Wrath of Caine — Pusha T
The rap-conscious public first heard of Pusha T after he formed a group called Clipse with his brother Malice in 1992. His rapidfire cadence is as striking now as it was then, but his circumstances have changed dramatically. As he put it in a freestyle on Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 radio show, “Malice found religion” and is rapping no longer. Pusha himself was signed to Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music in March 2010 and lent a slew of topnotch verses to Yeezy’s masterpiece, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Now a few months away from his debut under Ye’s tutelage, My Name Is My Name (which is either a clever reference to The Wire or Exodus 3:14), Pusha is looking to generate hype in the streets with a mixtape, which he absolutely does on the grimy Wrath of Caine.
Though his coke-dealing days are a thing of the past, Terrence Thornton isn’t one to let you forget how hard he is and is grinding in another way. The tape is littered with gems, but “Millions” is definitely the track that boasts the most sheer grandeur and will be included on the upcoming album. As you might’ve guessed, “Millions” speaks of the lavish lifestyle the Virginia native has come to enjoy after years of being underappreciated. But the stale trope of opulence takes on a new sheen under the production of Southside. As if to warrant the claim that “this shit sound like God, don’t it,” Pusha enlists larger-than-life Rick Ross to drop some bars. Responding to the challenge, Rozay brings a childlike exuberance to the song, proclaiming “I got this, I got that/I got that, I got this” which beckons the image of a spoiled kid bragging to his crew after Christmas. The simple hook of “millions in the ceiling, choppas in the closet” is liable to get engrained in your head as it did for me and unfortunately my mother as well, who had gotten fed up with the song reverberating throughout the house and walked into my room to reprimand me as I was miming throwing money stacks in the air. I assure you nothing is more humbling than having the woman that raised you laugh at your attempts to emulate a hardened rapper and his trademark snarl.
Along with “Millions” the rest of the tape is also phenomenal, with French Montana offering his best Future impression on the “Doesn’t Matter” hook, while Pusha raps pugnaciously over Young Chop’s “Blocka”.
By: Tomi Milos
