Pusha T's 30 Best Verses of All Time, Ranked

30.Future Feat. Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino, "Move That Dope" (2014)

Album: Honest

Honestly, I personally feel this shit should be way higher. But that's just a testament to Pusha's resume as an MC. Now that that's out the way... Pusha fucking SPAZZED on this track. It's insane to me how clever he is.

"Young enough to still sell dope, but old enough that I knows better/When they sayin' it's 42 for that white powder, I knows better/Get it, n*gga? I nose better, put a smile on the devil's face/Who don't wanna sell dope forever, and flood their Rollie till the bezel break?"

It's difficult to highlight certain lines in Pusha's verses because his writing style is so complex and interwoven. But his opening lyrics and delivery make his verses the most fun to rap along to. —Brandon 'Jinx' Jenkins

29.Pusha T, "Don't F*ck With Me" (2011)

Album: n/a

Verse: 2

"The talk don't match the leathers/The swag don't match the sweaters/And wolves don't walk with shepherds," is:
-one of the hardest bars I've ever heard in my life
-one of the cleverest sonnings I've ever heard in my life
-one of the most intelligently simple ways to sow ghostwriter doubt, communicate fraudulence, and express disdain.

The way Pusha delivers that last line, he almost sounds sorry for, uh, *whoever* he's talking about. The hardest line isn't even in the verse proper. "No shots *snicker* but nothing goes unseen." Anyone who doesn't heed that title after hearing this deserves what's coming to them. —Frazier Tharpe

28.Re-Up Gang, "Run This Shit" (2005)

Album: We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 2: The Black Card Era

Some of Clipse’s best music came when they were most pissed off and had the most to prove. In label limbo after Lord Willin’, the brothers Thornton, along with Ab-Liva and Sandman, produced two classic mixtapes that kept their career alive.

This verse stands among Pusha’s best performances on the entire We Got It 4 Cheap series. The highlight comes when Push addresses his label issues directly, and drops his normal dope dealer reserve for real anger—and a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference: “We got it for cheap, that’s the mantra/N*gga, fuck Zomba/I sell nose candy, Willy Wonka.” —Shawn Setaro

27.Pusha T Feat. Tyler, the Creator, "Trouble on My Mind" (2011)

Album: Fear of God II: Let Us Pray

Verse: 1

Throughout his tenure, Pusha has delivered some of his best verses when he shares real estate with another rapper. In this case it's Tyler, the Creator—a pairing that shouldn't work, but it does. Pusha adopts Tyler's sporadic topic-changing flow and perfects it with hypnotizing clever lines like: "Whole 'nother level then you add fame/That's a whole 'nother devil, legit drug dealer/That's a whole 'nother bezel, the carbon Audemar/That's a whole 'nother metal, but still keep it ghetto/Behind the scenes, pull strings like Geppetto​/The gun blow steam, whistle like a tea kettle/Runnin' like the rebels, UNLV Sport shoe on a pedal, I let you n*ggas settle." —Brandon 'Jinx' Jenkins

26.Pusha T, “Come Back Baby” (2018)

Album: DAYTONA

Verse: 2

Is there anyone else besides Pusha that could get Kanye to make a beat and convince Ye to make the instrumental during the verses nothing more than a simple drum groove? Is there anyone else outside of King Push with the lyrical breadth and verbal joie de vivre to pull it off? Maybe, but no one else has been given the chance.

Pusha steals the opportunity on DAYTONA standout “Come Back Baby,” particularly during verse two when he managed to reference Teslas before they went full alt-right and the Ying Yang Twins back to back. Push gets knocked for rapping about cocaine, cocaine, and more cocaine, but it’s not a crutch, it’s a way of life. “Can't escape the scale if I tried/ Interstate trafficking's alive.” —Will Schube

25.Pusha T, "My God" (2011)

Album: Fear of God II: Let Us Pray

Verse: 2

I wanted to go with the first verse, but when I played the song again and heard Pusha say, "The O-12 a year early, I'm a time bandit," I threw myself out of a window. No bullshit. Now here I am blogging with a full body cast on in a hospital bed because my editors wanted "real life blurbs like a Pusha bar." I'm looking forward to my new body. I'm gonna be aerodynamic with my roof panoramic! —Angel Diaz

24.Clipse, "Intro" (2002)

Album: Lord Willin'

OK, this verse is my autobiography but the statute of limitations​ will not allow me to comment further. "Playas we ain't the same, I'm into 'caine and guns/Chopard with the fishes, make the face lift numb/Out in Panama in that amazing sun; I'm amazing, son/You n*ggas wonder where my grace is from/I speak with corrupted tongue, recognized the underworld since I was young." Blame the Miami Vice theme music and Jim Carrey's mask. —Angel Diaz

