Clipse
Clipse at The Middle East in February 2007
Background information
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1992–
Labels	Elektra (1997–1998) Arista (2001–2004) Jive (2004–2007) Star Trak (2001–present) Re-Up (2004–present) Columbia (2009–2011) GOOD (2010–present)) Decon (2011)[1] Def Jam (2011–present)
Associated acts	The Neptunes, Re-Up Gang, Fam-Lay, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West
Website	www.clipseonline.com
Members
No Malice Pusha T

Clipse is a hip hop duo formed by brothers Gene "No Malice" Thornton (formerly known as "Malice") and Terrence "Pusha-T" Thornton in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1992. The group is heavily affiliated with the production team The Neptunes and are signed to Star Trak Entertainment.

History[link]

[edit] Exclusive Audio Footage (1993–1999)

The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx, New York and moved to Norfolk, Virginia. They formed the group Jarvis in 1992, and were introduced to Pharrell Williams, one half of the production team The Neptunes, in 1993. Impressed with their lyrical talents, Williams formed a working relationship with the duo. He eventually helped them secure a recording contract with Elektra Records in 1997. Under Elektra, and with The Neptunes handling its production, Clipse recorded its debut album, Exclusive Audio Footage. The group's first single, "The Funeral", helped to generate fan interest in the album, but failed to make a significant commercial impact. With "The Funeral" deemed a failure, Exclusive Audio Footage itself was shelved indefinitely. Clipse was released from its record contract shortly thereafter.^[2][3]

[edit] Lord Willin' (2001–2002)

In early 2001, Williams signed the duo to Arista Records through his recently established Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Clipse released its commercial debut Lord Willin' on August 20, 2002. The album opened at #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-hop Album chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 200, fueled by the strength of the first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at #30 and #19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Third single "Ma, I Don't Love Her" (featuring Faith Evans) was a modest hit, reaching #86 on the Hot 100. On October 1, 2002—only a month after its release—Lord Willin' was certified gold by the RIAA.^[4] Clipse made another dent in the rap music world that year by providing rhymes for Justin Timberlake's first solo single, "Like I Love You," another Neptunes-produced crossover radio hit, as well as "What Happened to That Boy" with Birdman. Pusha T featured in singer Nivea's 2nd single Run Away (I Wanna Be with U) which peaked at #47 in Australia

[edit] Hell Hath No Fury (2003–2006)

In late 2003, Clipse began recording material for its second album, Hell Hath No Fury. However, further work on the album ground to a halt in 2004, when Arista Records's urban artists were absorbed its sister label Jive Records as part of a larger merger between Sony Music Entertainment and BMG. Due to contractual requirements, Clipse was forced to stay on Jive, while Star Trak and the rest of its roster moved to a new home at Interscope Records.

While Clipse resumed work on the album, and eventually finished its recording, the duo became increasingly frustrated with Jive, as the label overlooked it in favor of the more pop-oriented acts on its roster, which caused numerous delays in the release of Hell Hath No Fury. As delays continued, the group asked for a formal release from its contract. When Jive refused to grant this request, the duo sued the label. While the litigation took place, Clipse released new mats' We Got It 4 Cheap mixtape series, which featured Clipse and two Philadelphia rappers: long-time friend Ab-Liva (of Major Figgas) and newcomer Sandman, known collectively as "The Re-Up Gang".

On May 9, 2006, Clipse finally reached an agreement with Jive Records to release the album through its own label, Re-Up Records, along with Jive.^[5] After two more changes in its release date (originally August 29 and then October 31) Hell Hath No Fury was finally released on November 28, 2006. It spawned two singles: "Mr. Me Too" with Pharrell Williams and "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)" with Slim Thug. While the album received a great deal of critical acclaim, its sales were modest, at 78,000 in the first week. The hip hop magazine XXL gave the album a "XXL" rating, marking it as a five-star album. Only five albums had previously received that honor. In 2010, Rhapsody named the album one of the top coke-rap albums of all time.^[6]

Columbia Records (2007–present)[link]

Pusha T and No Malice of Clipse performing with Ab-Liva from the Re-Up Gang.

