If you’re not familiar with Pusha T, well, you haven’t really been listening to pop/rap radio for the last two years. But if Pusha T’s voice sounds familiar and you used to listen to hip-hop pretty regularly, you might recognize him as one half of Clipse, the sibling duo famous for the radio hits “Grindin'” and “When the Last Time,” the 2006 album Hell Hath No Fury, and numerous appearances on pop songs where the presence of two brothers rapping about coke dealing seems a little out of place. Pusha T releases his first solo album today, the Wire-referencing My Name Is My Name (there is no shortage of the Wire references in Clipse’s repertoire), and as pointed out in a couple places already, “Nosetalgia” is the standout track. Working off a Bobby “Blue” Bland sample that producer Nottz chops up into a beat that would make Mobb Deep shiver, Pusha T and guest Kendrick Lamar rap about . . . the title kind of says it all (I’ll give you a hint: it begins with a d and rhymes with “rug dealing”). As tiring as the subject matter is, the song nevertheless has a gruff, menacing presence that’s captivating in parts, and Kendrick’s verse is one of his best, illustrating a childhood lacking options (“Quantum physics could never show you the world I was in”). Surprisingly, most of My Name Is My Name is up to par with “Nosetalgia”—a Spotify stream is available below the jump.
