Pusha T- DAYTONA: Album Review
After a last-minute name change and controversial album cover, rapper Pusha T released his long awaited third studio album, Daytona, on Friday. The album, originally slated to be titled King Push, clocks in at a brief seven tracks and 22 minutes, with only two guest verses, Rick Ross and Kanye West. The day before the release of Daytona, the cover art for the album was revealed as a tabloid photo of Whitney Houston's hotel bathroom cluttered with drugs, according to XXL Mag, fitting with Pusha's lyrical content of drug dealing and excess. This was reportedly Kanye West's choice, paying $85,000 to license the photograph. Many online questioned weather or not the artwork was in bad taste.
The content of Daytona is par for the course for Pusha T. Since beginning his rap career in the early 2000's with his brother Malice, the duo Clipse have always detailed the life of selling drugs; the dark side, as well as the luxury and status it brings. While the content remains the same, Pusha T's lyrics stay fresh. It is fairly remarkable how Pusha raps about selling cocaine on every project, yet still finds clever ways to describe the lifestyle, and keeps his core fans coming back every time. He sums up his achievements on the song "Come Back Baby," a standout track: "Wrist for wrist, let's have a glow-off; fuck it, brick for brick, let's have a blow-off; if we go by connections made, I can still climb ladders when complexions fade."
His first album since late 2015's King Push-Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, Daytona shares the same minimalist sound as Pusha T's previous albums. The instrumentals are often bare, featuring only sample and drum loops. While simple, they are never boring, and Pusha T rides these beats perfectly, allowing his lyrics to cut even deeper than they would otherwise. Unlike previous efforts, Daytona is produced in-full by Kanye West. The two work closely together, as Pusha T is the president of West's "GOOD Music" record label.
While all very minimal, the songs on Daytona are diverse. "If You Know You Know" is the perfect start to the album, with synths that sound like sirens and chopped high-pitch vocals that bring energy as Pusha delivers his verses. The next song, "The Games We Play," one of the grittier tracks, features a catchy soul guitar riff over a beat that could have came out of the 90's. On both songs, Pusha is cocky and focused while detailing a life of moving weight.
"Santeria" is probably most sonically interesting song on the album. The eerie Spanish hook and Latin guitar sample set the track apart from others, and the beat switch at the end times perfectly with Pusha rapping about a fallen friend and aggressively taking aim at his foes, "leave you like Malcolm where X marks your grave." On "What Would Meek Do?" Pusha T continues his braggadocios coke rap, while Kanye jokes about his recent now-infamous tweets in which he vocalized support for President Trump: "If you ain't driving while black, do they stop you?; will MAGA hats let me slide like a drive-thru?"
One slight drawback from Daytona comes as a result of the closing track "Infrared." Here, Pusha takes jabs at rapper Drake, as well as the YMCMB label. "The lyric pennin' equal the Trumps winning, the bigger question is how the Russians did it; It was written like Nas but it came from Quentin." This line is a reference to when Drake was exposed for working with a ghostwriter, Quentin Miller, in 2016. While a clever jab, bringing up this issue two years later doesn't make Pusha T look good; even more so after Drake released "Duppy Freestyle" the same day, in which he aggressively went after both Pusha T and Kanye, causing internet rap debates to explode. Reigniting an old feud seems fairly unnecessary, especially when many in the court of public opinion will deem Drake the winner regardless, given his popularity.
All in all, Daytona proves how comfortable Pusha T is in his element. The way he flows over the scarce production demonstrates that he knows where he fits best. The beats on this album are all excellent, each one unique. The anticipation for the work that Kanye teased earlier this month, among them a solo album and a Nas album, should be growing if it isn't already. Despite his erratic antics, he appears to be locked-in as a producer.
Lyrically, Pusha hasn't missed a step since we last heard from him. While My Name is My Name and King Push: The Prelude are more complete projects, Daytona feels like an exercise for Pusha, like fun even. However, Daytona's short length leaves more to be desired. It begs the question of what took the album so long to be released. But in an age of bloated and feature-filled rap albums, Daytona's length and simplicity is refreshing. Pusha T's direct and gritty music sets himself apart from his contemporaries. "Im too rare amongst all of this pink hair," he raps.
While it may sound contrived, Pusha stays true to his dealing roots in the sense that he keeps fans coming back again and again. Daytona is a concise, dark album where Pusha T continues to dominate the lane of high-end, luxurious drug rap. By the end of the year, Daytona will be talked about as one of the best hip-hop releases. The "Kim Jong of the crack song" has struck again.
Rate: A
The content of Daytona is par for the course for Pusha T. Since beginning his rap career in the early 2000's with his brother Malice, the duo Clipse have always detailed the life of selling drugs; the dark side, as well as the luxury and status it brings. While the content remains the same, Pusha T's lyrics stay fresh. It is fairly remarkable how Pusha raps about selling cocaine on every project, yet still finds clever ways to describe the lifestyle, and keeps his core fans coming back every time. He sums up his achievements on the song "Come Back Baby," a standout track: "Wrist for wrist, let's have a glow-off; fuck it, brick for brick, let's have a blow-off; if we go by connections made, I can still climb ladders when complexions fade."
His first album since late 2015's King Push-Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, Daytona shares the same minimalist sound as Pusha T's previous albums. The instrumentals are often bare, featuring only sample and drum loops. While simple, they are never boring, and Pusha T rides these beats perfectly, allowing his lyrics to cut even deeper than they would otherwise. Unlike previous efforts, Daytona is produced in-full by Kanye West. The two work closely together, as Pusha T is the president of West's "GOOD Music" record label.
While all very minimal, the songs on Daytona are diverse. "If You Know You Know" is the perfect start to the album, with synths that sound like sirens and chopped high-pitch vocals that bring energy as Pusha delivers his verses. The next song, "The Games We Play," one of the grittier tracks, features a catchy soul guitar riff over a beat that could have came out of the 90's. On both songs, Pusha is cocky and focused while detailing a life of moving weight.
"Santeria" is probably most sonically interesting song on the album. The eerie Spanish hook and Latin guitar sample set the track apart from others, and the beat switch at the end times perfectly with Pusha rapping about a fallen friend and aggressively taking aim at his foes, "leave you like Malcolm where X marks your grave." On "What Would Meek Do?" Pusha T continues his braggadocios coke rap, while Kanye jokes about his recent now-infamous tweets in which he vocalized support for President Trump: "If you ain't driving while black, do they stop you?; will MAGA hats let me slide like a drive-thru?"
One slight drawback from Daytona comes as a result of the closing track "Infrared." Here, Pusha takes jabs at rapper Drake, as well as the YMCMB label. "The lyric pennin' equal the Trumps winning, the bigger question is how the Russians did it; It was written like Nas but it came from Quentin." This line is a reference to when Drake was exposed for working with a ghostwriter, Quentin Miller, in 2016. While a clever jab, bringing up this issue two years later doesn't make Pusha T look good; even more so after Drake released "Duppy Freestyle" the same day, in which he aggressively went after both Pusha T and Kanye, causing internet rap debates to explode. Reigniting an old feud seems fairly unnecessary, especially when many in the court of public opinion will deem Drake the winner regardless, given his popularity.
All in all, Daytona proves how comfortable Pusha T is in his element. The way he flows over the scarce production demonstrates that he knows where he fits best. The beats on this album are all excellent, each one unique. The anticipation for the work that Kanye teased earlier this month, among them a solo album and a Nas album, should be growing if it isn't already. Despite his erratic antics, he appears to be locked-in as a producer.
Lyrically, Pusha hasn't missed a step since we last heard from him. While My Name is My Name and King Push: The Prelude are more complete projects, Daytona feels like an exercise for Pusha, like fun even. However, Daytona's short length leaves more to be desired. It begs the question of what took the album so long to be released. But in an age of bloated and feature-filled rap albums, Daytona's length and simplicity is refreshing. Pusha T's direct and gritty music sets himself apart from his contemporaries. "Im too rare amongst all of this pink hair," he raps.
While it may sound contrived, Pusha stays true to his dealing roots in the sense that he keeps fans coming back again and again. Daytona is a concise, dark album where Pusha T continues to dominate the lane of high-end, luxurious drug rap. By the end of the year, Daytona will be talked about as one of the best hip-hop releases. The "Kim Jong of the crack song" has struck again.
Rate: A
Comments
Post a Comment