Pusha T’s white Adidas sneakers crept to the beam of light in the middle of the hardwood. For over a decade, Pusha was out of the spotlight — his power behind the stage, advising top artists as GOOD Music’s president. But on Saturday, fans chanted for Pusha, not his clients.

When he reached the center of Goldstein Auditorium, Pusha didn’t speak. He waited. Some in the front tried to reach for him. A couple of people in the back got on top of each other’s shoulders. But Pusha remained calm. His eyes widened. He bit his lip. And the mic stand — the one that would be pushed over seconds later — became an outlet for his words.

Pusha’s lyrics blasted Schine Student Center on Saturday, his collection of bangers headlining “’Cuse Can! It Starts With Us” The event, which was met with controversy and resignations beforehand, started it’s evening concert with Flipp Dinero and his hit single “Leave Me Alone” until Pusha took over. The two closed out a night of moshing, head bangs and onstage testimonies that thrilled more than 500 fans.

“Been here a couple of times,” Pusha T said on stage. “We love Syracuse, y’all are lit.”

As the doors opened at 8:30 p.m., and the rail in front of the stage filled a minute later, Dinero’s DJ pulled out his Mac computer charger to turn the scattered talking into harmony. Dinero strutted out, and he wasn’t afraid to remark on the early crowd size.

The early cuts in the music were filled with silence. But he rode up his Baltimore Orioles jersey, and kept performing. Soon, his blue iPhone in his back pocket started to move up-and-down, a sign of a convinced crowd. The zippers on his ripped jeans shook more.

Flipp Dinero addressed the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle during his set before his performance of “Leave Me Alone.” Hieu Nguyen | Senior Staff Photographer

But between the motions toward his diamond watch, chains and bracelets, Dinero stopped for a second. He wanted to acknowledge the death of Nipsey Hussle, “another guy who grinded hard and got too little.” After dancing to a song of Hussle’s, he had one last thing to say before Dinero sang “Leave Me Alone,” which currently has 107 million YouTube views.

“Nipsey f*cked with this song a lot,” Dinero said. “We gonna turn up for Nip.”

After Dinero’s departure, the “King Push” chants started around 9:30 p.m. Pusha had his glimpses of fame — most notably appearances on megahits “Don’t Like” and “Mercy.” He was known, but the 41-year-old’s name started to pop up more after a public feud with Drake, and a subsequent No. 1, seven-track album entitled Daytona.

Starting from the top, track one, Pusha used both hands to hover around the mic. The fans mimicked his start: “Pullin’ up in that new toy, the wrist on that boy rockstar like Pink Floyd.” After the opening track, his head nodded down, looking for the row of track lists under his feet.

The beat dropped for “The Games We Play,” and as he wrapped up, he declared his album “the best rap album of 2018.” Soon, he’d get away from the album that propelled him to perform Saturday. Pusha took a second, then said “Hold up, y’all know this one?” A three minute melody of “Numbers on the Boards,” a 2013 track released before the NBA playoffs, began to play.

A pit started to open. One spectator looked at his friend and said “This is where the real ones are.” From there, the movement in the middle didn’t stop. But for Pusha, the song wasn’t old enough. He thanked his supporters, the one who knew him “from way, way back.” And said he wanted to perform an even older song, one from his teenage years.

After playing tracks of his latest album, “Daytona,” Pusha T thanked Syracuse and performed three encore songs before exiting Goldstein Auditorium. Hieu Nguyen | Senior Staff Photographer

Pusha’s rise to stardom came with his brother, No Malice. Their duo, Clipse, gained them acclaim rapping about their pasts as drug dealers — a theme that still influences Pusha’s music over 20 years later. Malice was eventually incarnated, and Pusha was forced to go solo.

In Syracuse, the snapping in the background began — the start of Clipse’s 2002’s “Grindin’” featuring Pharrell Williams. Pusha is older than most of other popular rappers. He doesn’t wear gold chains like Dinero, just two earpieces on his suede undershirt, which he took off midway through his first song. Pusha acknowledged his age, and his past after. He quickly transitioned back to Daytona, but added onto the stakes of an earlier statement.

“Watch it,” Pusha said before performing “What Would Meek Do?” midway through his set. “Daytona is the rap album of the decade.”

Finishing up Daytona’s tracks, Pusha walked off the stage, and thanked Syracuse — a calculated first exit. The chants began again of encore. His DJ’s stayed out there. After six minutes, Pusha jogged back, his light blue jumpsuit flapping in the air. “We ain’t done yet, we ain’t done yet,” Pusha said. He performed three more songs, including two features to end.

Then, Pusha left the stage, dragging his Adidas as he went. Fans moved left, trying to get one last glimpse of him leaving the Goldstein exit. They wanted to see the revitalized rapper at the top of his career, not anyone else.

Published on April 7, 2019 at 4:22 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman