Image via Complex Original
This feature is a part of Complex's Pusha T Week.
On track 3 of The Clipse's debut album Lord Willin', the Thornton brothers let the world know they were from Virginia, "Where ain't shit to do but cook." Eleven years later Pusha T's internal compass consistently points him back in the direction of the Seven Cities, the military-heavy metro area of Southeastern Virginia comprising seven major cities—Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and the largest, Virginia Beach.
While some rappers' lives take them elsewhere, King Push keeps returning to Virginia and doesn't foresee a time when he won't call the region home. "The 757 is what made me," Pusha insists, referring to the area code of Southeastern Va. "I rep Seven Cities because I am the Seven Cities. 757 defines me totally."
From where he grew up in Virgina Beach, to where he currently resides in Norfolk, Pusha takes us on on a personal tour, articulating how the Seven Cities shaped him as an artist.
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On How the Seven Cities Inspired His Music
Pusha T says: "I think the Seven Cities is reflected in my music simply because you can tell that I'm exposed to the world, and I feel like the Seven Cities is the reason for that. Some people are from areas where they don't leave that block. The Seven Cities has always showed me just enough to make me want to go explore other areas and take trips and just be amongst the different mixes. And that comes from the Seven Cities being a hotbed for a lot of different people.
"It's a military town. I was exposed to Houston hip-hop culture from the Seven Cities. The military bases, they brought guys from Texas to the area and these guys would go to the mom and pop store and request screwed music and then once they saw a demand that became a section and I was like, 'What the hell is this?' And then it so happened that I run into Slim Thug later on in life and he was like, 'Man, you know Virginia, that 757 area, that's like one of my biggest markets on the east coast.' There are so many people so you get many different influences and I think those influences have always opened my eyes and had me curious and wanting to be exposed to other things."
On Growing Up in Virginia Beach
Pusha T says: "People have to remember before it was going to Miami, it was coming to Virginia Beach, and I mean that as far as the hip-hop community. Virginia Beach were the firs to do the Greek Fest, which was like black colleges coming and congregating and taking over the boardwalk. It got crazy one year and they were hosing kids down. Public Enemy put it in a video. I believe it's "Can't Truss It." This was the first Freaknik. This area was the first stop off. So, just to see all those influences was great coming up.
"Our musical history was so rich in a sense of producers. You had the Timbaland. You had Pharrell, Chad Hugo, and The Neptunes, and then you had the transplant Teddy Riley. Telly Riley came to Virginia Beach and he was producing Michael Jackson out of Virginia Beach and Jay-Z and SWV and all of these smash hit records during The Jack Swing era. He shot the actual "Rump Shaker" video in Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach has been very instrumental in my upbringing. Just as far as seeing like, 'oh man, you can really make it in the music industry.' I didn't really know that before. It's because of Virginia Beach that I know that."
On Living in Norfolk
Pusha T says: "Norfolk is the more the city life type of area out of the Seven Cities. I really couldn't compare it to another city. It just has its downtown moments. You know, bars and and little clubs and lounges and hookah and hazards. It has its D.C. strip. There's a lot of gentrification going on."
On Having to Carve His Own Lane as an Artist in the Seven Cities
Pusha T says: I rep Seven Cities because I am the Seven Cities. 757 defines me totally. I am the one consistent hip-hop artist who lives here. I've been here for my whole life and been in the game doing it since 2002. By showing them that you can make it, I feel like I'm an example. You should look at me and be like, 'Wait a minute, he's from right here.' Ultimately, I didn't have anyone to really look at as an artist besides Mad Skillz at the time. He's from Richmond though, that's not 757. We had Missy Elliott as an artist, but she's an R&B songstress. We had producers, but as a rap artist we had to carve our own lane. Everyone knows where I'm from. Everyone knows the 757 is what made me."
Furious Styles
Address: 737 Granby St. Norfolk, Va.
Website: N/A
Pusha T says: "The barber's name is Gryl Douglas. As soon as you walk up, you walk up a flight of steps and once you hit the top step you are hit with a throwback episode of Soul Train on every TV screen. But no sound. While you're getting your hair cut. It's always joking, always. If you want to cry laughing and get your haircut and listen to good music, go to Furious Styles."
Corner School of Style & Salon
Address: 5008 Jefferson Ave. Newport News, Va.
Website: N/A
Pusha T says: "I get my hair braided by Yahmashay Coleman. From Michael Vick to Allen Iverson, she's done all the hair. It's the street, baby. It's everything you want. It's a sense of reality. And I go every time I'm home just to be amongst that energy."
Mount Trashmore Park
Address: 10 Edwin Dr. Virginia Beach, Va.
Website: vbgov.com
Pusha T says: "Mount Trashmore is a true mountain that was made out of trash and turned into a landmark. It was a landfill of all the cities' trash and they turned it into a park. I run there and I walk a lot as well. By the time I finish having my morning conversations, I'm out there for two hours. Just walking around the lakes. That's where I handle a lot of business. If you go around it once it's like three and a quarter miles. It's something I do every morning. It's calm enough that I can have a clear thought process outside."
Palace On Plume
Address: 200 E Plume St; Norfolk, Va.
Website: thepalaceonplume.com
Pusha T says: "Because that's the place you know, where you can go drink, eat and hear hip-hop. Friday night at The Palace on Plume is really crazy."
T&T Seafood
Address: 4106 Colley Ave; Norfolk, Va.
Pusha T says: "T&T Seafood specializes in fried crabs. There's a special recipe that is untouchable for the batter of these crabs. I don't know what it is. It's amazing."
Feather-N-Fin Chicken Seafood
Address: 3601 Tidewater Dr.; 3109 E Princess Anne Rd.; Norfolk, Va.
Pusha T says: "You want to go to Feather-N-Fin. They have a boneless breast fried chicken sandwich combo. It is everything you have ever wanted in life. The simplest and best thing ever. It's fast food, but the food ain't that fast. if I'm home and I'm not on my workout kick, you'll catch me there 2 or 3 times a week."
Créme/Cream
Address: Créme 321 W 21st St.; Cream 300 Monticello Ave, Norfolk, Va
Website: http://shopcream.com
Pusha T says: "When I'm home, the first place that I hit is Cream and Créme. I gotta go by and check on the happenings. From the buying to acquiring all the brands that are in there now, [i'm involved] 100%. It's an all-year-round process with going to Magic and the tradeshows."
Norva
Address: 317 Monticello Ave; Norfolk, VA
Website: thenorva.com
Pusha T says: "When I'm home I go to a place called the Norva. It holds about 2,000 people and I've seen tons of hip-hop and reggae shows there. It's a huge two -level hall. There's a balcony level and a floor level which is directly in front of the stage. I've seen Lupe Fiasco, the Roots—and I've played there as well."
On Why He's Staying in Virginia
Pusha T says: "I don't want to move from Virginia—at all. I don't want to move from the Seven Cities at all. My attachment is simply because of music. I feel like you begin to write like other environments and I don't want that. I think what's made me is me being from Virginia: having an perspective outside of all of the other hip-hop cultures and lanes that are happening and being able to just look at them and dissect them and pick them apart and put my own articulate Virginia spin on everything."
