The Clipse member praised Jay-Z's lyricism in an essay for the 'New York Times' list of 'The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters'
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Pusha T praised Jay-Z’s lyricism in a new essay for The New York Times
- He described Jay-Z’s performance on “Hovi Baby” as a groundbreaking moment in rap that left him feeling “scared”
- Jay-Z is featured on the New York Times list of “The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters”
Pusha T is opening up about how Jay-Z's lyrics make him feel.
The Clipse member, 48, wrote about Jay-Z's artistry in an essay published on Tuesday, April 28 as the "99 Problems" rapper, 56, was featured on the New York Times list of "The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters."
"There haven’t been many people who can speak for a generation, and speak to the mentality of what Black youth was going through, for everyone who indulged in the allure of street culture," began Pusha, whose real name is Terrance LeVarr Thornton.
Credit: Michael Bezjian/WireImage
King Push praised Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, for providing a "tutorial" through his career of work "about street life, drug culture, luxury, the pitfalls as well as the floss," highlighting his admission of falling "victim to the game" on The Black Album cut "Allure."
He noted that Jay-Z spoke to "a lot of the kids exposed to the crack era from every angle" with the lyricism of "Allure," which "really captured the feelings of anyone living that life."
Pusha continued, "He’s talking about a real experience, and his mission is to articulate, in the best possible way, his feelings at the time." He expressed feeling like Jay-Z successfully drew from "real experience" with "a level of passion," citing hit songs like "N—-s in Paris," "Hard Knock Life" and "Otis."
The Daytona musician then singled out the song "Hovi Baby" from 2002's The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse as one of Jay-Z's "best performances."
Pusha described the song as "by far one of the best [expletive]-talking, acrobatic, philosophizing" sets of lyrics. He then admitted, "At that point I was scared of Jay-Z. This is another stride of lyricism, philosophy, I’m-the-best braggadocio, bravado. And he’s, like, tap-dancing all over this beat."
Pusha complimented how Jay-Z raps about "chasing the snare around" while actually doing so on the track. "To me, that was a Super Saiyan moment. 'Hovi Baby' scared the hell out of me," he concluded.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
The two rappers have collaborated several times in the past, including on the songs "Drug Dealers Anonymous," "So Appalled" and "Neck & Wrist."
Throughout Jay-Z's career, he's earned over a dozen top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and won 25 Grammy Awards. He's currently gearing up to perform three shows at New York City's Yankee Stadium on July 10, 11 and 12 to honor the 30th anniversary of his Reasonable Doubt album as well as the 25th anniversary of his The Blueprint album.
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