Pusha T and his brother Malice, known collectively as the rap group Clipse, recently sat down with GQ for a cover story about dropping their reunion album, Let God Sort Em Out, which is set to drop on July 11.
During the interview, Pusha T revealed that a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar on the album sparked internal conflict at Def Jam. The label reportedly took issue with the track, given the ongoing lawsuit between Drake and Universal Music Group (UMG)—the parent company of Def Jam. With Pusha T and Kendrick both considered longtime rivals of Drake, the label feared the optics of them appearing on the same song.
Pusha wasn’t having it.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” he explained. “Then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there, was like, ‘We’ll just drop the Clipse.’ But that can’t work because I’m still there [as a solo artist]. But [if] you let us all go…”
Ultimately, there was no diss toward Drake on the album, Pusha confirmed. Still, the disagreement was enough to push the Clipse to part ways with Def Jam entirely.
The group has since landed at Roc Nation, further fueling speculation that Jay-Z may make a guest appearance on the album.
Speaking about their future at Roc Nation, Pusha T stated, "I think that that synergy, just in a rap sense, is going to speak volumes."
Source: GQ
