The reason why Pusha T hates the fourth Clipse album with all his heart
Pusha T is a respected rapper who many love, but few know his roots. The emcee entered the hip-hop arena as one-half of the famous rap duo Clipse that spawned out of Virginia Beach in the late 1990s.
His fellow member was his brother, who rapped as No Malice. With his brother rapping as a duo in their local area, they would rise alongside Virginia Beach natives The Neptunes, frequently featuring on their projects. In 1996, Pharrell Williams helped secure the duo a record deal.
In 2002, they would have a breakout hit from their second studio album, Lord Willin’. However, the duo began to descend quickly due to label disputes and contractual issues interfering with the amount of music they were allowed to release. Still, Pusha was saved by Kanye West, who signed him as a G.O.O.D Music artist.
Between 2002, when ‘Grindin’ was released, Clipse struggled and was far from the most popular duo in the US. The two brothers failed to make an impact commercially but remained consistent. However, in an interview with TIDAL magazine, Pusha revealed that the final album Clipse made before he got signed by Kanye was his worst creation ever.
The Daytona creator was open about his disdain for 2009’s Til The Casket Drops, and unveiled that he truly hates the project, stating, “I hate it and when a song comes on, like ‘I’m Good,’ man, this was a little bit of a bop. Hate it. Soon as I find myself bopping a little bit too much — ah, damn. And there’s another thing. Bro, No Malice is telling you the whole time he’s leaving. You hear it the whole way through the album.”
Speaking about the period after its release when the pair realised their time was up, the renowned emcee explained, “The transition was happening, the album’s out, I’m touring and he comes and brings me a book and says, ‘Man, you probably should go read my book. But I think you should just go solo because I don’t want to do this.'”
In fact, Pusha T’s brother was right as the Virginia musician did have far more success as a solo artist than he ever did with The Clipse. From Daytona to It’s Almost Dry, alongside Kanye West as a G.O.O.D Music signee, he received far more critical acclaim for his music and had a greater sense of creative independence.
Still, over the years he has received negative reviews and his music has been dubbed by some as “cocaine rap.” However, in an interview for The Talks, he rejected the term, declaring, “[The establishment] categorised it as cocaine rap. This is just rap to us! This is reality — telling the perspective of what’s going on outside in your world, whether it be suburbia or inner city. This is what the basis of rap has always been about: storytelling.”
Despite minor hurdles, Pusha T has still seen success, and although he loved his time as part of The Clipse, he still has a hatred for Til The Casket Drops. However, on a positive note, Pusha once admitted he still loves the artwork, disclosing, “Only thing I love about it is the artwork, and that’s because KAWS did it,” he added. “That’s it. ’09. Shout out KAWS!”