Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Pusha Tin album mode is like a wrestler gearing up for the main event.
Few people on the planet are as confident about what they do as the rapper born Terrence Thornton.
Hes earned it; the catalogue is tremendous.
Over the past decade, working with Yes G.O.O.D.
Its premise is simple:Yeproduces six songs, and the other six go toPharrell.
.Biggest difference between being produced by Ye and by Pharrell
.
Kanye and Pharrell love two very different things about me.
And Kanye just wants bars.
And Imma edit your shit, do a whole bunch of shit to your shit.
You got the best of both worlds on this one project.
I tried to hide the fact hes involved.
As soon as his name comes up, its time to take him to the cleaners.
Its the most unfair shit Ive ever seen.
Its almost like they know he literally doesnt give a fuck.
Hell be like, Okay, well, great.
They want 97 percent of the record.
Give it to them!
I want the record.
People come up with the most outlandish rates and numbers.
It has to be a known thing throughout the industry.
It has to be!
Hes such a fucking artist.
He just wants what he wants, and thats it.
The end-all, be-all is to get the song.
.Favorite memory of making Diet Coke with Ye
I look for what that beat reminds me of.
Theres always something there that made you bop a certain way, something that you might have said immediately.
I fuck that part up a lot.
But Ive been taught not to let go of that first flow.
Thats usually where the initial freestyle or the words that Im playing with come from when Im beingproducedproduced.
OnIts Almost Dry, it happened with both Pharrell and Kanye.
We werent compromising with the bars.
Ye was like, I want a cadence every time.
It happened specifically on Diet Coke.
I guess I was taking too long to write to it.
He was like, Nah, man, you not getting out of this one.
He does his best mumble rendition of who he thinks I am.
He goes through the beat like that.
He was like, This is the cadence.
This is what you do.
Production has always been a big part of my makeup.
You have to be a bit more selfless.
Youre not just doing this for you.
Youre not just doing this for the best line.
Youre doing this for the best line that marries the track that youre on top of.
.Lessons from witnessingthe end of Ye and Kid Cudi
It fucking sucks.
You know Cudi is my fucking brother to the end.
Just navigating these relationships, this brotherhood, the arguing … it gets public.
Its one thing for us to argue.
We all argue thats not a problem.
It gets out there, whether its Ye bickering first, or Cudi coming back with what he says.
The day we made this record, everybody was so fucking happy.
Yes chopping theBeyonce sample.
Cudi happens to come in that day.
We see each other, and I hadnt seen him in a while.
Hes like, I gotta get on a record.
Cudi did, like, three or four different references.
Beyonce cleared the sample.
There was so much great energy around the making of that record.
And, you know, time passes, and issues come up.
So I appreciate him clearing it up.
He did what he did for his bro, and I love him for that.
.Film that most inspiredIts Almost Dry
Pharrell really wanted a character for Call My Bluff.
He was like, Im getting regular Pusha T; I need some character.
You have to lay this differently.
We were watchingJokerevery day while creating the project.
Pharrell was like, Man, this is who you are anyway.
Youre actually this guy.
Thats why you get that tone me saying very eerie, evil, demonic things very, very matter-of-factly.
For me, when people dont give a fuck, I begin to question how authentic it is.
Im trying to take street rap to a whole nother stratosphere.
I checked off the boxes as far as success in regard to where youve seen me.
Youve seen Pusha T in places andaffiliated with songsand campaignsthat you may not think youre supposed to see.
My biggest goal is to see how far this can go.
I have done all the realest shit a hip-hop artist can do.
.Favorite Martin Scorsese film
I want to sayGoodFellas.
Its taste, how they carried themselves.
As gangster and as vile as these motherfuckers were, everybody wanted to be those guys.
You couldve been any one of them.
.Best 2000s mixtapes you didnt make
Lil WaynesDroughtshit was definitely fire no hate, no nothing.
G-Unit was going crazy.
But at no point did I ever feel like anybody had the bars ofWe Got It 4 Cheap.
Serious.We Got It 4 Cheap Vol.
The fucking world was fearful of them bars.
.The Clipses biggest impact on hip-hop
The Clipse has arguably two classic albums.
The Clipse has been a part of all of those different waves in a very strong position.
I dont like to reminisce about too much, though.
My brother could not not have been on Nigos album, right?
That wasnt even a hard ask.
We started out with this shit.
Then, of course, I get the little-brother pass: Look, I want you on my album.
He cant just tell me no.
Thats how I position it: I want a verse!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
