Pusha T’s previous duo, Clipse, never truly hit commercially, despite being one of the finest lyrical partnerships around. At an age when many rappers are overtaken, Terrence Thornton’s second act has now expanded to include the presidency of Kanye West’s record label and the first of two linked albums. The Prelude finds T’s distinctive flow and trademark “yeuch” of disgust allied to uncommercial but excellent beats. Fellow Virginian Timbaland makes Untouchable an icy earworm; Q-Tip hijacks the roll of rock for FIFA. Throughout, Pusha sneers his dense allusions. He’s rich enough, he claims, to keep his mum in swordfish lunches in the Bahamas while other rappers’ mothers live in squalor.
