Hip-hop elder statesman Pusha T’s music seems increasingly conceived to embody the adage that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” The rapper appeared to reach an apex in his solo output with the distilled craftsmanship of 2018’s Daytona. When the follow-up was announced, many deemed it unlikely that Push would top the earlier album’s taut rhyme schemes, soulful and seedy production, and beef-instigating barbs. Improbably, It’s Almost Dry manages to be even better.
Pusha enlists Kanye West again, along with fellow Virginia native Pharrell, to create a paranoiac, vacuum-sealed atmosphere. The latter’s circular piano lines and hissing snares expand on Ye’s established palette, as Push offers his pun-filled verses with a measured, hypnotic confidence—never frantic or hurried, which is ironic given the effects of the powder he fixates on throughout It’s Almost Dry.
The album’s fable-like cartel yarns are treated by the MC as absolute, stone-faced realism (though there are wisecracks aplenty, like “Cocaine’s Dr. Seuess”), which fascinatingly heightens the sense that the posturing and tall tales are concealing a vulnerability that we’re never allowed to access through all of the perfectly composed artifice. “Tennis chains to hide all my blemishes,” Push spits on “Just You Remember.” Maybe one day he’ll reveal what those are, but the intricately constructed It’s Almost Dry is still part of a now decades-long roll-out attesting to his bravado—and we’re not complaining.
Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees.
If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a donation.
