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Pusha T - DAYTONA (GOOD Music/Def Jam, 2018)

If Kanye West did one good thing this year, it was the 7-track rap album. This album clocks in at 21 minutes and it's a beaut, killers from beginning to end, book-ended by two absolute classics - "If You Know You Know" and "Infrared". The latter, of course, with its thinly-veiled jabs at Drake, set off the beef of the year. I thought at the time Drake shouldn't even bother responding - let's face it, ghostwriting jabs are nothing new, dude's gonna have to live with them his whole career, whatever, just move on. But nope. Classic cranky Drake, rushed to the studio like it was Meek Round 2, put out "Duppy Freestyle", and was promptly annihilated so hard with "The Story of Adidon" that he's spent the whole summer in damage control mode. Does anyone even remember what "Duppy Freestyle" sounds like anymore? But alas. I bring up Drake because this album also presents an interesting juxtaposition between the two - DAYTONA, ultra lean at 21 minutes and one of the best reviewed hip hop albums of the year, compared to Drake's flabby double disc that, despite setting streaming records, has earned a collective yawn critically speaking. I just find the differences interesting. Back to DAYTONA - Kanye's production is phenomenal. Sample-heavy in the classic Ye style, yes, but dark and nasty and perfectly suited for Pusha's equally venomous flow. I could've done without the Ye feature on "What Would Meek Do?" (especially the "poop scoop" reference) but I digress. A stunner otherwise. And that album art is sublime too. Whitney Houston's bathroom? Unreal. Yuuugh.

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