Pusha T, famously known for rapping about cocaine in so many ways you stop realising he is actually talking about cocaine. My Name is My Name is no exception to this, but it is somewhat different, I personally feel that Pusha T expanded his boundaries on this album, his sound has grown as an artist. He has started to move from that Clipse sound that we know and love him for and has opted for more experimental beats (Numbers on the Boards) and the unexpected feature of Kelly Rowland. The 2013 album has to its name many talented producers with Kanye West taking creative control on many fronts of the album. Flashback to early 2013, I was sceptical for this album and this is because I absolutely love Pusha T as a rapper, personality and talented MC but I never enjoyed him specifically as an artist, until this album. Immediately from the first song, King Push, you feel that he has something new to offer to his discography with this album and what I enjoyed most about this song was the fact that it was solely Push (even though he “doesn’t sing hooks”) and it was refreshing in retrospect to the entirety of the album because there are features on almost every song, some of those taking away from the songs in fact. What Pusha T does hold throughout this album is the cockiness that we, as listeners, have come to expect from an artist, he oozes this I don’t give a f*ck attitude and it is believable. The Virginian rapper then moves into Numbers on the Board which is a song that I absolutely hated at first and found the beat to be extremely annoying and overpowering yet the more I heard it the more I started to feel the rhythm and the expertise of this expertly made song and I believe that this song would not be the same without that strong overpowering sound effect casing throughout the song and that swagger that I love to hear so much from Pusha is here on this song as he coolly spits “it’s only one God and it’s only one crown, so it’s only one king that can stand on this mound” this is exactly what I love to hear Push flowing about. One of the other highlights of this album is Kendrick’s feature on Nosetalgia, this is exactly what you want to hear from Kendrick on any feature, the wordplay, the flow, the switch in tone. It is arguably one of the best features on any album ever and that is not an overreaction from a self-proclaimed Kendrick Stan (He is amazing live, you must see him). If I was Pusha I would not have included this song on the album because he is simply out-rapped, Kendricks use of cocaine brick to explain how much worth his raps have to other rappers is incredible. Ultimately though, on the entirety of this album Pusha has great flow, amazing lyrics and songs that have more to them than cocaine and cockiness, even with the attempt to sound more pop-y without selling out on the features of Chris Brown and Kelly Rowland. This was one of my favourite albums of 2013 and I can only wish that it was released on vinyl.
8/10