Rapper Pusha T has stepped down from his post as president of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music record label and has even disassociated himself from the company altogether, a move the Virgina-based emcee revealed was triggered by West’s recent hate-fueled rants and his most recent approval of Hitler and Nazis.
The “Mercy” emcee shared the news during a recent cover story interview with XXL, where he explained that while he remains at Def Jam in a 50/50 deal regarding his solo music and label, Heir Wave Music Group, he’s since distanced himself from the disgraced rapper turned fashion designer amid his recent anti-Semitic controversies.
The 45-year-old explained to reporters that when it came to his relationship with the 24-time Grammy Award-winning rapper: “He’s not speaking to me now.”
“If you ain’t with it, you ain’t down. And I ain’t with it. I’m not budging on that. I’m not with it. I heard about this new stuff [on ‘InfoWars’]. I don’t know. It’s something that just sort of tells me he’s not well at the same time. I will say that. It’s going to places where it’s no way to move around it.”
Push, born Terrence LeVarr Thornton, was appointed president of West’s label in 2015 but had been working with the Chicago native since 2010. When asked about the last time he spoke to his former boss, the “Scrape It Off ” said, “I was still on tour,” referencing the “Almost Dry Tour,” which concluded on Oct. 30 in Wallingford, Connecticut.
He continued, “I just expressed myself to him a lot. He expressed his thoughts to me.” Pusha believes there’s no bad blood between the former business partners and collaborators, noting, “And he got off the phone saying, ‘Thank you. I know you don’t agree with me, but you never kill me in the public. And some people can’t wait to do that.’”
Elsewhere, Push addressed West’s bizarre appearance on far-right radio/podcast host Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” podcast in early December, where the “Jesus Walks” rapper said, “I see good things about Hitler.”
Pusha felt, “It’s beyond that, and it’s nothing to tap dance around. It’s wrong. Period. But to me, it’s just me and him having a difference of opinion yet again. ’Cause we done had this for years.”