23.Birdman Feat. Clipse, "What Happened to That Boy" (2002)

Album: Birdman

There’s nothing novel about rappers telegraphing murdergrams, but when Pusha T anchored Birdman’s 2002 single he at least made it sound interesting. From his patented ad-libs to his inventive ways of describing a bloodbath, the “gorgeous killa” displayed more than enough swagger to body the track with memorable bars like, “Quit your yappin’ before I get to clappin’/And have your body parts mix and matchin’.” —Anslem Samuel Rocque

22.Clipse Feat. Jadakiss, Styles P, and Rosco P. Coldchain, "I'm Not You" (2002)

Album: Lord Willin'

With the first verse on "I'm Not You" Push-a-Ton makes it clear that despite his prowess in the booth, he's not like these other rappers. He provides the detail that one can only get from living off experience. "Zonin' family, keep youngins in them rented Camrys/Door panels full of shit and I ain't full of shit/Reckless ass, God forbid they don't crash/From the panel to the dash, it's four pounds of slab/Nah, bitch, we don't believe in air bags/Cars turn tricks like them Ringling Brothers skits." His bars aren't fictitious, they're lived in. Which only pushes his raps further out of reach from competitors. —Brandon 'Jinx' Jenkins

21.N*E*R*D Feat. Kanye West, Pusha T, and Lupe Fiasco, "Everyone Nose (Remix)" (2008)

Album: Seeing Sounds

If you had any questions at all about Pusha T's career choice before rapping, his verse on "Everyone Nose (Remix)" will settle that for you, swiftly. Push starts the feature off with, "Yuugh! I got a crown made of powder," letting us know right out of the gate that he might not be 'bout it 'bout it right now, but once upon a time, it was a different story. The whole verse—OK, I'm exaggerating—90 percent of the verse is dedicated to flipping between different references to cocaine. As this is something Pusha is particularly known for, the challenge he accepts here is matching the energy in the propulsive, high-energy production laid down by the Neptunes. Drug reference overload or not, don't front: You know he nailed it. —Kiana Fitzgerald

20.Re-Up Gang, "Re-Up Gang Intro" (2008)

Album: We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 3: The Spirit of Competition/Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang

It’s not often that Pusha deigns to beef with other artists, but it’s always memorable—check his classic attack on Drake. So when King Push decided he wasn’t feeling Lil Wayne’s self-coronation as the best rapper alive, the response was vicious. At the end of this stellar verse (comparing the coke he’d moved to the Abominable Snowman was a particular highlight), Pusha came for Weezy’s neck. “Sorry but, I don't respect who you applauding/Little n*gga flow, but his metaphors boring,” he rapped. And then, the last two bars: “Don't make me turn daddy's little girl to orphan/That would mean I'd have to kill Baby like abortion.” —Shawn Setaro

19.Clipse Feat. Cam'ron, “Popular Demand (Popeyes)” (2009)

Album: Til the Casket Drops

In 2009, we were still blissfully optimistic about the future of Clipse. No hiatuses, solo careers, bad label deals. Nothing. They were still riding high from Hell Hath No Fury, coasting on the goodwill afforded to a duo when they drop one of the best albums of the century.

When “Popular Demand (Popeyes)” came through as a loosie, and was eventually featured on Til the Casket Drops, it felt like Clipse might ride the high forever. It’s one of the most joyous, celebratory rap songs in recent memory, and the duo, alongside Cam’ron, spend the track’s duration rejoicing in their riches. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit how often I would scream along to Pusha’s opening verse, but can ya blame me? “Used to have this white bitch, she looked like Madonna though/ Heard that she fucking LeBron, but, shit, I don't know/ Like that, Bron-Bron? I had that long time ago.” —Will Schube

18.Pusha T, "Intro" (2015)

Album: King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude

Pusha T gave us the "prelude" for an album he promised was imminent for years. As his mans says, at this point he's "late as a motherfucker, Colored People Time" but who can complain about how long the entrée is taking when son gave us lines like, "I'm watching this three ring circus/Old lions don't roar so the clowns ain't nervous" to chew on. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've thought about that line daily since I first heard it. No one else does menace so casually; no one else packages threats quite as concisely. I believe everything Pusha T promises. The validation is coming any day now. —Frazier Tharpe

17.Pusha T Feat. Jay-Z, “Neck & Wrist”

Album: It’s Almost Dry

Sometimes it’s so simple. Pusha has spent an entire career professing his love for money, but he’s never said it as succinctly or, frankly, perfectly as he does on “Neck & Wrist.” Though the It’s Almost Dry track features Pharrell and Jay-Z, the song is unforgettable for the simple opening line Push tosses out. “The money counter ding is so exciting.” Yeah, man, it really is. Not to be outdone by himself, though, Pusha ends the verse as strongly as he kicks it off: “Richard Pryor's flame gave birth to pipe dreams, now we here.” Yuuuuuuuch. —Will Schube

16.Kanye West Feat. Jay Z, Pusha T, CyHi the Prynce, Swizz Beatz, and RZA, "So Appalled" (2010)

Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

King Push is at his best when he's storytelling. His verse on Kanye's aurally daunting "So Appalled" is exhibit A, a fractured portrait of his life and surroundings. During his feature, he picks up and leaves off on the same train of thought—what a life the dope game has given him—but he allows it to exist in different stages, from different angles. "Everything I dream, motherfuckers, I'm watching it take shape/While to you, I'm just a young rich n*gga that lacks faith." He's self-aware enough to take stock of others' opinions of him, but nowhere near susceptible enough to be shaken from his regal mindset. "Flaws ain't flaws when it's you that makes the call." —Kiana Fitzgerald

15.Clipse Feat. Pharrell, "Mr. Me Too" (2006)

Album: Hell Hath No Fury

First things first, the Neptunes laced TF out of the Clipse with "Mr. Me Too." The half boom bap, half dissonant beat was just spacious enough for Pusha to do some light calisthenics on wax. "Pyrex stirs turned into Cavalli furs," he muses halfway through the verse. Much of it plays out in high fashion, no pun intended, but it ends with a moment of sobering reality: "These are the days of our lives and I'm sorry to the fans/But the crackers weren't playin' fair at Jive." It's a harkening back to the late Pimp C's similar outcry of mistreatment by the label, and a reminder that the music industry is still an uneven one that can affect even the best of the best. —Kiana Fitzgerald

14.Pusha T, "Numbers on the Board" (2013)

Album: My Name Is My Name (2013)

Verse: 1

Cocksure as ever, Push effortlessly oozes confidence all over this mechanical concoction of a beat that grinds everything to a halt and universally forces faces to scrunch. The average rapper would get lost in the pockets of this track, but Pusha dissects it with the steady hand of a surgeon who could operate in the midst of a hurricane and still not miss a step. Each bar here is purposeful in its delivery and every syllable is enunciated for full impact. “It’s only one God, and it’s only one crown/So it’s only one king that can stand on this mound.” All hail, King Push. —Anslem Samuel Rocque

13.Pusha T, "Exodus 23:1" (2012)

Album: n/a 

Us rap fans love a hefty serving of subs to sift through, analyze and attribute but at the same time... it's canon that your diss track isn't Hall of Fame if you don't name names. Leave it to Pusha T to be the rare exception. Nearly three minutes without any direct shots and yet his intended targets still #reacted, and poorly. On his next tour stop Drake gave a tepid half-bar, "If you had ill 16s when I was 16/And then your shit flopped and you switched teams/Don't talk to me, my n*gga." Wayne's "Ghoulish"—Push would later say his anxiousness as he pressed play quickly turned to laughter—was worse (but hilariously so, see: "His head up his ass I'ma have to headbutt him" or "I don't bank with Chase I just chase the bank").

You can't blame them, though. Most disses are impassioned. Pusha sounds so disaffected and sneering here, the nonchalance adds a deeper level of disrespect. And the bars? Deceptively simple: "You signed to one n*gga who's signed to another n*gga, now that's bad luck" at one point then poetic imagery later: "we the ones the judge juggling them gavels on." Then when you get to the end of the verse, with freezer burn all over your speakers and you think Pusha's made his contempt clear enough, he underlines his sentiment with this ice cold kicker: "Ask Steve Jobs, wealth don't buy health." —Frazier Tharpe

12.Clipse Feat. Kendrick Lamar, "Chains and Whips" (2025)

Album: Let God Sort Em Out

There's a clip of Pusha T performing "Chains and Whips" on Tiny Desk that's going viral right now. He doesn’t blink—staring straight ahead, as if he’s locking eyes with his opponent, while rapping his verse. The assumption is that he’s aiming at Jim Jones, who made some dismissive comments about Pusha a couple of years ago. (Jim even responded to the Tiny Desk performance.)

