Pusha T recently released his third studio album on May 25th, and it’s what I believe is his best work yet. The entire album was produced by Kanye West who is also featured on the track “What Would Meek Do?”, and was preceded by “King Push- Darkest Before the Dawn: Prelude.”

Released almost three years after his last album, the entire album last only 21 minutes, yet the quality contained within amounts to more that most albums that feature a full 13 tracks. Featuring the aforementioned Kanye West, and Rick Ross, the production value of this album really shines which should be expected of Kanye.

The opening song of the album, “If You Know You Know”, features a subtle build up that pays off with a triumphant chorus that seems to reflect the original direction of the album and its original title, King Push.  The vocals featured in the background resemble another song produced by Kanye, “Champion” with the same sample being remixed into the beat.

The Good: The significantly shorter track listing allows more production value to be added to the album, and it really shines on every track, specifically on “What Would Meek Do?” and “Come Back Baby”. The latter of which features a really alluring hook, followed with what may be the smoothest beat transition I’ve witnessed. Every single song commands your attention with lyrics that tackles a million layers with each line spoken. Take the lyrics from “Infrared”: “How could you ever right these wrongs, When you don’t even write your songs?” Which maybe (definitely) takes shots at rappers who don’t write their own lyrics, and may be aiming for Drake in particular who has been accused of not writing his music many times before from people such as Kid Cudi.

The Bad: If we are being completely honest here, the only real complaint to be made about “Daytona” is that it leaves us wanting more. I found myself feeling pretty disappointed upon seeing that I finished playing the whole track list in one sitting, and honestly with this much time in between albums there should have been at least a few more songs. Another criticism is the transitions between songs being kind of choppy, and it breaks the flow of the album. Each track ends pretty abruptly, and this really works against the momentum that Pusha T “pushes” for.

Conclusion: “Daytona” shows that Pusha T is only getting started, and he’s only on the way up. There’s true talent with him, and the album exceeds in all aspects, with only nit-picky criticisms left to be made. Overall, I give the album a 9/10.

Essentials: “If you Know You Know”, “Come Back Baby”, “What Would Meek Do?”

You can listen to “Daytona” here