G.O.O.D. Music
Pusha T’s a way smarter guy than he lets on. Seriously.
It’s assumed that one has to live up to a certain kind of stereotype as a street rapper and a former coke dealer which Pusha does well. After all he’s spent a decade in Clipse where he and his brother Malice (who recently converted to Christianity) spit harsh rhymes about kilos snow bricks and whatever other euphemism there is for cocaine over hollow minimalist beats usually produced by legendary producers The Neptunes. He’s never come off as stupid but he’s also clearly painted a picture of himself as a Rick Ross-esque gangsta.
That image begins to crumble on Pusha’s latest solo EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray . His intellect is often clouded on the record by the not-so-brilliant lyrics from collaborators such as Young Jeezy 50 Cent and Tyler the Creator. But after a couple of spins of the album which sports way too many over-the-top southern synths that sound sonically identical lyrical gems begin to emerge.
Pusha starts the EP out by admitting “God in heaven knows what I feel inside / Responsible for all this inner-city genocide.” He later takes a clear shot at Reaganomics with the line “I’m what dreams are made of / Cocaine Ronald gave us.” The most impressive line comes near the end of the release when Pusha announces “You know what pain is? Flushing two bricks and have a nigga try to strain it out the drainage.”
Pusha certainly isn’t a saint. Fear of God II won’t change rap. But if he gets rid of the mainstream beats and continues to retrospectively explore his life his upcoming 2012 release will be epic.
