Pusha T is just about ready for the release of his forthcoming project, It’s Almost Dry. The campaign for his fourth solo studio album has been strong so far. He started things off with the Kanye and 88-Keys co-produced, “Diet Coke,” before Nigo unveiled “Hear Me Clearly” (as well as the latest reunion of The Clipse “Punch Bowl”). He blessed us with the highly teased collaboration with Jay-Z, “Neck And Wrist,” produced by Pharrell.
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The Bronx-born MC continued his press run with an appearance on Desus And Mero, obviously, where they discussed fatherhood, wristwatches, and collaborating with Jay. Pusha T said that he typically emails Jay-Z as a last resort — not in a bad way, though. He said if he feels a song needs a feature but he’s said all that he can, Jay’s the only person who he can rely on.
“I’ll have a beat and I’ll be like, ‘Man, this is crazy.’ I’ll write to it and I’ll say everything I can say crazy to it. And I’m like, ‘Man, who belongs on this beat?’ And if I don’t feel like anybody can match up but I feel like it needs a feature, because I can’t say anymore, I think I’ve done it all,” he said, citing “Drug Dealers Anonymous” as an example.
“So I recorded [‘Neck & Wrist’] and I sent it to him, I just emailed it to him,” he continued. “He hit me back with whatever, whether it’s emojis. I think he said, ‘What the hell you want me to say to this?’”
Jay had plenty to say, whether it’s the theories surrounding the trajectory of his career if Biggie was still with us, or Faizon Love’s comments about Hov’s street credibility. That’s exactly what Pusha T was looking for.
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“A lot of times when I do features, I do features for people to really take the record to the next level, really step it up,” he continued. “Like I said, these albums come few and far between, so it’s like, ‘Man, it gotta be masterpiece-level.’”
The conversation inevitably led to the Bodega Boys inquiring about the Roc Nation brunch, and Push seemed confident he could get both Desus and Mero into the exclusive event.