What makes this an S-tier Pusha verse isn’t just what’s said—it’s what’s left unsaid. The target is someone he clearly expected more from and there’s no anger in his delivery, just cold, withering disappointment. He puts it best himself: “You’d think it’d be valor amongst veterans.” —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

11.Clipse, “Momma I’m So Sorry” (2006)

There’s a whimsy to Pusha’s best verses that comes out in full force on “Momma I’m So Sorry,” a delight in language, in the way words sound. Their meaning remains paramount for King Push, but the way he annunciates is half the fun, too.

On “Momma I’m So Sorry,” he raps: “Minus the wicked jumper, street baller like the Rucker/ Skip to my Lou if you lookin' for a couple/ Roosters in the duffle/ Keep the hood screaming, ‘Cock-a-doodle doo,’ fuckers.” It’s pure poetry, the sort of phrases you didn’t know you needed in your vocabulary but now can’t live without. I dare you to see any livestock and not look ‘em in the eye and yell, “Cock-a-doodle doo, fuckers.” —Will Schube

10.Clipse Feat. John Legend & Voices of Fire, "The Birds Don't Sing" (2025)

Album: Let God Sort Em Out

Pusha T isn’t known for heartfelt verses. But he’s a gifted storyteller, capable of painting vivid scenes. On "Birds Don't Sing," he and Malice reflect on the death of their parents, using narrative to zero in on their final conversations with them.

Pusha’s opening verse recounts the last time he spoke to his mother, where he told her he wouldn’t be coming home for Thanksgiving. Even if you don’t hear sadness or vulnerability in his voice—in fact, he sounds as strident as ever—the intimacy and level of detail in the writing make this one of the standout verses of his career. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

9.Kanye West, Pusha T, and Ghostface Killah, "New God Flow" (2012)

Album: Cruel Summer

Anyone who ever doubted that Kanye and Pusha would make a killer combination was set straight by the end of “New God Flow.” T goes for the jugular with blasphemous bars about his lyrical supremacy before outlining the logic behind joining the G.O.O.D Music roster: “I think it’s good that 'Ye got a blow dealer/A hot temper, matched with a cold killer/I came aboard for more than just to rhyme with him/Think '99, when Puff woulda had Shyne with him.” —Anslem Samuel Rocque

8.Pusha T, "Diet Coke" (2022)

The concept of “Diet Coke” is a bit gimmicky, but Pusha has never shied away from his position as coke rap extraordinaire. Sometimes you’ve got to own the bit, which Push does to great effect on this Kanye-produced gem. The beat knocks, full of scratches and chops, offering plenty of room for the rapper to do what he does best: Talk shit and count his money. The chorus features some bars so distinctly Pusha that it’s clear he’s giving the fans exactly what they want. You want one-liners about drugs and women? Hell yeah. Eat it up. He raps: “Missy was our only misdemeanor/ My tunnel vision's better under stove lights/ You ordered Diet Coke, that's a joke, right?/ My workers compensated so they don't strike.” It’s a workmanlike performance from one of rap’s most prolific bosses. —Will Schube

7.Pusha T, "Santeria" (2018)

Album: DAYTONA

Verse: 3

In 2015, De'Von “Day Day” Pickett was stabbed to death after a fight at a bar in Philadelphia. A former road manager for Pusha T, he’s honored in the final verse of “Santeria”—arguably the emotional centerpiece of the icy DAYTONA. As the beat changes, growing more haunting, Pusha raps:

“You listenin’, De’Von? / As I'm talkin’ to your spirit, for God’s sakes / I’m dealin’ with heartbreak / Checkin’ my ego, I’m livin’ with lost faith.”

Part of the verse’s power comes from its intensity, which is usually paired with simmering rage in his music. But here, it’s tinged with melancholy and sadness; it sounds like he’s battling himself. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

6.Chief Keef Feat. Kanye West, Pusha T, Jadakiss, and Big Sean, “Don't Like.1” (2012)

It would be cool if Pusha T still dropped mixtapes where he rapped over iconic beats. It was fascinating to hear Pusha’s singular style on generation-defining instrumentals on We Got it For Cheap tapes, and while we’re maybe a bit too far in Push’s prime to get something like this again, we got a reminder of its power when he, Kanye, Jadakiss, and Big Sean joined Chief Keef for a new version of the latter‘s “Don’t Like.”

