VIBE & RapGenius Present: Decoding 7 Dope Lines From Pusha T's 'MNIMN' LP
If there’s one thing Pusha T is known for, it’s his affinity for dope bars. That is, bars that are literally about cocaine. While his drug affiliation is a frequent theme in his music, King Push rarely dabbles in the usual euphemisms for coke (brick, blow, white, snow). In fact, some of Pusha’s bars are so layered, entendres so subtle, one might not even realize he’s making a drug reference. He's the Langston Hughes of hard white lines. Coke rap's poet laureate.
Pusha’s long-awaited solo debut album My Name is My Name dropped on Tuesday with A1 lyrics. Double meanings, clever metaphors, and witty punchlines are delivered consistently across the LP; bringing new meaning to the term “crack music”. Here are the most artful coke raps from G.O.O.D. Music’s king pin that just might blow over your head (pun intended). —Nicole Otero
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The Avon Entendre
“Coulda been Trayvon/but instead I chose Avon, Powder face like a geisha” (“Pain”)
The term “double entendre” is often assigned incorrectly in hip-hop, but Pusha’s entendre average is definitely above par. Acknowledging he could have ended up in a similar fate to the unjustly slain teen Trayvon Martin, Pusha instead chose a life like “Avon.” But Avon here refers both to the fictional character, Avon Barksdale, from The Wire (Pusha’s album title is also a reference to the TV show) and the popular makeup brand. Mr. Barksdale was coincidentally a prominent drug dealer, and Avon makes, among other products, face powder. As if that’s not enough, a Japanese geisha traditionally covers her face in a pure white powder. Don’t ask him how!
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Quintessential white girl
“Scoring from the heights but I wanted mine purer/Aryan, blonde hair, blue-eyed like the Führer” (“Hold On”)
“White girl” is a common coke metaphor, but Pusha isn’t satisfied with the iconic white girl, Miley Cyrus, that the average rapper would reference. His pure is so pure that he takes it back to the most extreme caucasian obsession in history: Hitler (Führer, a German title for leader, is an epithet for Hitler). His Nazi Party promoted extreme Aryanism—an ideology that the most pure, supreme race is blond-haired and blue-eyed... King Push the coke game Adolf?
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Baby Scarface
“20 plus years of selling Johnson & Johnson/I started out as a baby-face monster/No wonder there's diaper rash on my conscience” (“Nosetalgia”)
Perhaps only Pusha T could use a baby reference across the bars all in the name of a good coke metaphor. Johnson & Johnson is the staple white powder used on a baby’s bottom to avoid the dreaded diaper rash. Pusha started selling his powder so early it’s like a lifetime in the coke game weighing on him.
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For the Kids
“Simple Simon come and meet the pieman” (“Numbers on the Board”)
Cocaine and nursery rhymes? Why not. Pusha combines hard with one of the softest examples—a nursery rhyme called “Simple Simon,” which begins “Simple Simon met a pieman.” Of course, even though they’re both made in the kitchen, Pusha isn’t referring to the same kind of pie as Simon.
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Runs in the family
“More BMF than Billboard” ("King Push")
BMF stands for Black Mafia Family, a drug cartel formed in the '80s in Detroit. After expanding their operations across the U.S., they moved into the music business, forming BMF Entertainment, which was affiliated with the artists like Jeezy. Pusha likens himself more to the practices of BMF than he does to Billboard, one of the oldest and most official sources for music charts. After all, his records ain’t got to sell...
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There he blows
“I’m still a snow mover, blow harder than a tuba” ("Suicide")
Admittedly “snow” and “blow” are conventional euphemisms for cocaine, but Pusha still manages to make them new. The tuba is the largest brass instrument and with its main tube ranging from 12 to 18 feet long, the lung power necessary to play a tuba is considerable. Pusha claims his blow is harder than the biggest brass.
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Big Willie Style
“Big Willie with the blow, niggas I am a legend” ("40 Acres")
One of the last rappers you expect to be tied into the same line (too easy!) as cocaine is Will Smith. After all, he didn’t even have to cuss to sell records. Then again, Pusha doesn’t have to sell records at all. Still, Pusha doesn’t make just one reference to the rapper-slash-actor here: Big Willie Style is the first studio album by Smith and I Am Legend is the name of the 2007 film in which he starred. A legend indeed, as Pusha delivers a solid solo debut.
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