style of this record is honestly quite pristine, as is prayboy’s videography of informational music production content. The album art strikes me as notably different from the rest of their releases, opting for the direct opposite of the usual “scroll Pinterest and pray” art methodology: it’s straight up real footage! The imagery of the computer setup amidst nature’s domain gets me all self-conscious, for better or for worse.
The naming conventions of the tracklist itself are less focused on that juxtaposition, but that’s far from a bad thing. I enjoy how personal this journey can get, and everything not being super-duper technology-rotted might honestly be for the best here. I see the album’s progression more as moving on from the internet’s influence, rather than continuing to revel in its volatility.


The production on this album oozes with great polish. Building on that general idea of “setting your mind free of the internet’s influence”, these soundscapes ring to me like something of an oxymoron: synthetic, yet natural; as is the core concept of ambient DnB - the fusion of polar opposites into a dance of yin and yang. The first sounds to stand out are, of course, the drums. The breakbeats vowen throughout this record’s grooves are a pleasant breath of fresh air, being shaped from multiple samples and further edited down to feel like something I haven’t heard hundreds of times. They pair very well with the recognizable pads, vocals and occasional acoustic instruments carefully utilized throughout. Things just stick into memory here: it took no time for me to mentally map each track as “that one with the [xyz]”, and that happens with all sorts of things in the music, not just cool breaks.
I’d liken the amount of care put into individual sounds to artists like deadmau5 - his dedicated fans can recognize entire tracks by kickdrum alone. For something like the harder-styles scene, it’d make some sense: hard kicks are elaborate pieces of work, and often stars of the show. But with less busy, cleaner sounding genres, it’s even more impressive. But I digress - when you do something right, no one will know how wrong it could’ve gone.

I may sing many praises about how all the tracks sound “very polished”, but don’t let that make you think this is something industry-grade, engineered in a private studio, and ran through ten executives before releasing with a marketing budget towering over your yearly wage tenfold. The fact that it isn’t like that is what’s great; it’s partly why I’m here talking about it now! Where this independence is most apparent is when you’re faced with a track literally called “my dog lives on in my camera roll” and proceed to hear what is most presumably a video of said dog. God damn.
The smooth piano lines laid front and center in “don’t cry, break!” remind me of jazzy hip-hop beats, à la Denzel Curry’s “The Ills”, in the best way. Though, I don’t think I’m the biggest fan of the vocal sample present throughout: it’s a juxtaposition that doesn’t resonate with me quite that well, or maybe it’s actually just not fun to listen to all the time; maybe could’ve cut down on the repetition of that line. Maybe it would’ve fit better on a more clubby track, who knows? Speaking of clubby, tracks like “self-obsessed loser” and “too introverted for the club” I absolutely adore as mix-ups to the traditional formula.
You’ll hear me gush about multi-genre albums later, but for now, just know that they are wonderful showcases of an artist’s range, experience and intent. It often feels like peering into different areas of one’s life and mind.


born on the internet won’t be your end-all, ultimate album. It’s very much subdued, and perhaps could be described as vulnerable in a tonal sense. It isn’t defined by 30-second peaks. But none of that is a weakness - what’s done, is done right, and that’s all you can truly ask from a piece of art. Many of the tracks have this downright hypnotic quality to them, drawing me away from what was on my mind just a few minutes ago: over the handful of months I’ve spent with the album, I often found it to comfort me more than anything in times of change. If I could bring two albums with me on another international journey, it’d be this and Ꚛrtodoxia III (الولاء) by modest by default.

Watching their video on their musical origin story has expanded my appreciation of this work greatly. We absolutely need more artists willing to share their experiences and artistic processes like this. Such stories often leave me with a much more lasting impression than any finished audio file would. Wouldn’t wanna bring AI into this, but… you know. Integrity of this sort is important nowadays.


FAVORITES:

  • too introverted for the club
  • self obsessed loser
  • my pc is my bff
  • my dog lives on in my camera roll