Pusha-T had two big goals in mind when it came to its latest street lap victory. almost dry.
One was to provide a fitting follow-up to his third studio album, Event. Daytona — The 2018 project was heightened by a tight seven-song tracklist, a particular beef he transitioned to after that, and the promise that it was his own purple tape (Create only 4 Cuban Lynx). Pusha’s other goal almost dry “I’m really working to get him back,” he says of toddler Nigel Brix Thorton. I’m talking
Nigel, now 2.5 years old, is old enough to understand what his father, Pusha, does for a living. He watched him in awe last summer at DC’s Something in the Water festival (with headphones on, of course), even caught a glimpse of his father on the TV screen, and even got a glimpse of the Joker. Laughing like crazy and rhyming about drug dealing memories. his current lavish lifestyle, and his lifelong journey as a father. “He understands it,” explains Pusha. “He understands that there is an artist element and a television element in his father.”
upon almost drythe self-proclaimed “Martin Scorsese of street rap,” who was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards this February, achieved both of those ends. SimpleNot just for himself, but for the kid who calls him “Dada”.
“I never thought I would become more passionate about hip-hop. Having a son and adopting him has given me the level of focus he brings to my music, and the level of focus he brings to my music. A fair structure and level of determination.My creative process is almost laser-focused,” says Pusha, whose real name is Terrance Thorton, as he looks back on his years at the Grammys night. “I know music is essential, so I need to focus on that. My son can’t afford to have a crazy rapper dad.”
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In all honesty, Nigel has nothing to worry about when his father ends up attending a parent-teacher conference. His April record is proof of that. A dozen tracks that are a reminder of his prowess, produced in equal parts by longtime collaborators Pharrell Williams and Kanye West (whose recent hate speech Pusha denies).
Working with two producers and a handful of worthy collaborators on an album last year marked a quest to discover “the purest level of rap” and a “conversation” full of witty and lyrical references. Pusha says it was somewhere in between. “The conversation alone lasted an hour or two before we made the music,” he recalls. “It was a school of rap geeks. Hip-hop junkieism. It sounds crazy, but it was.”
Tom Brady, Puff Daddy, William Shakespeare, Joaquin Phoenix’s 2019 portrayal of Joker (seen by Pusha several times during the making of the project), LeBron James, Missy Elliott, The Godfather Part II… Really, Anyone or Anything Can Be Considered Great.
When almost dry‘s “all-star cast” was also sprinkled in there at a great level, with the help of Jay-Z, Kid Cudi and Pusha’s older brother Maris. with him at.
“Let’s add Hov to the mix. Do you know what I’m saying? Bring in my brother that no one has heard of and show it’s still there,” said Pusha. talks about the album line-up. “I mean, I feel like it was an all-star cast… There are people who love soul samples and I rhyme about it. I’ve never actually heard that [2002 album] Lord Willin times, [2006’s] there is no anger in hell, those kinds of things. And I feel like people didn’t know they needed both. ”
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First listens to the Grammy-nominated LP were alongside JAY-Z and Puffy, whom Pusha considers the greatest person ever with an “album-making” background. “He made a classic his album for my favorite rapper, The Notorious B.I.G., so it’s like I need to listen to him. I need his ears,” he said of Pusha. tells his PEOPLE. “And so is Hov. Lyrically, there’s no better rapper. So, of course, I always make sure they hear it and the feedback is almost dry, is astounding. ”
Pusha aligns himself with the great, seeks the approval of the great, and considers himself great. His guaranteed confidence hasn’t changed, just as he hasn’t changed what he raps in his 20 years in the game. It’s his lived experience in the drug trade and how that experience shaped him into one of today’s (and yesterday’s) greatest storytellers. hip hop. On the album’s closing “I Pray for You,” Pusha puts this longevity into perspective, saying, “When what you write is timeless, you can live forever.” increase.
“Lyric-driven hip-hop never dies,” he says. “People love smart, articulate hip-hop. No matter what the subject matter is, no matter the actual metaphor art, the simile, the parallels depicted, people love it. They love it.” No matter the street, it doesn’t matter if you like gangster movies, you like romantic movies, you like horror movies, you have your favorite style of movies. [Fans] I really want to let you know that what I do is highly relevant and highly commendable. I appreciate it very much. ”
Pusha T also saw this firsthand.Knocked out some of his legs it’s almost a dry tour And with several festival sets under its belt throughout 2022, the Virginia greats will lead “spectrum” fans on tour. “All ages, all genders, all skin tones,” Pusha proudly tells PEOPLE. “I could tell former dope boys sitting in the stands with their girlfriends to 15-year-olds singing word for word.”
“The spectrum of people, the background, is all over the Pusha T show,” he continues. “And I love it.”
On November 15th, Pusha received the following news. almost dry — which became his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 the first week it became available — secured two consecutive Best Rap Album nods at the Grammy Awards. It’s exactly what he expected, selling t-shirts on his site that read “RAP ALBUM OF THE YEAR” in bold. But Pusha isn’t “prophetic” in his merchandising, as he’s been in the game for over 20 years.
“I know exactly what I’m making, and I know exactly where to hit the vein and the target…that’s it,” he says. “It’s just that we know this subgenre of hip-hop very well and know when we nailed it..We definitely nailed it.'”
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When Pusha found out he was nominated for a Grammy, the first person to call was his wife, Virginia Williams, he told PEOPLE. “She felt neglected,” he admits. “And I was like, ‘Yeah… baby, don’t worry. We got a big one, don’t worry.'”
With big shots under his belt now and competition from fellow contenders Kendrick Lamar, Future, Jack Harlow and DJ Khaled, Pusha will hit the Crypto.com arena stage in two months, Trophy. Is he going to get Nigel to stop talking about the “weird rapper dad”?Will he laugh like a joker up there to salute Joaquin?He’ll thank his brother and say, “Punch Looking back at a career built on ‘rolling in’?
Regardless of what happens on Grammy night, Pusha knows one thing has already been decided: whether or not he will win the trophy. He made the rap album of the year.
“Listen to it, just put it back in for a Grammy nomination, and when you listen to it again, you’re like, ‘Man, we actually made the best rap album of the year,'” Pusha says. “Like a pure rap album, it’s the most eventful rap album of the year. When I say rap, and when I’m talking about actual art, I actually, lyrically murdered it. ”