In a May 19, 2007 interview with Eye Weekly, Clipse revealed that the group had been officially released from its recording contract with Jive.^[7] After this, the duo began discussions with several record labels, eventually signing with Columbia Records on October 26, 2007.^[8] On August 8, 2008, the duo released the Re-Up Gang's self-titled debut studio album through Koch Records. The album's first single, "Fast Life", was produced by Scott Storch. The single was originally slated for the duo's third album, but they felt it would be better used for the Re-Up Gang album. Only Malice and Pusha-T appear on the track. After the release, Sandman left the group.

In November 2008, Clipse announced the launch of their fashion line, Play Cloths.^[9] A mixtape called Road to Till the Casket Drops was released on December 1, 2008 in promotion of the line.

The follow-up to Hell Hath No Fury, titled Til the Casket Drops, was released in December 2009.^[10] In a departure from the group's previous works, which only featured production from the Neptunes, the album features production from Sean "Diddy" Combs' production team The Hitmen, and DJ Khalil.^[11] The album did not fare as well commercially as the group's first two albums, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. At a concert on April 30, 2010, Malice announced that he and Pusha T will release solo albums later in the year. As of September 12, 2010, Pusha T has confirmed to MTV that he has signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music label.^[12][13] Pusha T released his mixtape 'Fear of God' in March 2011.^[14]

In 2010, B.F. Goodrich launched a series of tire commercials starring snowboarder Shaun White and featuring the track "Young Boy" from Lord Willin'. The ads prominently highlight the lyric, "I'ma tell you what I'm talkin' 'bout."

Pusha T has stated that they are no longer signed to Columbia Records, and that they are currently working on a new album. Although Malice has not released a solo album and has been seldom heard from since the duo's split, he published Wretched, Pitiful, Poor, Blind & Naked,^[15] a memoir of his life released on Valentine's Day 2011. Then August 31, 2011, Pusha T announced the signing of a solo deal with Def Jam records and admitted "G.O.O.D Music/Def Jam is [now] my home.” ^[16]

Discography[link]

• 1997: Exclusive Audio Footage
• 2002: Lord Willin'
• 2006: Hell Hath No Fury
• 2009: Til the Casket Drops
• 2013: As God As My Witness^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Clipse

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Clipse

• Official website
• Clipse at MTV
• Clipse at Allmusic
• Malice of The Clipse iNterview on iStandard

Faith Evans
Evans performing in April 2005
Background information
Birth name	Faith Renee Evans
Born	(1973-06-10) June 10, 1973 (age 39) Lakeland, Florida
Origin	Newark, New Jersey, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, hip hop soul, hip hop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Bad Boy (1994–2004) Capitol (2004–2007) Prolific/E1 Music (2009–present)
Associated acts	Sean Combs, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, 112, Lil' Mo, The Notorious B.I.G.,
Website	FaithEvansOnline.com

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to be contracted with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company during 1994, for which she released three platinum-certified studio albums between the years 1995 and 2001.^[1] During 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to contract with Capitol Records.^[2]

Other than her recording career, Evans is known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photoshoot.^[3] The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.^[4] A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named "I'll Be Missing You", became Evans' best-selling song to date and won her a Grammy Award during 1998.^[2]

Also an avocational actress and writer, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi. Her autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing during 2008 and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Lakeland, Florida where Evans was born.

Evans was born in Lakeland, Florida to an African-American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer.^[2] Her father, Richard Swain, was a musician who left before Evans was born (Evans has said "I've heard people mumble something about him being Italian, but I don't know for sure").^[5] A half year later, 19-year-old Helene returned to Newark, New Jersey and left Faith with her cousin Johnnie Mae and husband Orvelt Kennedy, the foster parents of more than a hundred children they raised in the time that Faith lived with them.^[2][4] It was not until a couple of years later that Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home. Faith, however, was afraid to leave what she'd "been used to", and instead, Helene relocated next door.^[2]

Raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two. At age four, she caught the attention of the congregation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church (in Newark) when she sang The 5th Dimension's song "Let the Sunshine In".^[6] While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised. After graduating from high school during 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but left a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin.^[1] A couple of months later^[when?], she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure, when she was noticed by musician Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. Impressed with her persona, Combs contracted her as the company's first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment during 1994.^[1]

[edit] 1994-01: Faith, Keep The Faith, Biggie, motherhood and marriage

Newly contracted to Bad Boy Records, Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige's My Life (1994) and Usher's self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut record album Faith.^[7] Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album was a collaboration with Bad Boy's main producers "The Hitmen", including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but it resulted in recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton. Faith became a success based on the singles "You Used to Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home". The album was certified Platinum with 1,500,000 copies sold, according to RIAA.^[8]

On August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate The Notorious B.I.G., after having met him at a Bad Boy photoshoot.^[3] The couple had one child together, Christopher Wallace, Jr. (born October 29, 1996), but the marriage was turbulent as Wallace reportedly had several affairs during their union, including relationships with fellow rappers Lil' Kim and Charli Baltimore.^[9] Additionally, it led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop feud, dominating the rap music news at the time, which ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-to-be-solved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997,^[4] and made Evans "Rap's most famous widow".^[3] During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans was introduced to record company executive Todd Russaw. Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallace's separation and eventually, after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw. The couple had their first son Joshua on June 8, 1998.^[3] During the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.^[3] After Biggie's murder during March 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named "I'll Be Missing You", based on the melody of The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take". The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and all-male group 112, became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks. It eventually won Puffy and Evans the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.^[2] The next year, she received another two Grammy nominations for "Heartbreak Hotel", a collaboration with singers Whitney Houston and Kelly Price, that scored number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[10] Prior to Evans meeting and having a relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., she was involved in a relationship with Kiyamma Griffin. She and Griffin had a daughter named Chyna (born April 1, 1993).

Two years in the making, Evans' second solo effort, Keep the Faith, was released during October 1998. Almost entirely written and produced by her, Evans considered the album difficult to complete as she had initially felt discouraged about the progress at first.^[3] Upon its release, however, the album garnered generally positive reviews by music critics, with Allmusic noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music".^[11] Also enjoying commercial success, it eventually went platinum and produced the top ten singles "Love Like This" and "All Night Long" (released March 30, 1999) prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total the following year.^[3]

[edit] 2001-07: Faithfully, legal issues, Capitol Records and The First Lady

Evans police mug shot

Evans' third album on the Bad Boy imprint, named Faithfully (2001), involved her working with a wider range of producers, including The Neptunes, Mario Winans, Buckwild, Vada Nobles, Cory Rooney, and others.^[12] Her first project with husband Todd Russaw as executive producer and creative partner, the album scored number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, eventually being certified platinum, but yielded moderately successful singles, with the Jennifer Lopez-written "I Love You" becoming the only top twenty entry.^[13] Released amid Bad Boy Records' transition from distributor Arista Records to Universal, Evans felt Faithfully received minimum assistance by the company, and during 2004, she finally decided to end her business with Bad Boy as she was convinced Combs couldn't improve her career any more due to his other commitments.^[14] During January 2004, Evans and Russaw were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and an improper tag violation during a traffic stop in Hapeville, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

After ending with Bad Boy Entertainment Evans contracted with Capitol Records company, becoming the first contemporary R&B artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album The First Lady, named after her nickname on her former label.^[14] As opposed to having an in-house team of producers who supplied most of the previous material, she and Russaw were able to gain more creative control of the album and consulted producers such as Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Mike Caren, Pharrell Williams, and Chucky Thompson to contribute to it.^[15] Upon its release in April 2005, The First Lady scored at number two on the Billboard 200 and #1 of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Evans' best-charting album to date. It was eventually certified gold by the RIAA.^[16] At the end of the year, Evans released A Faithful Christmas, a holiday album of traditional Christmas songs and original tracks. The effort would become her last release on Capitol Records as the company was bought during 2007.^[17]

[edit] 2008-present: Hiatus, arrest, second child, divorce and Something About Faith

Following a longer hiatus, Evans signed a deal with E1 Entertainment - the largest independent record label in the United States - in 2010. Her sixth studio album Something About Faith was released on October 5, 2010 in the United States and December 6, 2010 in the UK.^[18] In the US, the album debuted and peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard 200, number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number one on the Independent Albums chart, failing however to chart oustide the US - making it Evans' only album since her debut Faith to chart in the US only.^[19] Something About Faith has spawned the single and music video "Gone Already"; which spent over thirty-three weeks on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number twenty-two.^[20] On February 14, 2011, a high definition music video for "Right Here" was released on Evans' official YouTube account, suggesting that it is the second single from the album, though this is yet to be confirmed.^[21]

In August 2010, she was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in Marina del Rey, California. In 2011, Evans filed for divorce against Russaw.^[22][23] The couple agreed to spend 13 weeks in a drug-treatment program in exchange for halting any further prosecution of their drug-possession case.^[24]

On March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.^[3] In May 2011, Evans and Russaw announced they were getting a divorce, and stated they would like to keep it quiet for the children's sakes.^[25]

Other ventures[link]

Acting[link]

Having previously appeared in stage plays as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi's 2000 music drama Turn It Up, featuring Pras Michel from the The Fugees, Jason Statham and Ja Rule. Released to generally negative reviews from critics,^[26] who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects",^[27] the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.^[28]

During 2003, Evans acted in the MTV-produced romantic comedy The Fighting Temptations in which she appeared in a brief but major role portraying a single mother and night club singer.^[29] Filmed in Columbus, Georgia and headed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. (her character is his mother) and Beyoncé Knowles, the film garnered mixed reviews by critcs,^[30] but scored top three of the U.S. box office, resulting in a domestic gross of US$30.2 million.^[31] In addition, Evans recorded a contemporary cover version of Donna Summer's 1978 success "Heaven Knows" for the film which her characters performs during one of the first in sequence in the film. The accompanying soundtrack scored the top twenty of the U.S. Billboard 200.^[32]

During 2004, Evans earned a brief guest stint on the UPN situation comedy Half & Half.^[33] Evans announced that she had been working on a synopsis for her own situation comedy that would be based largely on her life but with a more comedic aspect. It is unknown whether she has officially pitched the sitcom to any television networks at this time^[when?].^[34]

Writing[link]

Evans released her autobiographic book called Keep the Faith: A Memoir on August 29, 2008. It detailed the singer's life, but also discussed Evans' controversial relationship with her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G.:

"I want people to understand that although he was a large part of my life, my story doesn't actually begin or end with Big's death. My journey has been complicated on many levels. And since I am always linked to Big, there are a lot of misconceptions about who I really am. It's not easy putting your life out there for the masses. But I've decided I'll tell my own story. For Big. For my children. And for myself."^[35]

In its initial release, "Keep the Faith: A Memoir" landed in the Top 20 on New York's Best Seller's List two consecutive weeks in a row. During 2009, the book received The 2009 African American Literary Award for Best Biography/Memoir.^[36]

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 1995: Faith
• 1998: Keep the Faith
• 2001: Faithfully
• 2005: The First Lady
• 2010: Something About Faith

Other albums

• 2005: A Faithful Christmas

Tours[link]

• The First Lady Tour (2005)

Filmography[link]

• 2000: Turn It Up
• 2003: The Fighting Temptations
• 2009: Notorious

Awards and nominations[link]

• African American Literary Award
  • 2009: African American Literary Award: Keep the Faith (A Memoir) (won)
• BET Awards
  • 2002: Best Female R&B Artist (nominated)
• Grammy Awards
  • 2011: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Gone Already" (nominated)
  • 2003: Best Contemporary R&B Album: Faithfully (nominated)
  • 2001: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "Can't Believe" w/ Carl Thomas (nominated)
  • 2000: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group: "Heartbreak Hotel" w/ Whitney Houston & Kelly Price (nominated)
  • 1999: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Love Like This" (nominated)
  • 1998: Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "I'll Be Missing You" w/ Diddy (won)
• Lady of Soul Awards
  • 2000: Outstanding Music Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)
  • 1996: Best Female R&B/Soul Album: Faith (won)
  • 1996: Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist: "You Used to Love Me" (nominated)
• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2000: Best Rap Video: "Love Is Blind" (by Eve ft. Faith Evans) (nominated)
  • 1999: Best R&B Video: "Heartbreak Hotel" (nominated)
  • 1997: Best R&B Video: "I'll Be Missing You" (won)
  • 1997: Viewer's Choice: "I'll Be Missing You" (nominated)
• Soul Train Awards
  • 2006: Best Female R&B/Soul Album: The First Lady (nominated)
  • 1998: Outstanding Music Video: "I'll Be Missing You" (won)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Faith Evans
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Official site
• Faith Evans at the Internet Movie Database
• Faith Evans interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' November 2010
• The Observer interview, 2005
• Vibe interview, 2005

