“I know where I’m at,” exclaimed a confident Pusha T as he came to a stop on stage in front of the crowd at the House of Blues. “I know this is the home of the money makers.”
The crowd screamed as the lights in the hall began to flicker. Only the Virginia rapper’s silhouette could be seen as the three gigantic screens that filled the stage behind him flashed a bright white light.
“Aye, let’s show them what we do with the money.”
As he turned around to face the screen pictures of presidents and dollar bills replaced the white flashing lights on the screens. The baseline for Pusha T’s single “Neck and Wrist” rumbled through the speakers
Pusha T and his “It’s Almost Dry” tour touched down in Houston Tuesday night giving fans the opportunity to see him perform tracks off his latest offering of the same name as well as cult classics. The tour began in Seattle back in May, crisscrossing around the country and seemingly ending in North Carolina. Much to fans delight, Pusha announced a second phase of the tour back in June adding 29 more stops.
Pusha T has been diligently dropping music since 1993, releasing music with his brother, Malice, as the rap duo The Clipse. In 2010 he went solo, dropping four acclaimed albums over the last decade. His place in the rap game is something he displays proudly, introducing the tour named after his latest album while the screens behind him displayed “Album of the Year” in bold white letters. Pusha’s longevity of albums and singles gives hims a lot of music to choose from and, with the pace of the show, he wanted to do them all. The MC went back and performed hits like the Clipse’s breakout single “Grindin” and new cuts off his latest album like “Dreaming of the Past”. However, it was when Pusha waved goodnight to the crowd and walked off the stage that things really took off. Stepping back up to the crowd after chants of his name Pusha waited for the noise to die down.
“I’m going to do this one but I’m not going to sing,” he laughed as the on singular piano key from Kanye West’s Pusha T assisted single “Runaway” rang through the room. The screens behind him began glowing an ominous red before showing choppy pictures of a ballerina moving into different dance formations. The MC lifted his hands in the air as the crowd sang the chorus and then quickly moved into his verse.
Pusha T may often get pigeonholed as a coke rapper, a criticism the MC has addressed in many interviews and songs, but his show displays his versatility, attention to detail, and his focus on audio as well as visuals. The show sounded amazing and looked compelling. His show Tuesday night should have fans looking forward to seeing another performance from him in the near future.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
