Released: 2015

Genres: Gangsta Rap, Southern Hip-Hop, Hardcore Hip-Hop

The Musiquarium’s King Push – Darkest Before: The Prelude Review Score: 7.5 out of 10

Pusha T’s debut album, My Name Is My Name, had proved that he could survive without Clipse (or at least without a reliance on The Neptunes or Kanye West, despite some production from the latter), and with his sophomore album, Pusha T continues to prove himself as a solo act, though the album is quite slight at only 33 minutes.

Intro uses an unused instrumental from a reference track from Kanye West’s Yeezus, definitely sounding like a Kanye product. Despite no Pharrell Williams production on the album, songs like Crutches, Crosses, Caskets and Got Em Covered almost sounds like a Clipse song. M.P.A. (or, money, pussy, alcohol) features Kanye, as well as The-Dream and A$AP Rocky. F.I.F.A. has production from A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip.

King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude might not hold a candle to Clipse’s first two records, nor is it even as good as My Name Is My Name, and is also a bit scattershot and short, but it’s still a decent outing for the Virginia rapper all the same.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Pusha T on Discogs.

Back to the 2015 Album Guide or the Pusha T Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard