Pusha T Reveals The Reasons Why Def Jam Had An Issue With Kendrick Lamar's Verse

BY Zachary Horvath 4.8K 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 previously made this revelation during a feature interview with "GQ" but this time, he's getting into the contents of the verse.

Throughout the rollout for the next Clipse album, Pusha T has dropped quite a few bombshells along the way. On the lead single "Ace Trumpets," the Virginia MC took shots at Kanye West, taunting him mercilessly over where his career is currently at. He then doubled down on his disliking for his former collaborator in the Clipse's explosive GQ interview.

Of course, there's also the Travis Scott angle that was introduced just last week with the second teaser "So Be It." He unleashed on him for his lack of loyalty, particularly for Pharrell Williams, who is extremely close with Pusha. He divulged more on why in that same GQ piece that was fully unleashed following "So Be It" officially dropping.

But it hasn't just been beefs with rappers that have helped propel the noise around Let God Sort Em Out. It's also been the fallout with their now former label, Def Jam. Once again in that interview, Pusha T revealed how difficult it was for them to get this record approved.

It stemmed from Kendrick Lamar's verse on the heavily anticipated "Chains & Whips." However, it was unclear as to what exactly was so sketchy about it. King Push did believe it had to do with two of Drake's biggest enemies linking up on a song following Lamar's battle with him in 2024.

Clipse New Album

In his words, he said, "They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing. And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, 'We'll just drop the Clipse.' But that can't work because I'm still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go…"

Fast forward to a new sit-down with NY Times and he's staying firm on that belief. "In my opinion, they didn't like the optics," Pusha said. He was then asked if there was a line Def Jam really didn't feel comfortable with.

According to the rapper, it was completely "unrelated" to Drake. "They pinpointed a line where the phrase 'trump card' was used. So stupid. The phrase 'trump card' was used and they said that they didn't want any problems with [Donald] Trump or something like that."

Ultimately, he tied it back to the Drake angle saying that they were searching for something to nitpick to halt the song from happening.

Of course, it has since been revealed that Lamar will still have a spot on the album. T's manager revealed they paid a seven-figure payment to get out of their contract just for this to happen.

Let God Sort Em Out will arrive on July 11.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

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