PopMatters | Review: Pusha T – My Name Is My Name
There is no shortage of coke rappers in today’s oversaturated music market. However, there is a white line of sorts that separates the dopest from the others. The story of the one-time drug dealer gone legit and recalling his past over beats is one that has been told time and time again by the likes of Jay Z, Young Jeezy, T.I., 50 Cent, Yo Gotti and even hip-hop’s resident law enforcement official, Rick Ross, to an extent. No one, however, seems to do it as convincingly as The Brothers Thornton—Gene and Terrence, also known as Clipse. Amidst hardships on both the personal and business side of matters, the duo managed to record three critically acclaimed albums with three major record labels over the span of seven years. In hip-hop, authenticity is the name of the game and from their inception, Clipse always had a flair for the dramatics with intricacies that place the listener right in the center of that drug deal gone awry or right next to the pot of boiling water in the kitchen.
Following the release of Til The Casket Drops, the duo took a leave of absence to focus on solo ventures. Malice released a book entitled Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind and Naked. Pusha T signed with Kanye West’s GOOD Music and began making several high profile appearances on songs—perhaps none more notable than his guest verse on “Runaway” from West’s 2010 opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and “Mercy” from the GOOD Music compilation album, Cruel Summer.
Fast forward to 2013 and after several delays and a hefty avalanche of mixtapes (Fear of God, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, Wrath of Caine), Pusha T’s major label debut album, My Name Is My Name is ready to flood the streets. With Kanye serving as executive producer, MNIMN also enlists the production services of the likes of 88-Keys, Don Cannon, No I.D., Sebastian Sartor, Swizz Beatz, Glass John, DJ Mano, The-Dream, Nottz, Rico Beats, Beewirks, Pharrell Williams, Hudson Mohawke and The Twilite Tone. While Pusha is proudly proclaiming his name to be his very own, he has an extensive list of guests coming along with him for the ride.
