NEW YORK (AP) — Pusha T has been on a winning streak. In a year where rap easily dominated as music’s top genre, Pusha…
NEW YORK (AP) — Pusha T has been on a winning streak.
In a year where rap easily dominated as music’s top genre, Pusha T’s 21-minute, seven-track “Daytona” album moved the needle and became one of the most successful hip-hop projects of the year, he won his rap beef with Drake and he earned a Grammy nomination for best rap album.
As the rap star reflects on the year, he says: “I really can look back at 2018 and really look at it as a total win.”
“I didn’t start ‘Daytona’ to let anybody down and I feel like we definitely accomplished the mission,” he added. “‘Daytona’ is rap album of the year. No one rapped better than me in 2018.'”
Pusha T, 41, has been making bold statements like those since he emerged on the music scene as one-half of the duo Clipse two decades ago, earning praise for his raw lyrical content and delivery.
He reached new heights this year when he exposed Drake on “The Story of Adidon” (Drake never responded to the burning diss track). The Kanye West-produced “Daytona” soon followed, debuting at No. 3 on the pop charts and landing on several critics’ year-end lists.
The album earned a Grammy nomination for best rap album in a highly competitive year, pitting Pusha T against Cardi B, Travis Scott, Nipsey Hussle and the late Mac Miller, and garnering a nod over acts like Drake, Lil Wayne, Eminem, J. Cole, Nas, Migos, DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj and even West.
Pusha T said when the Recording Academy added a nomination review committee to the rap category last year to serve as an additional layer of checks and balances, he felt like he had a stronger chance of getting a nomination.
“Maybe not never in my life had I ever thought about getting a Grammy, but I remember hearing about it and saying, ‘Damn, man, that’s pretty dope. I can’t wait to see how that turns out,'” he said. “I was really impressed with the effort of the Grammy committee and how they were trying to change the way of doing things.
