Posted by Pusha T kickstarted the campaign for his new album in January with a simple yet somewhat cryptic photo.
After wiping his Instagram page clean, King Push opened the next chapter of his career by posting a grainy picture of Lana Del Rey with a small mound of white powder (if you know, you know) concealing her face. The photo was accompanied by a video of him rapping his soon-to-be-released lead single “Diet Coke.”
Fans speculated that the photo might be the album cover given the morbid Whitney Houston bathroom flick that served as the artwork for his previous album, 2018’s DAYTONA. Perhaps Push has a thing for talented yet troubled female singers whose cocaine habit hits the headlines.
All that was clear was that the four-year wait for a new Pusha T album was soon coming to an end.
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In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Pusha T finally offered an explanation behind the Lana Del Rey photo. According to the Clipse MC, he posted the image because he relates to the themes of the 36-year-old singer’s music, whose catalog is laced with coke-referencing songs such as “High by the Beach” and “Florida Kilos.”
“Musically, I think Lana Del Rey speaks to the same subject matter, but just on different ends of it,” he said. “You can hear remnants of drug indulgence and addiction. So it’s like, ‘Man, why not?’ I thought it made sense.”
What’s more, the photo planted the seed for a Pusha T and Lana Del Rey collaboration that could be on the horizon. “One of the heads of Interscope called right after the picture came out and asked me to get on a remix,” he revealed with a laugh. “I forgot which song, but I’m still waiting for them to send it over.”
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While Pusha T has yet to announce the all-important details, his forthcoming album is reportedly called It’s Almost Dry and slated for an April 8 release, according to German multimedia retailer CeDe.de who listed the album on their website earlier this week.
The not-so-subtle “Diet Coke” remains the first and only song that fans have been able to sample, with the rest of the project promising production from Kanye West and The Neptunes, as well as a guest appearance from fellow coke rap connoisseur JAY-Z.
However, his next album could see Pusha T branch out from his usual street-oriented subject matter. “This album is [about] feeding the conscious mind,” he tweeted in response to Spotify’s Carl Chery praising his “Diet Coke” bars. “I hope you aren’t disappointed… I’m growing up Carl.”