Pusha T is heading in a new direction. The president of G.O.O.D Music is coming out with an album, Darkest Before Dawn, which features darker subject matter than the former Clipse member is used to performing. However, as Pusha T would put it, this does not come from a place of being "victimized." He does not want to appear as if he is complaining, and would rather voice his frustrations and how he is unhappy with the current state of hip-hop.
In a recent interview with Billboard, he explained the emotions he had coming into his new album. He says, "I was in a bit of an aggressive mind state [while recording the album] simply because I sort of feel like the last Rap superhero. When you look at just the state of Rap [now], I feel like it's a lot of complaining and vulnerability, and rappers being victimized."
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The Virginia rapper also told the magazine that Jay Z and Raekwon were among his biggest influences. He said he admired their music because they didn't dwell on their emotions. They simply presented the world as it existed. Pusha T also felt the style of hip-hop greats from the "Golden Era" were more forward thinking and confident than that of today's rappers. The vulnerability present in today's hip-hop is not something he feels should be emphasized in the genre.
Regarding the new tendency to focus on the emotions of the performer, Pusha T said, "That's not the attitude that my favorites had and that's not the attitude that the greats had when I was coming up. These guys were really like superheroes to me. They dressed fresh. They rapped fresh. I thought they owned the world. I look at rappers now and it's like, man, it's just a sad case of poor business and the artistry is being questioned. It's just too much."
