Pusha T brought “It’s Almost Dry” tour to The Pageant in St. Louis. As soon as you walk in the door you are met with 3 huge LED screens reading PUSHA T IT’S ALMOST DRY and RAP ALBUM OF THE YEAR. Something that he often says by speaking it into existence.

 

Rapper idk (ignorantly delivering knowledge) opened up the night bringing his high energy rap and r&b sound to the stage. Opening up with “Santa Monica Blvd” he came out jumping and got the crowd hyped. He slowed down a bit with “Dogs don’t die” and leading into “Prada Da Bang”. Like most new rappers nowadays, they really embrace the rockstar lifestyle by encouraging “walls of death” and “circle pits”. Idk had a very personable stage presence and engaged with the crowd as much as he could. He even had a short interview segment in the middle of his set where he asked random members of the crowd questions. It was a humorous and interesting change of pace.

Before Pusha T came out, we were greeted with a joker-style laugh before kicking off the set with “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes”. The ominous joker laugh is something Pusha T fans are familiar with from his latest album “It’s Almost Dry”. The ex-drug dealer turned superstar greeted the crowd and reminded them he has rap album of the year before jumping into “Brambleton”. He sprinkled in some of his most popular verses from Kanye West, Chief Keef, and Future. He has an extensive catalogue and performed a massive 26 song set. One of the most notable moments of the night was when he performed the classic “Grindin”, the track from Clipse that launched his career.

This concert was a reminder that Pusha T is in fact one of the most prominent and lyrical rappers in hip-hop. He had back-to-back iconic songs and verses in hip-hop that will definitely go down in history as one of the greatest. The 45 year old rapper has been grindin’ since the early 90’s and is still growing and getting better. I’m excited to see where his career takes him next.


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Ismael Valenzuela

St. Louis based photographer and writer.