Pusha T dropped his highly anticipated follow-up to 2018’s DAYTONA on Friday (April 22), much to the satisfaction of his fiercely loyal fanbase. Titled It’s Almost Dry, the 12-track project boasted split production from Kanye West and Pharrell Williams and special guests such as JAY-Z, Kid Cudi, Lil Uzi Vert and Don Toliver.
On Sunday (May 1), Billboard announced its weekly album chart and It’s Almost Dry landed at the top, marking Pusha T’s first No. 1 album. Not long after the numbers were published, the 44-year-old rapper hopped on Twitter to react to his latest milestone, writing, “We all can’t be number 1 at the same time, this week it’s mine. Thank you to all.”
We all can’t be number 1 at the same time, this week it’s mine…? Thank you to all.#ItsAlmostDry pic.twitter.com/f0yeJsxerv
— King Push (@PUSHA_T) May 1, 2022
It’s Almost Dry moved an estimated 55,000 total album-equivalent units in its inaugural week, slightly lower than 2018’s DAYTONA, which debuted with around 77,000 total album-equivalent units. It also serves as Pusha’s third Top 5 Billboard 200 debut, following 2013’s My Name Is My Name and the aforementioned DAYTONA.
Pusha T broke down the title of the album in an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this month, saying, “I’m always creating a masterpiece and in the creation of that in terms of a painting, you end up telling people while they waiting on it, ‘It’s almost dry,’ because they’re always asking, ‘When will it be done?’” he explained. “And you have to wait on masterpieces.”
He continued, “Also in drug culture, a lot of times you’ll have people waiting on the product and it’s not dry yet. You can come get it when it’s dry.”
And while Pusha T praised Kanye and Pharrell for their stellar contributions to the project, he also credited Diddy for inspiring his entire career. After Diddy called the album “a work of art,” Push celebrated the Bad Boy Records mogul with an Instagram post of his own.
Anytime I’ve ever had a lack of inspiration, I searched for you. When I throw my voice in the studio, mimicking BIG, and the writers/fans notice…what they don’t know is, it was you in 2015 showing me how to turn the corner in those verses to add magic to the song. You’ve always shared the codes with me. Whether approving my albums on the outdoor home speakers at the LA estate to driving the causeways on golf carts thru Miami Beach just listening to a mogul talk.
“I say all this to let you know, although @pharrell and @kanyewest executive produced #ItsAlmostDry , it is your DNA, your fingerprints, and your spirit all over this muthafucka!! Thank you for everything @diddy.”