Since his days in Clipse, Pusha-T has been mastering the punchy album opener. He knows exactly how to set the tone for his coke rap epics. His new Kanye West-produced album, Daytona, kickstarts with the sublime “If You Know You Know,” a grand reintroduction to his gaudy lifestyle, his incredibly brusque and thrilling raps, and his off-white world.
Half the intrigue of Pusha-T songs now is that the one-time Virginian smuggler is still coming up with such amazing coke parallels. “If You Know You Know” is his most forceful rapping since he had his brother standing beside him. It’s easy to catch a contact high; not from his loaded memories of moving nose candy but from his supreme hustler’s confidence. Most of Pusha’s one-liners are clever on their own; the message never changes but neither does the conviction.
Pusha is an audacious and pitiless victor: “Dance contest for the smokers/I predict snow, Al Roker/I only ever looked up to Sosa,” he spits, still empathizing with villians in his narcotic fantasy where the smartest (and most unapologetic) corner boys become kingpins and sophisticates. He keeps living out his rise on a loop, as if trying to savor every second. “If you know you know,” he reiterates, shrugging off the cycle you’ve stepped into once more. As Pusha-T again asserts command over his dominion here, it’s hard not to be impressed by his ability to keep making the same powerful first impression.
