Pusha T

If you’ve ever heard Pusha T before, you’ll know that he used to be a drug dealer. Seriously, he never shuts up about it. I’m willing to overlook what this says about how nice a person Pusha is due to the fact that he’s rather good at rapping.

Since signing for Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music label in 2010, anticipation has only grown over Pusha’s first official solo release, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (which would have been a shoe in for this years Most Ridiculously Titled Album award if not for Lil B’s I’m Gay). Pusha increased the hype by showcased his talents on guest spots on Kanye West’s blockbuster release My Dark and Twisted Fantasy as well as his own unofficial mixtape Fear of God.

The colossal feel promised by Fear of God II’s ludicrous title is realised in the opening track, ’Changing Of The Guards’, which is driven a fire-siren melody and pulsating war drums. It also apparently features Diddy (or Puff Daddy, or Diddy Dirty Money, or whatever he’s called this week), although he does literally the least he possibly could’ve done to warrant a feature.

The second track, ‘Amen’, is the albums weakest cut. The grim production contrasts anything else on the album, and the multi-tracking of Young Jeezy’s voice on his guest verse sounds absolutely terrible (although this might also have something to do with the fact that he’s an awful rapper). However, ‘Amen’ remains a blip in an otherwise excellent album.

‘Trouble on My Mind’, featuring the rapper of the moment Tyler, the Creator, is an album highlight. Released as the album’s lead single, we’re treated to Pusha and Tyler trading verses over a slick Neptunes production, and a guest spot clearly intended to garner attention genuinely clicks.

Most of the album highlights were also featured on the earlier unofficial mixtape Fear of God: ’I Still Wanna’, in which Pusha (surprisingly) gets all nostalgic about his drug dealing days; ‘My God’, in which wailing overdriven guitar and organ bubble in the cauldron underneath Pusha’s bewitching flow as the pressure tantalisingly builds through a haunting snare roll beat; ‘Raid’, which is based on another excellent Neptunes production (when aren’t Neptunes productions excellent?) and even includes a passable guest verse from everyone’s least favourite rapper, 50 Cent; and laid back album closer ‘Alone In Vegas’.

Another highlight is ‘Body Work’, which is the best song about shooting someone I have ever heard.

Fear of God II is a solid album, and coming in at 45 minutes long it contains the bare minimum of filler. Despite the best songs on the album being lifted straight from the mixtape put out a few months prior it‘s release, Fear of God II still contains enough new material to be well worth a purchase for those who downloaded the mixtape.