Pusha T Says Lyricism Isn't As Important In Hip-Hop Today

"I've learned to appreciate other forms of hip-hop, younger forms of hip-hop."

Pusha T is a rapper who has always taken pride in his pen, even as he's seen tides turn in rap. "Pusha T's role in hip-hop has always been to give you the most authentic rap records that you should ever hear," he says in an interview with XXL for their 20th anniversary issue. "Always give you lyric-driven hip-hop. My role has always been to be the realest out of the bunch."

While he knows his own strengths, Pusha is open to the different styles within the genre that may not focus as much on wordplay and the like. "Lyricism in hip-hop today, for me, isn't as important," he said. "But that's the hip-hop that I know how to make. Being in the game so long, and being outside so long, I've learned to appreciate other forms of hip-hop, younger forms of hip-hop." Push has made his appreciation of less traditional styles of rap well-known, not only through his vocal support of GOOD Music's Desiigner, but also his love for acts like Rae Sremmurd, who he defended in an interview with Ebro in 2015. "It's the flows, the melodies. It's the actual song structure," he said. "They make songs that I can't make, literally. I wouldn't make those songs, but I know how to enjoy their music fully... They make records that work on the radio. A lot of times records that work on the radio have a level of corniness to me. I don't feel like their records are corny."

Later in the XXL interview, Push talked about his duties as GOOD Music president. "My first album came out in 2002, and I'm still learning in the studio creatively. So on an executive level, I've never had a record label that's my own," he said. "The opportunity to be president of GOOD Music is like going to school, and prepping me to have my own label one day. It's a step that I never would have skipped. I get to practice on Kanye's dime, how great is that?!"

In September, Pusha T revealed that he and Kanye are currently perfecting his next studio album King Push. "I'm gonna go ahead and let y'all know," he said. "I've done this album like three times, right. [Kanye] come in, he pick all the beats and shit. Then he hears the beats and he scraps them and says 'I can do better.' He's done that shit like three times." The album, which Push said will be produced entirely by Kanye, is still without a release date.