You couldn’t escape the hype train around Pusha T’s fourth album, It’s Almost Dry, released on April 22. Few artists have the power to make click-and-scrollers slow down long enough to give a new release the attention it deserves.
But the Picasso of the Pyrex, King Push, has an effect on hip-hop unlike anyone before him or to come after.
As one-half of the rap duo the Clipse, he and No Malice set the standard for how "coke raps" were delivered from state to state. Push then upped the ante as a solo artist and president of Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint, servicing audiophiles and rap fiends with vivid, luxe-infused bars that had internet sleuths searching for the origins of his Lanvin-laced lyrics.
Few rappers are operating at a competitive level this far into their careers, placing Pusha T — already one of the game’s most legendary wordsmiths — into rarefied air. Authentic in the streets and history-making when it comes to pop culture and the charts, Pusha T gets the GRAMMY.com examination, as we dive into the key takeaways from It’s Almost Dry.
1. The Holy Triumvirate of Pusha-Ye-Pharrell Is a Full Circle Moment
There may be no other artist outside of Jay Z that connects with Pharrell Williams and Kanye West quite like Pusha T. After hearing him on Nigo’s "Hear Me Clearly" record, Virginia P famously challenged Push to "not become a mixtape rapper for the rest of his life." The gauntlet was officially thrown down between the two megaproducers.
Armed with the clout (and a decades-long history of collaboration), Pusha T convinced Pharrell and Kanye to produce an entire album for him. The resulting It’s Almost Dry highlights the best, and varied, things each beatsmith wanted from Push.\
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"[Kanye] only wants bars, all day, all night — he wants a thousand of them," Push explained in a sit-down with High Snobiety. "Pharrell wants to sit there with me. He uses the term ‘composition’ a lot [...] and it made for such a colorful, well-rounded album because I took both of them and did what they asked of me. And it just works."
The energy between the three parties fuels It’s Almost Dry to go further than they’ve ever gone before, possibly making one of the best rap albums of the year.
2. There’s No ‘Yuugh!’ Anywhere
Adlibs have been a staple in rap, but the last decade has seen them turn into a calling card from those who reign in the upper echelon of hip-hop. Pusha T's "yuugh" has been something that, whenever dropped on a track, signifies that he meant that s**t. Audiences have come to love and appreciate his signature yuugh, but will be surprised to learn that it doesn’t appear anywhere on It’s Almost Dry.
You can only say the type of s**t Pusha T says when you’ve achieved a certain level of success. King Push, he’s more than earned the right to deliver the product how he best sees fit, yuugh!
3. Ye Continues To Explore Family Issues
Listening to It’s Almost Dry can put someone in a fever dream, yet thankfully, Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) tempers the barbiturate bars with some sobering thoughts. For example, "Dreamin Of The Past" — which takes its title from John Lennon’s "Jealous Guy," by way of a sample of Donny Hathaway's version of the song — finds Yeezy in reflection mode, closing the track with some family-centered ponderings.\
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"Born in the manger, the son of a stranger/When daddy’s not home, the family’s in danger," he raps. On "Rock N Roll" (which also marks the final collaboration between Ye and Kid Cudi), the former references his late mother, Donda West ("Love my mama but sometimes dad was right/Take his hand, hold on with all of your might"), not wanting to argue with his ex-wife and wanting a Bel-Air-styled mansion ("I used to watch the ‘Fresh Prince’ and pray the house would be mine/Could have bought it but I ain’t like the way the kitchen [was] designed").\
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Ye has remained publicly silent after being suspended from Instagram, so getting this brief look at what's on his mind through It’s Almost Dry is interesting.
4. "Neck & Wrist" Finds Jay-Z In Take-On-All-Comers Mode
Who else but Hov should you call when you want to talk that ultra-braggart talk? On "Neck & Wrist," the second collaboration between Pusha T and Jay Z, the latter is in his bag and talking spicy towards any enemigo — real or imaginary. The Pharrell-laced beat finds Marcy Jay opening the verse by addressing comedian Faizon Love and the comments he made on Vlad TV.
"The phase I’m on, love, I wouldn’t believe it either/I’d be like, ‘Jay-Z’s a cheat,’ I wouldn’t listen to reason either," he raps. Jay Z goes into his bag for this clever homophone of sorts, turning the joke onto the jokester while emphasizing how his real life is far from fiction.
Whether it was highlighting how The Commission would’ve run rap had the Notorious B.I.G. survived, or serving up his famed triple-entendre references, "Neck & Wrist" is a great example of It’s Almost Dry's dynamic coke raps*.*
5. Pusha T is Hip-Hop’s Drug Dealing Larry David
To quote Rolling Stones’ Will Dukes, "Pusha T is to coke references what Larry David is to absurd social situations." Pharrell’s honest diss as a friend may have inspired Push to make It’s Almost Dry into a rap cinematic tour de force, but the 44-year-old MC has always been a lyrical Martin Scorsese.
Push consistently and creatively delivers new and interesting ways to invoke drug dealing staples. Self-described as "Cocaine’s Dr. Seuss," Push evokes humor, menace, thrills, and pathos into It’s Almost Dry and proves he’s one of the main reasons why coke rap — as a subgenre — exists in the first place.