Pusha T Continues to Drop New Tracks After Paris Fashion Week
By Jason Nsinano
Illustration by Larissa Delfim
Rapper and Virginia native, Pusha T was hinting at a new album in the works for several months. The wait came to an end when Pusha T did the most Pusha T-thing ever—in a meticulous high-brow plot he made the 2022 Paris Fashion Week a part of his musical comeback. Three months later, after releasing several songs, the rapper announced the title of his new album: It’s Almost Dry.
In the entertainment industry it is extremely easy to become yesterday’s news, yet there is also a problem when an artist is over-exposed. Striking a balance between creating necessary excitement with enough mystery around the specifics is a science in and of itself to ensure one’s fans are engaged and hyped enough to show up on the day an album is released. Pusha T did just that by releasing Neck & Wrist and Diet Coke over the last couple of weeks, and the social media hype machine is working as expected.
Source: KingPush on Twitter.
Earlier this year, Pusha T took to the stage on the last day of the Menswear at the Paris Fashion Week. Just easing out of covid restrictions,Paris Fashion week saw scores return, eager to find some semblance of normality; and what better way to do that than returning to an old Parisian tradition—its world famous Fashion Week. The events were held in combination of physical shows, as well as digital-only events.
One show that stood out at Paris Fashion week was Kenzo collection helmed by the Japanese designer Nigo. Nigo, also known as Tomoaki Nagao, is the creative director of the Kenzo Fashion House, and a good friend of Pusha. Nigo is also the creator and entrepreneur behind the streetwear brand Bathing Ape. Known to the world as BAPE®, for short. In the mid-1990 this much revered clothing brand captured the hip hop world. Nigo is a multidisciplinary artist and he has been a music producer himself and a member of the Japanese Hip Hop outfit the Teriyaki Boyz.
The Kenzo Fashion House creative director has always had pursuits in both worlds—fashion and music—and he wanted an upcoming solo project to be on display for a duration of 15 minutes during the runway show. So, he enlisted the help of Pusha who premiered a new unreleased song and so what had started out as an event to help a fashion icon friend, ostensibly became a springboard to launch a new album.
Nigo’s ties with Pusha T go back for years; they jointly own a clothing brand in collaboration with Pharrell, called Billionaire Boys Club, the business entity has a sub-brand, an imprint called ICECREAM. Pharrell himself had been in attendance on January 23rd, as well as a slew of other high profile industry celebrities such as Kanye West, Pharrell and Tyler, The Creator. All three are featured on “I Know Nigo,” which was released on March 25th.
Now, weeks later, fans are still anxiously awaiting the release date for Pusha T’s new album while internet sleuthing for more clues. On his Instagram page, Pusha T posted a photo of Lana Del Rey, with what appears to be a white powdered substance, aka cocaine,—sprinkled, and even heaped, on Lana’s face.
“Musically, I think Lana Del Rey speaks to the same subject matter, but just on different ends of it. You can hear remnants of drug indulgence and addiction. So it’s like, ‘Man, why not?’ I thought it made sense,” Pusha T told Rolling Stone.
It has been suggested by internet fans that the photo could be the cover art for Pusha T’s new record. Set to be released in the near future, It’s Almost Dry will be Pusha T’s follow up to his 2018 critically acclaimed album Daytona, which featured a controversial picture of Whitney Houston’s bathroom* as album cover art.
Fans will just have to continue to take a wait and see approach. What do we know? Pusha-T, real name Terrence LeVarr Thornton, told Complex the new album will feature 12 tracks and is one of his “more well rounded” than Daytona.
“I feel like this body of work is untouchable because it doesn’t lean too heavily on either side. It’s like you get the whole spectrum — probably my most well-rounded body of work,” Pusha T told Charlamagne.
(*Apres Josephine’s founder considers the Whitney Houston photo in bad taste.)
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