Pusha T's full-length solo debut won't hit shelves until 2012, but in the meantime, the G.O.O.D. Music rapper will continue to release singles and accompanying videos from his November EP, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray. MTV News caught up with Pusha on set in Brooklyn, New York, this month where he explained the concept of the "What Dreams Are Made Of" video, set to debut soon.
"Fear of God II: Let Us Pray is all about street music, and it's really for my fans, 100 percent just for my fans," Pusha began. "If you love what I'm about and what I've been doing all these years, then it's for you, and I'd be cheapening [the project] if I didn't shoot a video for one of the harder records off of the EP," he added, referring to "Dreams."
"[The video] is arrogant, it's a bit brash, it's about excess, fast living and articulating a lifestyle, a lifestyle that we know very well," the Virginia rapper elaborated, before digging deeper into the track's meaning. "Lyrically, it's about how our people fell victim to drugs, but it wasn't all our fault: [Ronald] Reagan had a lot to do with that; don't just blame us."
In one segment of the video, Pusha is perched on a chair reminiscent of a throne, surrounded by champagne and a few illegal substances that pop up fairly often in his music. The most-surprising item in the scene, however, is a jar full of jellybeans, which are intended as a tribute to the former president. "Ronald Reagan was an avid jellybean lover, so we've got to pay homage to him. We have to: He had a lot to do with this," Pusha explained. "The Ronald Reagan era was a tough time and a detrimental time to the black community, but we adapted."
To clarify, Pusha explained that his music isn't usually inspired by Reagan, but "Dreams" does bear a direct reference to him. "I have a very mean couplet in this song that describes what Reagan did and how Nancy [Reagan] tried to be down too, so we decided to showcase that with the jellybean."
After the premiere of "What Dreams Are Made Of," Pusha plans to roll out a few more videos from Fear of God II, depending on the schedules of the rappers featured on his songs. "I'm so passionate about a lot of the records that I definitely want to shoot a couple more [videos]," he said.
Which Fear of God II song would you like to see Pusha make a video for? Share your pick in the comments below!