Pusha T is a legend in hip-hop and has worked with the best of the best. As one-half of the famous rap duo Clipse, the lyricist (real name Terrence Thornton) rose out of Virginia Beach in the late 1990s and worked with Pharrell Williams regularly.
Since his rise in the 2000s, Thornton has worked with Jay-Z, Rick Ross and even signed with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music in 2004. However, in an interview with Angie Martinez, the Virginia rhymer unveiled his favourite album of all time.
Speaking to the Bronx radio personality for Warner Music Group’s new visual podcast series Iconic Records, Thornton asserted that Biggie Smalls’ Life After Death is the “best double album ever.”
Iconic Records breaks down some of the most iconic projects of all time, and, aside from Pusha, Biggie’s penultimate album was praised by rap legends such as Lil Cease, Fat Joe, DJ Premier and Too $hort and Mobb Deep’s Havoc.
The podcast wasn’t the first time Thornton has lauded Biggie Smalls (real name Christopher Wallace). In an opinion piece Pusha wrote for Rolling Stone, the Virginia native wrote, “I believe the Notorious B.I.G. was the greatest rapper who’s ever lived. His personality was all confidence. This guy’s 300-plus pounds with a fucking lazy eye — and what woman did not love Biggie Smalls? You have to be damn near magical to do that.”
He also revealed that he “wrote all of [the Clipse’s 2006 album] Hell Hath No Fury trying to be Big. The whole thing, every line, every fluctuation in my voice, I was trying to sound like Big. On ‘Keys Open Doors,’ when I say, ‘Make your skin crawl / Press one button, let the windfall / Who gon’ stop us?/ Fuck the coppers, the mind of a kilo shopper’ — that’s all Big.”
In another episode of Iconic Records, Rick Ross spoke about Biggie exclaiming, “He had the attention of not just the rap game, but the entire world! … There will never be another B.I.G.” You can watch Pusha T’s interview below.
