Concert Review: Pusha T Goes To War At The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival

Photos by Julia Schur

Pusha T, a Bronx baby himself, knew very well where he was Saturday evening. Even if he was blinded by the divine rage that has fueled a lot of his recent output, he would have known from the smell of the home-cooked mac & cheese, the brolic chanting of the crowd, and the wild presence of some of NY’s most esteemed legends that he was at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival. Given that the festival sported such a raw, tenacious lineup, highlighted by the savage mob of Danse and BKLYN Stickup and the hilarious, grimy party host that was 2013 Redman, the forces behind the festival’s 9^th year were right to put their trust in Pusha Ton as the (main) headliner.

Before his set, Pusha was spotted hanging out in the photo pit, vibing out and showing respect to the legendary duo, EPMD. Seeing as Eric Sermon and Parrish J Smith, roughly 10 years his elders in the game, were serving as his openers, for Push to give a show of fandom was a stand-up move. It’s not too surprising, though: EPMD was part of the 80s and 90s lyrical assault that Pusha sites not only as his influence but his favorite era of rap.

Only EPMD can make Pusha happy.

While the styles of the two movements present were very different, the emphases were the same: 1) Rhyme hard, and 2) fuck everything else. Push started the show out with his 1,000 watt verse from Kanye’s remix of “I Don’t Like.” Pusha’s voice and delivery were notably on-point duplications of the studio recordings. He was polished and passionate all at once. Variation isn’t particularly necessary–it’s not like much more energy could be added to most Pusha T tracks anyways. His voice has crazy eyes. So does his face (another good reason to see him live).

After “Don’t Like,” came a pair of Clipse joints: “Popular Demand” and the certified classic, “Grindin’,” with the latter getting the best response. Clearly, the hardcore BK crowd had brushed up on their Push; they roared each vicious bar back to the master of ceremonies.

Pusha was certainly feeding off the energy in the crowd, triumphantly telling the story of how he and Kanye linked up. With a magnetic, smug attitude, he recounted, “Some of you may know that I went out to Hawaii for a week to work on an album called My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I came back a month later signed to G.O.O.D. Music,” as “So Appalled” dropped. Push has said in interviews that he thinks his own is the best verse on the song; he spat with the vitriol to make any witness believe.

That is one of Pusha‘s most special talents–his right-hand-to-god conviction. It gives his coke raps a philosophical gravity, it gives his ~~diss~~ war songs bone-chilling believability. And there were plenty of war songs. Once Push was done running through a gamut of his G.O.O.D. collaborations and “My God” and “Cook It Down” from his Fear of God tape, he growled, “Enough with the fuckin’ history lesson,” and tore into an acapella version of his guest verse on Alley Boy‘s “Your Favorite Rapper,” wherein Pusha is firing loud, loud, shots Lil’ Wayne‘s way. Transitioning from that devastating verse into the even more threatening “Exodus 23:1”, Pusha shouted, eyes flaring “They not like me! They not like me!” Who are we mortals to deny it?