Pusha T Discuses Breaking Rap's Age Ceiling With Clipse's "Let God Sort Em Out"

BY Cole Blake 647 Views
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Pusha T performs on the Coachella stage during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., Friday, April 21, 2023. © Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Pusha T and Malice reunited with their long-time collaborator, Pharrell, for "Let God Sort Em Out" back in July.

Pusha T recently spoke to Billboard about the success of Clipse's new album, Let God Sort Em Out, despite he and Malice being in their late 40s and early 50s, respectively. He explained that he doesn't like the idea of hip-hop being a genre for young artists.

“I’ve always looked at rap and other genres, rock specifically, and I’ve never liked how rap always had the age ceiling where everyone else didn’t,” Pusha T said. “I’ve personally always wanted to make it my business to crack that ceiling, and I think the Clipse album 1,000% [did it].”

“Martin Scorsese made The Irishman not too long ago,” he added. “You don’t stop being great. You might decide not to continue to share your gift with the world. But great is great.”

When proposed with the idea that rap’s a young man’s game, Pusha T further said: "You started the question with the phrasing of a young man’s sport — we kind of cracked the ceiling on that. Looking at just competing in music, I’ve never felt like it was a young man’s sport. I always felt like it was a competitor’s sport. As long as you’re competing and you’re living through the times, you should be in it. You have to be in it. You can’t passively be in it. Nah, man, this is about who can compete and who can’t. Being able to compete through different eras and trends, to be able to A and B your music versus whatever’s popular. Let God Sort Em Out speaks volumes when it comes to that."

Clipse "Let God Sort Em Out"

Pusha T and Malice reunited for Let God Sort Em Out back in July. Pharrell handled production across the project. Ab-Liva, John Legend, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Stove God Cooks, The-Dream, Tyler, the Creator, and Voices of Fire all make guest appearances.

Pusha T's interview with Billboard comes as he and Malice are currently touring together. They have more dates lined up through November.

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.

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