Send "Pusha" Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 "Roll With the Winners" was a classic track from Clipse's We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 2 mixtape, but Pusha T, that duo's more visible half, is a whole lot easier to root for when he's losing. From 2004 to 2006, Clipse were down and out, forgotten by their label even though they'd made a hit album, written off by an industry that preferred its crack-sales talk bigger and dumber. And the group responded by making their best music ever, exceeding even their great debut, Lord Willin', with the two Got It 4 Cheap mixtapes and Hell Hath No Fury. On these records, Pusha and older brother Malice projected raw, unbridled animosity rendered in dense, twisty language that showed them to be two of the best writers of their rap generation. But after those displays of hunger, ferocity, and intelligence, they went on autopilot, cranking out a few mixtapes and another album that sounded utterly tapped-out and devoid of inspiration.A year ago, the group's critical and commercial future looked dim, and Malice embarked on an unexpected religious journey that led him to write a Bible-informed memoir. And all of a sudden, Pusha seems to be closer to stardom than he ever came in the Clipse. Kanye West snapped him up as a solo artist and made him the linchpin of Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music roster. Pusha got to step onstage at the VMAs in a "Miami Vice"-looking dinner jacket and deliver a shattering closing verse on "Runaway", and Kanye made room for Pusha verses in a ton of his G.O.O.D. Friday mp3s. Now Pusha has a label boss who appears to have full faith in him, and that label boss happens to be the most visionary producer in rap today. If ever there was a time for Pusha to make good on all his underdog promise, this is it. Instead, he's given us a mixtape so flat and lazy that I almost don't know why it exists at all. Fear of God is less than 40 minutes long, and too much of that running time is given over to pointless freestyles over well-circulated tracks, or to tracks so flimsy that they barely exist. This is when Pusha should be establishing himself as a major artist, not freestyling over Soulja Boy's "Speakers Going Hammer". On opening song "My God", Pusha snarls, "Bear witness as I unveil this instant classic," but nothing about the tape suggests that he's interested in making any sort of classic. Pusha has some serious gifts in his favor: a great snarling delivery, a vivid eye for detail, a writer's gift for getting well-trod ideas across in ways nobody could've expected. But too often on Fear of God, he's just filling space with flat, workmanlike rhyme patterns and out-of-gas punchlines: "Money on my mind like my pillow is a vault." "Touch It", in which Pusha and Kanye beg for head, is the weakest Kanye West track in years, complete with a beat that must've been sitting around Kanye's hard drive forever. And on "Open Your Eyes", producer Nottz turns "Bohemian Rhapsody" into pitched-up chipmunk soul, which nobody ever needed to hear. On too much of Fear of God, nobody even seems to be trying....full text |
| Hiphopdx |
| For Terrance "Pusha T" Thornton to be considered as one of rap's most underrated, there sure is a lot of hype surrounding his debut solo mixtape Fear of God . But the attention has been earned: during his years of work as the brash half of respected Virginia rap duo Clipse and one fourth of Re-Up Gang, his sharp, cold-blooded rhymes always stuck out. And since he signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint last year and appeared on several of his album tracks and leaks, Pusha has been getting things that "underrated" emcees don't get very much: MTV Video Music Awards performances; even more critical success; presumed Grammy nods, not hopeful ones. Amongst a small selection of songs, Pusha T uses a seemingly limited subject matter to show a relatively versatile set of capabilities. The single "My God" features sharp-tongued bars over military drums and rich organs by Hitboy, and "Feeling Myself" is radio-ready with a bass-heavy backdrop, a catchy hook, and solid 16's. "I Still Wanna" , which features Rick Ross and Ab-Liva, shows how much Pusha can still hold his own alongside other spitters with a string of subsequent punchlines. And on the mixtape closer "Alone In Vegas" , he fuses brash bars with introspective rhymes about lost friends and lovers. Selections like these showcase the best of what a musical marriage between Pusha T and Kanye can become, even when 'Ye isn't the one behind the boards....full text |
| Ngpost |
| With great hype comes great expectation and possibly heartbreaking failure. These are the words that comes to mind when I think of Pusha T’s “Fear of God” oh and….. how it has a real catchy title for a mixtape. It all begin (the hype that is) when Pusha T skipped around the stage with Kanye West during Mr. West’s performance of Runaway. The hype was prolonged with a lot of smart decisions leading us to this mixtape. Alright enough of that, so did the mix-tape make make it over the pretty high bar? Well Pusha T came really close but he needed a little more to jump the bar, with that said the mixtape isn’t terrible. Personally I think this is due the mixture of original and freestyles. I personally would have liked more original songs like I still wana or freestyles with that old school/classic sound such as Can I Live....full text |
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