Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born: May 13, 1977), better known professionally as Pusha T, is an American rapper known for his music.
Life[]
Thornton was born on May 13, 1977, in the Bronx borough of New York City, though the family later relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he and his brother, Gene Thornton—better known professionally as the rapper No Malice—, grew up. As teenagers, the brothers both sold drugs, with Gene eventually being kicked out of their parents' house after they discovered what he was doing. In 1992, the two began to pursue a career in hip hop, forming a group known as Clipse. Gene was known for most of the group's duration as Malice. The two were originally known as Terrar and Malicious, respectively, and in 2012, Gene changed his stage name to No Malice following a conversion to Christianity.
Career[]
After releasing Hell Hath No Fury, the brothers announced that Clipse would be going on indefinite hiatus so the brothers could focus on their solo careers. Shortly after this, Thornton was signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music label in 2010, and made his first appearance as a member of the GOOD roster on Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, appearing on his hit "Runaway". He was also featured on several tracks from West's GOOD Fridays series and made other appearances on Swizz Beatz's Monster Mondays series, Lloyd Banks' H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2) and Tabi Bonney's Fresh, respectively. In December 2010, Thornton signed an exclusive management deal with NUE Agency. In 2011, Funkmaster Flex debuted Pusha T's debut solo single on New York City's Hot 97. The track, titled "My God", was generally well received by the public. Soon after, the song leaked onto the internet, however was not officially released through iTunes and Amazon until August 24, 2011. On August 31, 2011, it was announced Thornton had signed a solo record deal with Def Jam.
After the release of Thornton's song "Exodus 23:1" in 2012, Drake seemingly responded to him on the intro to his 2013 album Nothing Was the Same, calling him a "bench player acting like a starter". The two directed disses towards each other between 2012 and 2017 with Thornton rapping on the song "H.G.T.V", saying the following: "It's too far gone when the realest ain't real / I walk amongst the clouds, so your ceilings ain't real/ These n*ggas Call of Duty 'cause they killings ain't real / With a questionable pen so the feeling ain't real," with Drake later responding on the diss track "Two Birds, One Stone" questioning Thornton's drug dealing past. Thornton further escalated the feud on the song "Infrared" from his 2018 album Daytona, where he accused Drake of using a ghostwriter. Drake responded to the song less than one day later, releasing a track titled "Duppy Freestyle" where he insults both Thornton and Kanye West, accusing Thornton of being a fake drug dealer and claiming that he would boost sales of his album just by dissing him. Thornton responded to Duppy on May 29, 2018, with the track "The Story of Adidon" which featured him responding to Drake over the instrumental of Jay-Z's 2017 single "The Story of O.J." The song had lines directed towards rumors Drake has an illegitimate child and his producer's multiple sclerosis. The song additionally referenced Thornton's ongoing beef with Lil Wayne and Birdman. The song's cover art also attracted controversy, showing an unedited picture of Drake wearing a Jim Crow t-shirt and hoodie and blackface makeup. Drake eventually admitted to losing the feud in an interview with RapRadar, saying it was his "first loss in the competitive sport of rapping."
Channel[]
Thornton created his channel on February 23, 2011, and he uploaded his first video on the same day. He uploaded music videos, audio, and lyric videos to his channel.
