Artist: Pusha T
Album: Wrath Of Caine
Release Date: 28th January 2013
This week, as well as Pusha’s ‘Wrath of Caine’ mixtape, I have revisited Danny Brown’s ‘XXX’. I said that one of the main reasons to love that album, and Danny Brown’s output in general, is his unpredictability and the schizophrenic variety he brings to his music. Listening to a Danny Brown album is opening a can of worms where anything surprising, unexpected and controversial can, and probably will happen.
Sometimes, though, you don’t listen to a rap album because you want to be challenged, or shocked, or because you want your expectations undermined in any way. Sometimes you listen to a rap album because it does a job, sets a mood, fulfils a purpose. ‘Wrath of Caine’ is one such project, and its purpose is as clear as a brand-new Pyrex beaker. I said of Danny Brown’s ‘Scrap Or Die’ that it was “as far away from the big-budget, Benzes-and-bricks story as it’s possible to be”; ‘Wrath of Caine’ is the opposite, a collection of dope-boy anthems that are steeped in the Tony Montana mindset, throwing a cold-eyed glare at the competition as it disappears in the rear-view mirror. It’s not perfect, but for a free mixtape the quality is surprisingly high, especially given the widespread criticism of Pusha’s previous solo efforts, and his attitude throughout is brilliantly sneering and supremely confident. Push gets his priorities across in the intro track very clearly: “I’m too much dope dealer for rap niggas… I’m more biased to the coke-dealing coupe drivers / and bad bitches steered wrong by they loose mamas” – this is a project aimed squarely at the street, and critical acclaim isn’t even a concern. The first ‘proper’ track on here, ‘Millions’, kicks the doors off the album with a surging, ominous trap sound and a repetitive chorus – “Millions in the ceiling / choppers in the closet” – that sets the tone brilliantly, and for better or worse, there’s a standard-issue Rick Ross sixteen which serves its purpose in there as well. French Montana does a pretty dreadful job of the hook on ‘Doesn’t Matter’, but it’s a matter of taste whether it’s so-bad-it’s-good à la Future, or just bad à la French Montana. The featured artists don’t generally have much of an impact on ‘Wrath of Caine’, although in actuality this is quite welcome as Push has suffered criticism in the past for over-filling his mixtapes with guests. The only vaguely memorable feature on here is Re-Up Gang confederate AB-Liva’s decent appearance on ‘Re-Up Gang Motivation’, and as you might expect, Wale’s feature on ‘Only You Can Tell It’ is so forgettable it can pass by without you actually realising it’s happening. Thankfully, Pusha handles his business, maintaining his lyrical intensity throughout, and the production is strong across the whole album, with reggae influences popping up on ‘Blocka’ and ‘Take My Life’ that provide variety without disrupting the intensity for a moment. The brief running time passes by quickly, and the mixtape does exactly what it aims to do: whet appetites for My Name Is My Name, which you can read HTF’s review of here.
7/10
