King Push’s Royal Entrance
July 12, 2016
One of the highlights from the Twilight Concert Series this summer is Pusha T, otherwise known as King Push. Born in The Bronx, New York City, NY and raised in the state of Virginia, the rapper initiated the label known as “Re-Up Records,” and later on in life, he signed to GOOD Music and Def Jam. He will be performing on Thursday August 18th, 2016 alongside the alternative hip-hop group Digable Planets.
This rap druglord released his studio album King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude on December 18th, 2015. The album features tracks like “Untouchable,” “M.F.T.R,” and “Crutches, Crosses, and Caskets”. He samples the legendary Notorious B.I.G. from his verse on the 1995 single “Think Big” on the song “Untouchable,” and in the music video, Push strolls through the dark night in a Rolls Royce Phantom, his dream car. While growing up, he and his homies used to recite Biggie songs in the car, and him rapping this track in that Phantom with his homies, in the back, is reminiscent of those times.
A couple of his more politically and socially conscience songs on the album are “M.P.A.,” where he analyzes the main themes of a typical rapper’s life in a sarcastic yet so honest manner, and “Sunshine,” where he highlights the unjust treatment of blacks in the United States by utilizing repetitive clever word play. Similar to Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T sheds light on the institutionalization of blacks and how the rest of American society perceives and treats blacks. He uses clear references and intricate word play to get his point across. For example, in the song “Sunshine,” he delivers the message, “In Fox eyes, we the dark eyes, so they tell you lies, through a TV, C-N-B-C.” This is a concise and intelligent way to put into perspective the false information given to us through the media. To a rap genius contributor like myself, this line could be interpreted as dark-skinned people being the evil-like enemies of Fox News, so when it comes to news about brown or black people, Fox News and other media outlets mislead the public with false information and lies. Furthermore, “C-N-B-C,” could be a creative acronym meaning “Could Never Be Correct,” which additionally emphasizes the continuous errors and faults of news and media here in America.
Pusha T’s conscience and truthful lyricism speaks to many across the country. His entrance to Salt Lake City is much anticipated by the hip hop community, and hopefully he performs all ten songs off of his Darkest Before Dawn album.
Link to Pusha T’s show at Twilight:
