Pusha T — long regarded as one of hip-hop’s sharpest and most ruthless diss-track assassins — says that chapter of his life is officially closed.
In a new chat with Consequence, the Clipse rapper made it clear he’s stepping away from lyrical warfare and isn’t interested in returning to the back-and-forth culture that once powered some of rap’s biggest feuds.
Despite crafting some of the most cutting diss records of the past decade, Pusha says the competitive flame for that lane has burned out.
“I’ve kind of been through that chapter and I’m over it,” he said. “I’m somewhere right now where I don’t even want to make music with other people, nevertheless [have] anybody else in my music or be the focus of my music.”
Instead, he said he’s pouring all his energy into the elevated artistry he and No Malice are building together: “What we’re doing right here [with Clipse] is, to me, so next level. I feel like the taste level is above everything else.”
Pusha explained that he has no desire to live in the “world” that comes with diss tracks anymore — the ego battles, the nonstop chatter, and the endless loop of responses.
“I don’t like even the world of the people, of the back and forth,” he said. “If I don’t see eye to eye with you, there’s probably things I don’t want to be there about.”
Despite being responsible for some of the most decisive wins in modern rap beef history — including the scorched-earth Drake takedown “The Story of Adidon” — Pusha believes the diss-track landscape has deteriorated.
“It’s kind of dead to me,” he said. “It’s the ransom of what a diss track used to bring: there was a clear winner. Somebody would really bow out and then that’s it — the last man standing.”
Now, he says, the culture is drowned out by constant commentary with no real resolution.
“Now it’s just a whole bunch of noise,” Pusha added. “Even after we find winners, it’s still noise. And it’s like, man, then what’s it for?”
