REVIEW: Pusha T - DAYTONA

Daytona is the fourth full-length project from Pusha T.  It is one of many G.O.O.D. Music albums Kanye West has produced for this summer.  The album was originally supposed to be called King Push but that was either been scrapped or postponed to an even later date because the singles (Drug Dealers Anonymous, Circles, HGTV Freestyle) didn't take off.  Either way, it will be the first time we hear a full-length album from Pusha T in three years.

Positives

Kanye West is responsible for production throughout the album and he did a fantastic job.  There isn't a single bad beat on here.  I do not listen to Pusha T's music nor do I consider myself a fan, but I won't deny his talent.  I think he is one of the most underrated rappers today.  His hard-hitting flows and bars (even if it's mostly about cocaine) are some of the best in hip-hop right now.  There are quite a few quotables throughout the album such as:

"Cause you rappers found every way to ruin Pateks" - Subtle hit at Migos and Offset on Hard Piano

"It was written like Nas but it came from Quentin." - Not-so-subtle hit at Drake on Infrared

"The only rapper sold more dope than me was Eazy-E." - Braggodocious bars on Infrared

Negatives

I don't think there is a single negative aspect on this album.  My notes originally only had that it was too short since it's only 7 songs and 21 minutes long.  However, I think that having 7 tracks was a great idea.  Having just 7 songs leaves no room for filler and guarantees that your best content will be on the album.  Basically, there was nothing wrong with this album whatsoever.

So how were the features?

Two artists were featured on Daytona.

1) Rick Ross (Hard Piano) - I've always liked Rick Ross as a feature artist.  This was one of his best guest verses in recent memory as he showcases some amazing flows.

Verdict: Liked

2) Kanye West (What Would Meek Do?) - He starts off with a callback to his recent joke song "Lift Yourself" (WHOOPTY-WHOOP!) and actually proceeds to lay some solid bars and flows.  It wasn't too memorable of a verse but I liked it.

Verdict: Liked

Favorite Tracks

This was the hardest section of the review because every track was great.

1) If You Know You Know - I thought this was a great way to start the album.  I loved how he didn't let the beat ride to start the album and just started rapping instead.  I also found his hook to be very catchy.

2) Santeria - This song probably had my favorite beat on the album.  This was also where Pusha's flow sounded best.  I thought 070 Shake's vocals for the chorus was a nice touch.

3) What Would Meek Do? (feat. Kanye West) - This was my favorite song overall.  The lyrics didn't relate too much to Meek Mill's case like I thought, but I thought this was great regardless.  There was no hook, just two and a half minutes of spitting from Pusha and Kanye about how they would respond to shit-talking.

4) Infrared - This was an amazing outro.  No hook, no hard-hitting production, just three minutes of non-stop bars from Pusha.  You got clever brag bars, shots at Drake, and commentary on the Lil Wayne-Birdman situation.  Easily the best song, lyrically.

Least Favorite Track

I usually find one or two tracks that I didn't like on my favorite albums, but I don't think there was a single track that I disliked or didn't care for.  So no track will be featured in this section.

Conclusion

This was such a great listening experience.  There was no filler, no bad moment, or a boring stretch. It's safe to say that this is the best album of the year so far.

Score: 10/10

The only other Pusha T album I've listened to was My Name Is My Name but I think this is definitely his best project.  I'm looking forward to the other G.O.O.D. Music albums Kanye has in store for us.

This concludes my eighth review.  I still have to write up a review for Testing and do my end of the month write-up, which will both be up by the end of today or early tomorrow.