Release Date: November 8, 2011
As Kanye West closed out the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, dressed in red and surrounded by a sea of black-clothed fans, a flash of white stormed across the stage with a microphone in hand, dishing out a few memorable bars. On that night, Pusha T, with his guest verse on “Runaway,” announced himself to the world as a solo artist. The standout voice from Pharrell’s favorite group, Clipse, Pusha has spent the past few years jumping on verses with his fellow G.O.O.D. Music brethren and working on giving us the first taste of his solo stuff. Earlier this year, he teased the hip-hop world with the Fear of God mixtape that featured some in-the-works tracks and freestyles, including one over Soulja Boy’s “Speakers Going Hammer” that showed the youngster what an actual lyricist could do with that beat. This, of course, was just a hint as to what was to come with the Fear of God II: Let Us Pray.
On the past items included in the Clipse catalog, such as Lord Willin’ and Hell Hath No Fury, Pusha and his cohort Malice teamed up to regale listeners with beautifully poignant tales from the drug game. No one since Biggie has made pushing weight as poetic as Pusha has over the years. The calculated rhymes and expert flow have enlightened many on a subject that is all too real. He doesn’t sway from this formula on Fear of God II; he just does it better than even he has. Old friends, the Neptunes, lend a helping hand on a couple of tracks along with a producers such as Bangladesh, of “What’s Your Fantasy?” and “A Milli” fame, The Bizness, Rico Beatzs and Asher Roth associate Nottz.
The EP opens with a familiar ad-libber, the infamous Diddy, lending a hand on “Changing of the Guards” where Pusha makes it clear he’s putting himself at the forefront of the game. The boss and co-Throne holder lends a few bars on “Amen” along with the man whose album “might” come out before Detox, Jeezy. The trio makes sure the listeners know they’re trying to get paid … God, too. Even Oscar-winner Juicy J makes an appearance with Meek Mill (surprisingly, without the aid of any “MMMMMMMMMaybach Musics”) on Memphis-feeling “Body Work.” “Raid” has Pharrell’s stamp all over it; unfortunately, 50 Cent’s there, too.
But the standout guest appearance belongs to the dopest track on the EP, the Tyler, the Creator-aided “Trouble on my Mind.” The Neptunes’ hypnotic beat is ripped to shreds as Tyler and Pusha trade verbal jabs, with Tyler poking fun as the production team, “…tighter than Chad Hugo’s pupils,” and himself, “I’m a fucking walking paradox, and a really shit rapper in my favorite pair of socks,” while Pusha acknowledges the seemingly odd pairing: “Who else could put the hipsters with felons and thugs and paint a perfect picture of what selling it does?”
Pusha grabs the spotlight for the tracklists other two highlights, “My God” and “Alone in Vegas,” both holdovers from the first Fear of God release. They let him do what he does best: attack and kill a track while painting perfect pictures of a thug-turned-artist.
Pusha T – Fear of God II: Let Us Pray tracklist:
- “Changing of the Guards” (featuring Diddy)
- “Amen” (featuring Kanye West and Young Jeezy)
- “Trouble on My Mind” (featuring Tyler, the Creator)
- “What Dreams Are Made Of”
- “Body Work” (featuring Juicy J, Meek Mill and French Montana)
- “Everything That Glitters” (featuring French Montana)
- “So Obvious”
- “Feeling Myself” (featuring Kevin Cossom)
- “Raid” (featuring 50 Cent and Pharrell)
- “My God”
- “I Still Wanna” (featuring Rick Ross and Ab-Liva)
- “Alone in Vegas”
