![]() After Fear of God’s withering batch of middling freestyles and rangy originals and Fear of God II’s pervasive sense that the artist with top billing was a guest on his own album, Wrath of Caine is really the first hint of what Pusha-T is capable of as a solo artist. Wrath of Caine’s guests neither add to nor subtract from the proceedings, and where he can, Pusha wisely relegates them to hook duty. That means playing by the rap majors’ rules, keeping his buzz warm by giving away fully realized songs for free online and ceding lyrical real estate to feature artists du jour like Rick Ross and his Maybach Music Group henchmen. ![]() His visibility is as great today as it has ever been, but he moves with an astute awareness of his peculiar place as both a seasoned rap veteran and a relatively untested commercial commodity. Pusha-T has navigated this improbable second act of his career with caution. (It’s also worth noting that “ Pain”, My Name Is My Name’s lead single, samples the Nyabinghi drums of Rastafarian religious rituals.) It’s a fitting connection for Pusha, as his own history, insofar as rappers’ autobiographical tales are to be believed, is a kind of winding Shottas-esque story of drugs, shady business associates, and unbelievably good luck. Pusha seems pretty taken with Jamaican culture lately: “Blocka” features vocals from newly minted dancehall star Popcaan and a video shot in Kingston, and Wrath of Caine is peppered with spirited patois toasts from a gangster’s spoiled moll. Jake One serves up sedate reggae for “Take My Life”, while SK and Arthur McArthur recreate the mood of reggae with swaying, oceanic synths on “Trust You”. Harry Fraud’s work on “Road Runner” and Boogz and Tapez’ “Only You Can Tell It” both warp vocal samples into massive, stately productions that sound like trap music rebuttals to the seraphic grandeur of Clams Casino. Chief Keef associate Young Chop imbues the larger-than-life kingpin posturing of “Blocka” with pillowy low end and spectral synths, with very little in between. Wrath of Caine’s caustic witticisms work in contrast to the gossamer production. Wrath of Caine is Pusha-T coming to terms with his place in the rich asshole bracket he and Kanye detailed with “ Runaway.” “Peasants ain’t sittin’ with the kings, Goliath ain’t worried ‘bout your sling, and Cassius ain’t bothered by your swings”, he raps on “Doesn’t Matter”. It makes for a lot of brazen talk of money. For an underdog whose kingdom was built on a dealer’s twin thrusts of entrepreneurialism and danger, whose displays of wealth were couched in the hard luck stories of how it was acquired, to suddenly lose that underpinning of struggle is jarring. Pusha’s partnership with Kanye West brings stability, and more importantly, direct involvement in a hit parade steered by one of the best producers in the industry. It makes sense that Pusha-T would fixate on Marlo, a ruthless drug dealer who kills his way into a higher tax bracket only to find himself at a loss for what to do with his newfound money and dominion. Nearly two years on, Pusha has bested the Fear of God series with Wrath of Caine, a stopgap mixtape of originals meant to tide us over until the release of his forthcoming solo album My Name Is My Name, whose title quotes Marlo Stanfield of HBO’s beloved cop drama The Wire. His 2011 debut mixtape Fear of Godwas brittle and half-baked, and while the album-length EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray fared better, it did so by cannibalizing the best songs from the mixtape and padding out its tracklist with appearances from famous guests. His initial solo releases were shaky, though. Music imprint redoubled his rap industry stock, earning him name recognition, chart successes, and award nominations that eluded him in the Clipse. When his brother Malice found religion on a sabbatical from rap, Pusha’s alignment with Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. ![]() As one half of the Clipse, Pusha-T felt the havoc that finicky rap labels can wreak on a career the group’s decade-long tenure is fraught with shelved albums, excruciating stints in label purgatory, and critically acclaimed commercial flops.
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