In a recent episode of The Dear Fathers Podcast, rapper Pusha T sat down with host Jesse Alex for an intimate conversation. Delving into topics ranging from fatherhood to the enduring influence of his late parents, Pusha T offered a glimpse into the values that have shaped him.
The 46-year-old rapper and his wife, Virginia Williams share one son, Nigel Brixx, who was born in 2020. In the interview, Pusha T states that for him, fatherhood was always in the cards, it just had to “be the right time”.
Jesse Alex: I do want kids in the near future, I wondering for yourself, … was there ever any part of your journey where you felt that fatherhood may have not been in the cards for you and if so, … what were those thoughts?
Pusha T: I can’t say that I’ve never thought that fatherhood wasn’t for me, I just knew that it had to be the right time and I knew the type of opportunities that I wanted to be able to really bring to my child, and just my family, it’s not just the child situation, it’s a whole family, you know. And so, that always was in the back of my mind regardless of anything that I was doing. Family, marriage, children, was always in the back of my mind. I grew up with a real dad like, I really had a real dad, so I knew the criteria. He set the bar right, he really set the bar.
Pusha T grew up in a four-person household with both of his parents and his older brother, Gene Elliott Thornton Jr., aka, No Malice. The “Hell Hath No Fury” rapper said that his parents and his upbringing all played a significant role in his life, making him the man that he is today.
Jesse Alex: What were your parents like growing up?
Pusha T: You know my upbringing was really good as far as a having a two-parent, very engaged household.
My dad was a super hardworking man. He he was very meticulous about taking care of home and instilling the fact that there are no excuses,” the rapper reminisced.
“I see myself I see a lot of my dad in myself and just a lot of his teachings and a lot of his principles and his No Nonsense qualities, just being, you know, just standing as a man and being on time, you know.
The 46-year-old went on to say that his parents, at first, didn’t support he and his brother’s rap career as the duo Clipse.
“My parents actually weren’t supportive. I used to remind them a lot about that. But you know, they were brought up differently, they were raised differently. My brother was always a writer, you know, he was always a writer into music in that sense into hip-hop. I remember being the younger brother and you know my parents would speak to him about his grades not being good and if he just engaged in his studies like he did the rap music. It was really an issue.”
However, Pusha T’s parents eventually came around and saw the vision and accepted their children’s music careers.
“They weren’t supportive at all. Actually, [there came] some point [that] of course they did. I lost both my parents four months apart, November 21, I lost my mom and March 22, I lost my father. But, you know, I’ve been in the music game for 20 years and they got to see all of this, you know what I never let them forget that. I never let them forget. ‘you remember like any anytime I bought them a car?’ It was it was a running joke.”
To see the interview in its entirety, click the YouTube link above as Pusha T goes on to talk more about his father, Drake, and of course, fatherhood.
Photo: BCKOnline; Pusha T Instagram
