Pusha T Gets Aggressive In New Record "DAYTONA"

Pusha T has been in the game for over three decades now, his music being an important foundation for modern hip-hop. That doesn't mean its his turn to sit down just yet. Pusha T gets aggressive in his new record DAYTONA, bringing his own touch to unique beats curated by Kanye West to offer up something dynamic.

DAYTONA might as well be an EP, but this mini-album is packed with twenty one minutes of strong tracks. Opening track 'If You Know You Know' already puts an interesting sound forward, its interesting poppy delivery appealing to a safer audience. Much of the first half seems to play things a bit safer for the sake of marketing, but even with the alternative touch it features some strong tracks. 'Hard Piano' with Rick Ross is thoroughly interesting from start to finish, the driven, uplifting instrumental giving way to a pretty empowering track.

It's on the second half of DAYTONA where Pusha T really lets loose, though. The Spanish-tinge to 'Santeria' underlies an intense, angry track where Pusha's delivery is big and fiery. Kanye steps out from his production shadows and lays a verse down on 'What Would Meek Do?,' a track with a lot of irony and self-awareness. Pusha fires at his opponents pretty hard right off the bat, spitting "I'm top five and all of them Dylan / I am the hope, the dope dealers won / Price and the quote, the dope dealers want / Feds takin' pictures like it's GQ." Kanye references his infamous 'Lose Yourself' from earlier this year to start his verse, proudly chanting "Poop, scoop! Whoop! Whoopty-whoop" to start. Here, this has purpose, as Kanye is referencing the shit-talking they do  on the track. Closing track 'Infrared' is all Pusha T as he fires against his current competition, namely Drake, slamming him for ghost writers and more in the nearly three-minute long tirade. It's clear that Pusha isn't messing around anymore.

Pusha T gets aggressive in his new record DAYTONA, firing at his competition while offering up some very unique tracks. There is a new beef in hip-hop right now, and we can definitely expect both sides to keep fighting back (we know Drake already has with 'Duppy Freestyle'), but if this is the direction hip-hop will take, if it's creative like this album was, then perhaps it's all for the better.

Favorite Tracks: Santeria, Infrared, Hard Piano

Least Favorite Track: The Games We Play

Rating: 78 / 100

Stream or buy DAYTONA on Apple Music, and follow our 2018 Playlist on Spotify: