The rapper Pusha T called the ‘lyric king’: “It’s amazing to watch”
Pusha T knows a thing or two about this called rapping. He’s been demonstrating his skills for decades, from his early days with the Clipse to his solo career, gaining a new generation of fans. From Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury to Daytona and It’s Almost Dry, he’s living proof of a timeless artist. With someone boasting a catalogue like his, describing another artist as the “lyric king” is no small feat.
The Virginia rapper has always given Kendrick Lamar his flowers for being one of the best in his craft. K. Dot has remained himself and refused to cater his music to anyone, and it’s something Pusha has the ultimate respect for.
“It’s amazing,” he said at a Revolt World panel in Atlanta. “I’m sure people have said and have told him his whole career, ‘Oh, my God. You rap good. You’re great, but you rap too much. You need to make a song like this. You need to do that.’ It’s amazing to watch him be exactly who he is, be the lyric king.”
He added, “And people who never even listen to lyrics are reciting his freestyles, his battles, his songs. It’s great to watch. And it’s great for what it is we do in lyric-driven hip-hop. It’s great to see.” The duo teamed up in 2013 for ‘Nosetalgia’, a rapping masterclass taken from Push’s My Name Is My Name album.
On July 11th, Pusha will collaborate with Kendrick once again on ‘Chains & Whips’, a song from the new Clipse album, Let God Sort Em Out. Praising Kendrick’s verse, Push told the Elliott Wilson Experience, “Kendrick is a top-level lyricist! We can only have top-level lyricists on a Clipse album. You gotta be a top-level lyricist, you have to be someone who has their own lane, you gotta be legend status, you gotta be up and coming but we can see what’s special.”
Pusha and Kendrick also have something in common: a mutual hatred of Drake. The pair have released diss tracks towards Drizzy over the years, with Push dropping the bombshell ‘The Story of Adidon‘, revealing his son’s existence. On the other hand, Kendrick went back and forth with the Toronto rapper in a rap battle last year, which included the hit single ‘Not Like Us’.
Their beef with Drake is also why Clipse’s new album won’t be released on Def Jam. The company, owned by Drizzy’s label, Universal Music Group, didn’t want the pair collaborating on a song that could potentially diss him. Instead, Clipse paid an enormous fee to get out of the deal and move to Roc Nation.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” Pusha told GQ. “And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there, was like, ‘We’ll just drop the Clipse.’ But that can’t work because I’m still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go…”