Yeah. I liked this promo pic as the album cover more than the official one and the early review album art that industry people got, I'm using this. Pusha T is back after four years later from his previous album release “Daytona”, which was a fun summer for the good music label, Every song was produced by Ye and 7 songs each. I was kinda hyped to hear this, even though I’ll admit with push, you already know what you're in for. Coke raps, clever world play, and dope production. I think what intrigued me about this album is that this is essentially a Verzuz battle between Ye and Pharrell.
If you’re living under a rock, the Verzuz battles were a thing during the early days of the pandemic where either two producers, artists, songwriters, or groups would battle each on who had the better songs/beats. I enjoyed the battles we got, the more intriguing when they had the battles via IG live and sometimes each artist had a cute little setup to prove who was the better one that day. I’ll admit, while we did get some great memorable moments and battles, they were a few that bombed or didn’t live up to expectations. Ye was a name that was always brought up to do this, mainly against guys like Drake or Jay. Pharrell/Neptunes is also another name that would get brought up too as well, but both never participated. Ye vs P is one of those dreams matches people brought up, in my personal opinion while I love Ye production but for a hit against hit, I think P would have the advantage with the R&B side.
So where Am I going with this you say? Ye and Pharrell handle the entire production of this new Push album. You can definitely tell who produced what with every song. Ye got the soul samples that push has been doing since his solo days, with The Neptune's, you got the early Clipse shit we are accustomed to. I went into this with my imagination of this two facing off against each other on the grand stage (minus the most likely Ye Rant). Now, to say who won in my imagery battle if they only play these songs, I honestly couldn’t say, it's a draw in my opinion. I'll say, however, that I like the Ye-produced songs more than the Neptunes.
“It’s Almost Dry” kicks off strong and ends strong but I feel like a lot of the middle, weighs downs the entire album…but not much. The very odd song with Ye and Cudi “Rock N Roll” which is apparently the final Cudi and Ye track they will do together (for now) doesn’t fit this album at all. The sample is from a Beyoncé song, mixing her vocals with the famous chipmunk filter, which it’s a guilty pleasure of mine to hear but I wish the beat had hit more punch to it. I don’t complain about mixing too much nowadays on music but Ye’s and Cudi vocal mixing sound so bad. Ye sounded like he had a sore throat and Cudi vocal effect sounds like he’s screaming over a turtle beach headset. I will say, Pusha does a have clever line about Mario but also a cringe bar about being the joker. I think with the back story of this track, it should’ve been scrapped.
“Scrape it Off” with Uzi and Don Toliver could’ve been cut from the album too. To me, it sounds like it would fit better for Don’s next album than a Pusha album. The track also has Pusha’s weakest verse on this album too, that’s another reason too that I didn’t care for this song. “Neck and Wrist” was the 2nd lead single, man something about this song just didn’t hit for me. I don’t what it is, I’m a huge Jay fan but every guest verse we get isn’t that great at all. Overhyped is a perfect word and way to describe the occasional verses we get from the man. To me, the song just sounds dated as hell too. For the rest of the album, we don’t get anything really new or groundbreaking, he does dive into some new flows and Melodies but I think that’s ok. We know what to get with this man’s music, he said himself many many times in interviews. He embraced the meme of him only doing coke-based raps, so whatever works, don’t fix as the old saying goes. it’s just funny seeing people complain is all.
The intro song does have Pusha getting personal about his former manager. In an infamous interview, Geezy claimed 95 percent of the Clipse's music was based on his own life, meaning Pusha and Malice's life were lies. This ain’t the first these claims have been made, Drake said the same thing in his tiring feud with Push. I don’t have a say on this matter, I’m not really gonna question someone’s upbringing and background but I will say this ain’t the first time something like this has happened. I’ll leave it at that. I thought the song was good though, you can tell push was hurt. "LTSSTC” sounds like a vintage Clipse, Pusha calling himself "Cocaine Dr. Suess" is a funny and cringe eye-rolling moment at the same time. "Dreamin Of The Past" has this dope Donny Hathway sample, I fell in love with this song right away. The line about his weight keeping folks on bikes like Amblin was dope to me, if you are familiar with the movie company, Ye's short verse was fine. Just getting sick of the *sniffles* I want my wife back raps at this point.
"Just So You Remember" was an ok track, I mentioned earlier, That Joker line made my eyes roll. I think what helps the track is the sampled chorus and lowkey eerie beat. "Diet Coke" was the lead single and could gush about this track all day, I love the production, Fat Joe intro, and Push's pen game was an MVP level here. Up there with my favorite tracks of the year so far. "Call My Bluff" had me doing the Tony Yayo hand dance that John Cena used for his taunt for many years when this track played. I think him changing his flow on here was a nice switch-up. I think him saying "I wish my fanbase was more like J Cole" is funny, I feel like they kinda do with Push embracing the whole coke gimmick. "I Pray For You" as I said earlier, great ending to the album. Sounds like it was a leftover idea for Donda One and Two but glad Pusha got ahold of this one. Malice using his old name, getting back into his bag mixed with the gospel bars was so good. the best feature I've heard all year. HE WAS IN THAT ZONE.
Overall, fine album. Not bad but not good either. Maybe with time passed throughout the rest of the year, I'll like this album more. I hope this doesn't get lost in the shuffle of many big names finally dropping projects but I don't think it will. At least some people agree with me about we finally got that Neptunes vs Ye Verzuz battle via a Pusha T album and not IG Live.
Favorite Tracks: Diet Coke, Dreamin Of The Past, Call My Bluff, Brambleton, Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes, I Pray For You, Open Air
Least Favorite Tracks: Rock N Roll
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