Does Pusha T moonlight as a private investigator? Because that would explain a whole lot about “The Story of Adidon,” a brutal dis track he released Tuesday night that escalated his yearslong (and recently reignited) beef with Drake.
First heard on New York’s Hot 97, the track is set to the instrumental of Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.” and makes serious allegations about Drake’s personal life. It claims Drake, whose mother is Jewish-Canadian and father is African-American, is “confused” when it comes to embracing his blackness. Pusha brings up Drake’s absentee father and accuses the rapper of similarly abandoning a child named Adonis, who unproven rumors hold is Drake’s secret son with former porn star Sophie B. Pusha even targets the health of Noah “40″ Shebib, Drake’s producer, who has multiple sclerosis.
And that’s barely skimming the surface. “The Story of Adidon” — unleashed after Drake mentioned Pusha’s fiancée in this past weekend’s “Duppy Freestyle,” which was itself a response to Pusha resuscitating the Drake ghostwriting drama on his recent album “Daytona” — uses an old (and apparently real) photo of Drake in blackface for cover art.
What ghostwriting drama, you ask? Oh, boy. There’s a lot to unpack given that Drake and Pusha have been at odds with one another since 2011, which doesn’t even include an older beef between Drake’s mentor, Lil Wayne, and Clipse, a duo consisting of Pusha and his brother, No Malice. But we can do this. It all starts with …
Lil Wayne wears BAPE (2006)
In a 2006 cover photo for Vibe magazine, the rapper wore clothing by BAPE, a Japanese streetwear brand often worn by Clipse and popularized by their frequent producer Pharrell Williams. The rap duo released the Pharrell-produced “Mr. Me Too” that year, which, according to Billboard, accused Lil Wayne of copying the Virginia group’s “style from the shoes to the watches.”
Complex asked Lil Wayne about Clipse allegedly claiming they started “BAPE and coke rap” later that year, and Lil Wayne vehemently denied rapping about either subject: “Stop coming at me about that … man. That’s how you get beef started man.” (Narrator: He was right.)
Self-proclaimed legend Lil Wayne eventually said Clipse had to do a song with one of Wayne’s Cash Money Records label mates “to get hot.” (Clipse was featured on the song “What Happened to That Boy?” by Baby.) Cash Money Records later signed Drake in 2009.
After a few years, we entered an era of …
Pusha and Drake periodically insult each other (2011-17)
Pusha freestyled in 2011 over the beat of “Dreams Money Can Buy,” a single from Drake’s sophomore album, “Take Care.” Though Pusha didn’t name a specific target, many have theorized that certain lyrics refer to Drake’s ego: “Rappers on their sophomores, actin’ like they boss lords / Fame such a funny thing for sure.”
The next year, Pusha once again attacked Drake and Lil Wayne in “Exodus 23:1.” Using words we cannot publish in this family-friendly paper, Pusha (presumably) criticized Drake’s contract with Young Money, Lil Wayne’s imprint under Cash Money Records. Lil Wayne responded with an equally profane tweet.
Drake finally responded in 2013 with “Tuscan Leather,” the first track on his album “Nothing Was the Same.” He warns anyone attacking Lil Wayne — so, Pusha — to stop: “I’m just as famous as my mentor / But that’s still the boss, don’t get sent for / Get hype on the tracks and jump in front of a bullet you wasn’t meant for / ’Cause you don’t really wanna hear me vent more / Hot temper, scary outcome.”
Pusha let that simmer for a few years before responding in 2016 with “H.G.T.V Freestyle,” which is short on the homeowner drama but filled with the aforementioned ghostwriters drama (!!!). The rapper revealed himself to be a ghostwriter truther when he questioned whether Drake actually writes his own lyrics: “It’s too far gone when the realest ain’t real / I walk amongst the clouds so your ceilings ain’t real / These [expletive] Call of Duty ’cause their killings ain’t real / With a questionable pen so the feelin’ ain’t real.”
Let’s break that down. The first line likely refers to Drake’s 2013 album “Too Far Gone,” while “the clouds” recalls the album cover of “Nothing Was the Same.” Pusha refutes Drake’s past claim to being “the realest” by pointing out the irony of him potentially not using his own words. (Again, this has not been proven.)
And that brings us to …
The current Pusha and Drake debacle (2018)
On Friday, Pusha released his well-received, Kanye West-produced album “Daytona,” which notably uses an image of Whitney Houston’s drug-filled bathroom as cover art. The album’s last track, “Infrared,” revived the ghostwriting theory in the opening verse: “The lyric pennin’ equals the Trumps winnin’ / The bigger question is how the Russians did it / It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin,” referring to rapper Quentin Miller. Basically, Pusha alleges Russians helped President Donald Trump win the election just like ghostwriters supposedly helped Drake throughout his career.
Nicki Minaj — who previously dated onetime Drake nemesis Meek Mill, a rapper who also accused Drake of using ghostwriters — nevertheless voiced support for her Young Money label mate on Twitter: “Knock it off. Challenging the chosen ones only awakens the sleeping giant.”
Drake couldn’t possibly let Pusha get away with this absurdity so he immediately responded with “Duppy Freestyle,” which he starts by saying, “I’m in shock. The nerve, the audacity.” He sighs, quite dramatically, and gets on with it.
It appears Drake might have contributed to Kanye’s upcoming album: “What do you really think of the [expletive] that’s makin’ your beats? / I’ve done things for him I thought that he never would need / Father had to stretch his hands out and get it from me/ I pop style for 30 hours, then let him repeat.” (Kanye publicly thanked Drake in 2016 for helping him out on “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1″ and “30 Hours,” both from “The Life of Pablo.”)
Drake also admits that he worked on lyrics with Miller, who was “at Kroger working double time,” to help his career. (Miller clarified on Twitter that he was actually working at Publix, but the sentiment stands.) Drake name-drops Pusha’s fiancée, Virginia Williams, and ends “Duppy Freestyle” by requesting money from Kanye and Pusha for the attention the dis track would bring to “Daytona.” Pusha tweeted that Drake should go ahead and send him an invoice, so, naturally, Drake did.
And that, readers, brings us to “The Story of Adidon,” which sent pop culture Twitter into even more of a frenzy Tuesday after a crazy day of “Roseanne” drama. Drake has yet to respond but, according to Fader, Pusha went on the radio program “The Breakfast Club” Wednesday morning and said that “all bets are off” because of “Duppy Freestyle” naming Williams. He dragged Drake for the secret baby allegations — “I don’t even hang with my friends who have child support issues, I’m big on kids” — and expressed no regret for the vicious lyrics.
“I definitely didn’t get too far with anything,” Pusha said. “I’m here for the sport of it but when it gets personal, it gets personal. I’m not censoring myself, but there’s more content if it’s needed later.”
Stay tuned.