Pusha T has publicly cut ties with Kanye West’s former record label G.O.O.D. Music, which he first joined in 2010, and remained with through the release of his 2022 Grammy-nominated album “It’s Almost Dry.”
In 2015, Pusha became the president of G.O.O.D., but in a new interview with XXL, he confirmed his affiliation with the label was cut following West’s outspoken descent into antisemitism. The company’s parent label, Def Jam, ended its business relationship with G.O.O.D. in late October and clarified that its working relationship with West ended in 2021. Pusha now shares a 50/50 deal directly with Def Jam for his music and is under his own label, Heir Wave Music Group.
The rapper told the publication that he hasn’t spoken to West since he articulated his disappointment with him in a November interview. “I was still on tour. I just expressed myself. I express myself to him a lot. He expressed his thoughts to me,” he said. “And he got off the phone saying, ‘Thank you. I know you don’t agree with me, but you never kill me in the public. And some people can’t wait to do that.'”
When asked about West’s appearances on far-right shows and podcasts, he responded that it was “nothing to tap dance around. It’s wrong. Period. But to me, it’s just me and him having a difference of opinion yet again.”
He continued: “If you ain’t with it, you ain’t down. And I ain’t with it. I’m not budging on that. I’m not with it. I heard about this new stuff [on“Infowars“]. I don’t know. It’s something that just sort of tells me he’s not well, at the same time. I will say that. It’s going to places where it’s no way to move around it.”
He recalled having disagreed with West in 2016 following his public support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign: “People gotta remember, too. This isn’t new for me, when it comes to disagreeing with him politically and things like that.
“Remember, I’m the one that said the MAGA hat is the new Klu Klux Klan hood while he’s making my album,” he continued. “He beefing with Obama. I met Obama. But it’s the same thing with him and the Drake thing. I’m going through this and that, he’s doing shows [with Drake],” he explained.
Pusha first appeared on West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” album on the track “Runaway.” West then served as an executive producer to Pusha’s solo albums, including releases like 2013’s “My Name is My Name” and 2018’s “Daytona.” The former Clipse rapper’s latest effort, “It’s Almost Dry,” saw West take up half of the record’s production duties, while Pharrell Williams, another longtime collaborator of Pusha’s, produced the other half.
“[West] knows I will do everything I gotta do and wanna do. In regard to anything that jeopardizes my look, my pride, anything. He knows that,” Pusha continued. “He knows there’s no talking me off any ledges. He just can’t do it. With him knowing that. I got too much pride to ask somebody to not move a certain way. I don’t do it. But I’m going to react as Coo Coo Cal as I fucking want to when I feel like something is not going in my favor. It is what it is, man.”
