Pusha-T on J. Prince Stepping Into Drake Feud: 'That's the Last Person I Thought Would Be Speaking'

Pusha-T continues his tour of truth with an in-depth discussion on the 'Drink Champs' podcast about a wide variety of topics, including that whole Drake thing.

Now that we're a few weeks removed from the release of Pusha-T's DAYTONA, we can even more reasonably argue that it's an obvious choice for one of this year's best albums. Surrounding the release of the first of Kanye West's series of seven-song projects, King Push was embroiled in—and widely considered the winner of—a reignited feud with Drake. In a sprawling conversation with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, Pusha further detailed the sort of behind-the-scenes trivia of which fans will never tire.

"Just to be honest with you, man, I feel like there's absolutely nothing that they would do for my best interests," Pusha said around 51 minutes into the latest episode of the Drink Champs podcast. "Nothing. For nothing, for no reason at all. Whatever their decision is or decision-making is is based off of what's best for them. I don't know what ends my career. I ain't ever told on nobody. I am who I am. I don’t even know what's career-ending these days, but whatever it is, I ain't done it."

In fact, the "career-ending" claims weren't mentioned at all during the discussions his management team had with Prince, i.e. "the last person" Pusha thought would weigh in on the feud.

"That's the last person I thought would be speaking," he explained. And the line started it all? Pusha was apparently surprised by its quality level. "I didn't think it was that good," he said around the 59-minute mark. 

Elsewhere, Pusha suggested he had that infamous "Story of Adidon" photo before the release of "Infrared" and pondered the real legacy impact of a successful diss track. "I don't know what the real benefit is," he said of being declared the winner by Diddy and other industry veterans. "I hope I'm not getting it from this. It's, like, sort of weird."

Pusha also shared a piece advice for his fellow-artists: secure publishing rights. The rapper said he learned this the hard way after he helped make the mega-popular McDonald's jiggle "I'm Lovin' It."

"I took a super L," Push said about the work at the around the 1:20 mark. "Just upfront, no publishing [...] I need people to know, because they need to understand. Shout-out to [former music executive] Steve Stoute; he gave me the check and I was like, 'Ahhh great.' 

"I want people to know that part. Keep your publishing, man" he said. "That check will be nice, but ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ been running for how long now? I did This in ’03. Who knows what it would have been."

Pusha didn't make the same mistake twice, however. He went on to reveal he owns 40 percent of the recent Arby's commercial.

"The get back is real [...] When you hear that guitar strum, that's mine," Push said. "You live and you learn."

It's important to note, however, that Pusha's involvement in creating "I'm Lovin' It" has been disputed. Though the rapper was recruited to rap on one of the jingle alongside his brother No Malice, those who worked on the track claim Pusha's role has been exaggerated. 

According to Pitchfork, Franco Tortora and Tom Batoy, the president of German music house Mona Davis, are credited for writing various versions of the jingle. Though many artists were involved with the "I'm Lovin' It" campaign—like Justin Timberlake and Pharrell—Batoy insists it was he and Tortora who created the song.

"Pusha-T was never involved in the creation of the McDonald’s jingle 'I'm Lovin' It,'" he told Pitchfork in 2016.

Danny Saber, a producer who worked as a sound engineer on the song, echoed Batoy’s claims: "For people to come crawling out of the woodwork and trying to claim it, it's just fucking ridiculous. It's bullshit."

At the time of the story's publication, Pusha's team declined to comment on Batoy and Tortora's statements.

Listen to Pusha-T's full Drink Champs interview here.

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