Like Picasso growing bored of paint, Pusha T says that diss tracks are “dead to me.”
In a new interview with Consequence, the L. Ron Hubbard of the cupboard explains that “it’s not the same ransom anymore. Back in the day, to me, I felt like it could be career ending. Now it’s not — it doesn’t hold as much weight. You still get another shot at it, it seems like.
“I’ve kind of been through that chapter and I’m over it,” he continues. “I’m somewhere right now where I don’t even want to make music with other people, nevertheless [have] anybody else in my music or be the focus of my music. What we’re doing right here [with Clipse] is, to me, so next level. I feel like the taste level is above everything else. Even being caught up in the world of it — I don’t like even the world of the people, of the back and forth — if I don’t see eye to eye with you, there’s probably things I don’t want to be there about, you know what I’m saying?”
During our interview Malice, his brother and partner in Clipse, backs him up with a reference to one of JAY-Z’s most iconic diss tracks, “Takeover.” He raps, “A wise man once told me, ‘Don’t argue with fools/ ‘Cause people from a distance can’t tell who is who.’”
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Pusha T is responsible for some of the most unforgettable diss tracks never to have been performed at the Super Bowl, including “The Story of Adidon,” which put Drake through the ringer; the new Clipse bangers “So Be It,” which rags on Travis Scott, and “Chains and Whips,” which takes shots at Drake’s pal Jim Jones; and a lengthy discography of attacks on Lil Wayne.
But now, according to cocaine’s Dr. Seuss, “It’s kind of dead to me. It’s the ransom of what a diss track used to bring: There was a clear winner. Somebody would really bow out and then that’s it — the last man standing. Now it’s just a whole bunch of noise. Even after we find winners, it’s still noise. And it’s like, man, then what’s it for?”
Check back next week for more from our interview with Clipse. In the meantime, catch the hip-hop legends (more than once) on our list of 200 Best Songs of 2025, re-read our review of Let God Sort Em Out, and see where that project lands on our list of 50 Best Albums of 2025.