v t e Faith Evans Studio albums Faith (1995) Keep the Faith (1998) Faithfully (2001) The First Lady (2005) A Faithful Christmas (2005) Something About Faith (2010) Singles "You Used to Love Me" "Soon as I Get Home" "Ain't Nobody" "Kissing You" "Come Over" "Love Like This" "All Night Long" "Never Gonna Let You Go" "Lately I" "Can't Believe" "You Get's No Long" "I Love You" "Burnin' Up" "Alone In this World" "Again" "Mesmerized" "Tru Love "Gone Already" Tours The First Lady Tour (2005) Related topics Discography The Notorious B.I.G. Book:Faith Evans

Terrence Thornton (born May 14, 1977)^[1] better known by his stage name Pusha T is an American recording artist, occasional actor and one half of the critically acclaimed hip hop duo Clipse. Along with No Malice, his brother and fellow member of Clipse, he released the album Hell Hath No Fury, which was praised by critics, many of whom consider it to be a cornerstone in Hip-Hop and one of the best rap albums ever made. He is also the co-founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Re-Up Records along with his aforementioned brother. In September 2010 he announced his signing to Kanye West's GOOD Music label and on March 21, 2011, released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

1977-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Pusha T was born Terrence Thornton on May 13, 1977, in The Bronx borough of New York City. Thornton and his family soon relocated to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he and his brother, Gene 'No Malice' Thornton, grew up. In 1992 Terrence and his brother Gene formed the duo now internationally known as Clipse. With help from Pharell Williams the group eventually signed to Elektra Records in 1997 and released Exclusive Audio Footage, their only album under that label. Of the two brothers, Terrence was more open to features, appearing on Kelis' 1999 single "Good Stuff" and Nivea's 2001 single "Run Away (I Wanna Be with U)", respectively. In 2004, he and his brother launched their record label, Re-Up Records and formed hip hop group Re-Up Gang along with rappers Ab-Liva and Sandman. After four albums as the Clipse, under various record labels both Malice and Pusha T announced that they were taking time off from the duo to focus on their own respective solo projects.^[4]

[edit] 2010-2011: Solo career, GOOD Music and Fear of God

Following his signing to GOOD Music in September 2010, Thornton was featured on a number of fellow label mates' projects such as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy appearing on his hit "Runaway" and premiering the song with him at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. He was also featured on many G.O.O.D. Friday tracks along with appearing on Swizz Beatz's "Bang Bang" for his Monster Mondays series, Lloyd Banks' H.F.M. 2 (Hunger for More 2) and tabi Bonney's Fresh respectively. On the week of December 16, 2010, Thornton signed exclusively with NUE Agency.^[5]

On February 11th, 2011 Funkmaster Flex debuted Thornton's first solo offering on New York City's Hot 97.^[6] The track, titled "My God", was produced by Hit-Boy and was generally well received by the public. Soon after, the song leaked onto the internet but was not officially released through iTunes and Amazon until August 24th, 2011.^[7] On March 21, 2011 Thornton released his first solo project, a mixtape titled Fear of God to critical acclaim. Soon after he began working on his EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray, which initially included four songs from the mixtape and five original ones. The EP was originally set to released on June 21st, 2011,^[8] it was than pushed back to August 23rd, and for a while September 27th, 2011 was believed to be the date, however on October 6th, 2011 Thornton announced the EP is set to drop November 8th. In addition it was revealed he added four more songs to the EP making it twelve tracks rather than just the nine tracks that were previously announced.^[9] On July 8th, 2011, the first single off Fear of God II: Let Us Pray leaked onto the internet. The song, titled "Trouble on My Mind" features Odd Future frontman, Tyler, The Creator. The second single, "Amen" was released September 13th, 2011. The song, originally meant for Young Jeezy, was produced by Shawty Redd and features verses from Kanye West and Young Jeezy respectively. After the EP's release on November 8th, the project debuted at number sixty-six on the Billboard 200 with 8,900 copies sold in its first week released.^[10][11] It also entered at number ten on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number eight on Billboard's Top Rap Albums, and at number twenty-five on its Digital Albums chart. ^[12][13] In 2011 Thornton appeared on the second season of the HBO series How to Make It in America.^[14] He played the role of a henchman for Urban Caribbean League.

He is currently working on his solo debut album, yet to be titled, which is being executive produced by Kanye West and includes production from The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Ryan Leslie and Alex da Kid.^[15][16][17] Thornton has stated that after his solo album and the Re-Up Gang mixtape, Long Live the Cane, he and his brother Malice will release another album as the Clipse.^[18][19] On August 31st, 2011 it was announced Thornton signed a solo record deal with Def Jam.^[20] English pop singer Pixie Lott released "What Do You Take Me For?", the second single off her second studio album Young Foolish Happy which featured Pusha T.^[21] The song was a hit single in the U.K., peaking at number ten on the charts.

2012-present: GOOD Music Compilation and Solo Album[link]

On October 19, 2011, Kanye West announced on his Twitter plans for a Spring 2012 GOOD Music album release.^[22] On April 6, 2012, "Mercy", the lead single from the GOOD Music compilation album, Cruel Summer, was released.^[23] The song, produced by newly-signed in-house producer Lifted, features Pusha T along with Kanye West, Big Sean and southern rapper 2 Chainz.^[24] On May 24, Pusha released a diss track, "Exodus 23:1". It is speculated that the track was aimed at Drake, or Young Money in general. Lil Wayne responded with a diss track "Ghoulish", which debuted on Funkmaster Flex's show.

Controversy[link]

Consequence[link]

After releasing "My God", the first offering off his solo mixtape, former GOOD Music label mate Consequence took to Twitter and claimed Pusha T stole his flow and lyrics from a song of his that Pusha T was supposed to appear on titled "The Last Supper".^[25][26] On July 22, 2011 Consequence released a song titled "The Plagurist Society" where he takes shots and questions Pusha T’s coke-dealing raps. Towards the end of the record the Queens native promises to take aim at Kanye West next saying "You're nothing but a body shield, for that coward from the mid-west/ so yes you can bet, that your boss is next". Pusha T responded to the diss when he appeared on Chicago’s 107.5 WGCI’s The Morning Riot and said nobody is looking for Consequence, as for if he will respond on a record he went on to say "At the end of the day I am an artist and this whole rap thing is fun to me, so I can't say you won't hear nothing, but to go back and forth with him, it's not right, I won't get anything out of it."^[27] Later that day, Consequence called in to Chicago’s WGCI’s The Morning Riot in retaliation to the remarks Pusha T made about him. He also premiered a song titled "Everybody Told Me 2 (Straighten It Out)" where he disses West, Pusha T and GOOD Music in general.^[28][29] Since then Pusha T has responded to Consequence on a record. The song was the remix to Ace Hood's "Go 'N' Get It" which also featured Beanie Sigel, Busta Rhymes and Styles P. In the song Pusha raps "Consequence, nigga, talk is cheap You don't want a problem? Off the beef Before I off his ass with his awful teeth". On August 19, Consequence released Movies on Demand 3 and continued to diss his former label and Pusha T on songs such as "Career Killer" and "Mr.RapFix (Hot Water)". On September 15, 2011 Consequence appeared on MTV's Rap Fix and announced his feud with Kanye West and GOOD Music are over.^[30] While out in Chicago in October 2011, Pusha T appeared on WGCI radio for a second time, and confirmed that the "beef" was indeed over, that it had died out and they have moved on.^[31]

Drake & Lil Wayne[link]

Pusha T released a track titled "Exodus 23:1" as part of GOOD Music's GOOD Fridays dissing Drake and Lil' Wayne. Lil' Wayne responded on Twitter and later recorded a diss "Goulish".

Discography[link]

Albums

• TBA (2012)

Extended plays

• Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011)

References[link]