Virginia Beach duo Clipse, comprised of brothers Pusha T and Malice, became a force to be reckoned with in the early 2000s. Thanks to their debut album Lord Willin’ (2002), including hits like “Grindin'” and “Let’s Talk About It” with Jermaine Dupri, their beloved sophomore effort Hell Hath No Fury (2006), and their final album Til the Casket Drops (2009), Clipse was able to build a fanbase with a ravenous thirst for their music, which carried on after their breakup in 2010.
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After that point, while Malice changed his stage name to No Malice to align with his new Christian lifestyle, Pusha T carried on with a solo career, continuing to rap about topics he did with Clipse such as drug dealing. Linking up with Kanye West to run the record label G.O.O.D. Music, the next decade for Pusha was wildly successful, making frequent appearances on West albums and consistently putting out stellar solo LPs like My Name Is My Name (2013), King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude (2015), Daytona (2018), and It’s Almost Dry (2022).
[RELATED: Are Kanye West and Pusha T Back on Good Terms?]
However, as Clipse looks to revive their dynamic duo in 2023, Pusha T reflected back on his solo efforts in the last decade, telling GQ in a new August 15 interview that he could never make music as meaningful as he did with his brother.
“Just to be all the way honest, ever since I went solo, I heard the cries from the fans of what they were missing from the Clipse in my solo albums,” he told GQ. “And I’ve tried to mimic and infuse, and tried to cater at some points, but it’s never enough. And I had to come to terms with that. [Malice] actually brings a level of introspection that’s like, man, I can’t dial into it and do it the way the people and the fans want to hear it. And I’ve taken that L.”
The reporter on the story for GQ, Avidan Grossman, actually pushed back on this, praising Pusha’s solo work. But, the now-46-year-old emcee stood his ground.
“I’m just saying it’s an L because I’ve tried, because I know the issue and know that I couldn’t honestly check that box off,” he said. “The people have already sipped the Kool-Aid, right? They already know how it’s made. They already understand the amount of sugar that’s in it… It doesn’t taste the same when I make it, and they know that. So I couldn’t necessarily always check that box off, and I was trying to, no lie.”
In the past couple of years, Pusha and Malice have reunited every so often during Pusha’s solo campaign. Whether it be on West’s “Use This Gospel” (2019), Nigo’s “Punch Bowl” (2022), or Pusha T’s “I Pray for You” (2022), the brothers seem to regain a rhythm together, making way for more potential music on the horizon.
“We definitely have been messing around with a few ideas,” he told GQ. “I’ve been working on a couple different projects at one time, in between touring, and he’s definitely been around and been there to be a part of it. So I think he has been finding the fun in it as well. I don’t be pressing it, but it is always fun to watch him have that fun again.”
Photo by Jun Sato/WireImage
