There’s few artists who mark their territory as well as Pusha T.
He holds the narco rap tag with the ruthlessness of an Escobar. Drug bars are to be expected from a Push project, and with a white dove taking center on the cover, he isn’t being subtle.
Despite this in your face message that Push is a drug dealing emcee, he sneaks in a really strong variety of content. It’s clever in a way, because socio-political messages really take you by surprise. Like on “Sunshine” where Push pens his frustration with racism in America, supported by vocals from the forever-soulful Jill Scott. The surprise that comes equipped with these tracks really helps drive the message home. When Push compares himself to Huey P. or Jill Scott there’s more energy behind it, compared to someone you expect to do that type of name dropping like Lux.
I’m also really impressed with the range on the instrumentals. Push really did a good job curating beats from producers that far off from their normal output. I would’ve never guessed Timbaland made “Untouchable” so big ups to him. Also J. Cole…Dang. That dude deserves some serious love for MPA. I don’t know how much of that came from Kanye–as he’s credited for co production–but regardless it’s a great instrumental.
On Hot 97, Push mentioned a lot of fans pigeonhole him into the shadow of Malice, and at this point I think that’s just unfair. Push has clearly found an expansive voice, and he doesn’t need to lean on a partner (Even though I never thought him a sidekick to Malice but an equal).
At the point of this release, I can’t really find a strong criticism for Push. He’s clearly putting in a lot of work into his music. He’s going to be gathering the fruits of that harvest for a while.
art by your homie, Arthur Banach
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