Push kicks things off and immediately ups the stakes, tapping into that disgusted/mad delivery he does so well. “Fraud n*ggas, y'all n*ggas, that's that shit I don't like/ Your shit, make-believe, rappin' 'bout my own life/ Real names kill things, that's that shit I won't write.” It was a Cruel Summer indeed. —Will Schube

5.Clipse, "Keys Open Doors" (2006)

Album: Hell Hath No Fury

One of the most important points Push makes on this verse is that his street money was so long he hadn't even begun to touch the paper he made in the rap game, which is a feat in and of itself. Although when you delve into his opening verse on "Keys Opens Doors," you can see why. He's got a different mentality than these other cats, that's why these "MySpace n*ggas" choose to copy his style like internet files as opposed to acting original. Doesn't matter, though; Push is chilling on South Beach, living a big life while his money men are astonished at the funds he's cleaning up from his time in the game. Push really is the King of this. —khal

4.Clipse, "Grindin'" (2002)

Album: Lord Willin'

Verse: 1

What better way to introduce the world to Clipse than with this quirky trunk rattler from the Neptunes? This track was literally something the world had never felt before, and Pusha T ushered in their slick-tongued coke chronicles with ease. He's the subwoofer for the base that he pumps, both as an artist and as your, well, neighborhood pusher. With a few lines he also says sorry for the cats who got locked down for this life, but also acknowledges that he won't leave the life, due to how much cash he's making. Ultimately, he does recognize that his homie Pharrell has always been on this musical grind, and even though the streets keep calling, he's made the decision to get serious about his pen. —khal

3.Pusha T Feat. Kendrick Lamar, "Nosetalgia" (2013)

Album: My Name Is My Name

Absolutely no one talks that drug talk better than Pusha T. No one. On "Nosetalgia," he travels back in time to provide hyper-detailed snapshots of his day as a padawan peddler. "N*gga, I was crack in the school zone/Two beepers on me, Starter jacket that was two-toned/Four lockers, four different bitches got their mule on/Black Ferris Bueller, cutting school with his jewels on." I felt that.

Pusha reminisces over the rewards he garnered from his heartless flips and maneuvers with an accuracy and creativity possessed only by a gymnast. He raises the bar on his bars even further by throwing Kendrick Lamar on the song, who spits arguably one of his best guest verses in his catalog.

Despite having a knack for intricate lyrics, clever wordplay, and themes that weave through an entire verse, Pusha best sums up his charm as an MC and why this verse is one of his best when he declares: "N*gga this is timeless, simply 'cause it's honest/Pure as the fumes that be fuckin' with my sinus." —Brandon 'Jinx' Jenkins

2.Kanye West Feat. Pusha T, "Runaway" (2010)

Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

There are 10 different blurbs one could write about this verse, and it's roughly 50 seconds of ornately crafted beauty. It's apiece with the greater nine minutes of this classic, glimmering like one small invisibly set cluster of diamonds in the greater Rollie Pusha callously speaks of. We could talk about how "24/7/365, pussy stays on my mind" is one of the catchiest but also knowingly crass opening lines in rap history. We could talk about this tight verse's now mythological creation in which Kanye Christopher Walken West urged Terrence to radiate "more douchebag" to a point where the typically one-shot, one kill MC rewrote his raps four times, prodding at a raw relationship wound more and more in the process. We can give the verse extra points for an A+ deployment of an Ichabod Crane reference (the second Sleepy Hollow reference on the album). We can bask in how the beat gorgeously swells as Pusha muses how hoes are like vultures, and how the juxtaposition of a beautiful beat and an ugly line fits in with the larger juxtaposition of Pusha's performatively cold and calculated disaffected mood on a song where Kanye is messily baring his soul. But really, what struck me about this verse for the first time in the seven years that it's been in our lives? This is, perhaps the only, Pusha T verse that has nary a cocaine reference. Wow. —Frazier Tharpe

1.Pusha T, "The Story of Adidon" (2018)

Album: n/a

There’s an argument to be made that “The Story of Adidon” changed diss records forever. Rap battles have become more brutal, more cutthroat, and frankly more personal since Push and Drake had their scuffle in 2018. In many ways, this moment laid the groundwork for Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us,” which may go down as the greatest diss track of all time.

But back to Push. He opens the song with: “It’s about to be a surgical summer.” And damn—he was not fucking playing. Rapping over Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.,” he blends withering delivery, nasty punchlines, some arbitrary shit talk, a couple of hard truths, and a dose of psychological warfare into a lethal speedball.

It landed like a bomb. Drake immediately disengaged and went on the defensive. It was a divisive W for Push, and remains a career highlight. Other factors helped cement the diss’s legacy—the cover art of Drake in blackface, the fact that Pusha really did reveal Drake had a son—but more than seven years later, the rapping and quotability still hold up. When it’s all said and done, “you’re hiding a child” will be known as Pusha’s most iconic bar on Pusha's best verse. —Dimas Sanfiorenzo

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