Pusha T on Drake Feud, "I Was in It for the Long Haul"

To end 2018 off, rapper Pusha T sat down with Variety for an exclusive interview where he opened up about his headline making feud with Drake, his recent GRAMMY nomination and the current state of rap.

“I was in it for the long haul, for hip-hop,” Pusha said pertaining to the feud with Drizzy. “I thought this was going to be a running thing, back-and-forth. I was sure he’d have a rebuttal.” Pusha continued by adding he was hoping it would last longer and he was surprised when it didn’t go past his scathing diss track, “The Story of Adidon.” “I did what I wanted to do. I only deal in truth, how I see things. When you’re dealing with words, it’s a way of dealing with truth and how the pubic process that, how they interpret that. And what touches them and what touches the person you’re going against. I actually thought we were going to keep on,” he continued.

Read an except below and head over to Variety for the full piece.

For more on Pusha T, the artist recently shared new music “will be out soon.”

How does “Infrared” take shape? Because you and Drake have sparred on-and-off since 2012. Why does Drake become a part of your lyrical palate again in April 2018?

“It was always going to be, always going to happen. I was always going to get off. “Infrared” had to happen. We were doing the back-and-forth. He had “Two birds, one stone.” This is what rap is. He is… it is a machine in dealing with him. So we deal. But I had to do things at my own time. You can’t just jump out there. We’ve seen how that works when you just treat it like a street battle. It’s really not. You have to play chess.”

Seems highly calculated. Like you put the ball in your court.
“Yes. It had to happen on my time. Not anybody else’s.”

Drake came back at you 24 hours after “Infrared” with “Duppy Freestyle.” But, you nailed him in what seemed like mere moments later, with “The Story of Adidon,” without blinking. That’s was surgical and swift. How did you process and plan for that level of math?

“I was in it for the long haul … for hip-hop. I thought this was going to be a running thing, back-and-forth. I was sure he’d have a rebuttal. I did what I wanted to do. I only deal in truth, how I see things. When you’re dealing with words, it’s a way of dealing with truth and how the pubic process that, how they interpret that. And what touches them and what touches the person you’re going against. I actually thought we were going to keep on.”