Some artists chase the zeitgeist—and then there’s Pusha T, who moves like he’s already left it in the dust. Designer dust, no less. Last week, the Virginia rapper teased a track from the reunited Clipse, “So Far Ahead,” with a video of himself suiting up for the Met Gala in a burgundy Louis Vuitton jacket flecked with crystals that glistened like high-end contraband. Pharrell’s hook—“Once they figure it out, I don’t want it”—turns the moment into a manifesto: this isn’t nostalgia. It’s the ’00s coke rap legends claiming the future.
“It’s a whole new chapter,” Pusha T tells GQ about Let God Sort Em Out, his first album with his brother No Malice in 15 years. “This is new, it’s groundbreaking, it’s fresh. This isn’t a reminisce runway. Everything is new—the music, the energy, the competitive spirit. It’s all about what’s next and being what’s next.”
Pressing forward often means letting go of the past. So starting on Monday, May 19, Pusha is putting some of his most prized grails up for auction through fashion marketplace GOAT. Dubbed “Keys Open Doors: The Archive of Pusha T,” the collection showcases rare pieces from significant moments in his career—like a pair of Dion Lee moto panel pants he wore on the “It’s Almost Dry Tour” in 2023, and the headline-stealing Prada split flame bowling shirt he rocked at the Governors Ball in 2018.
Each item tells a story, sure, but the sale itself is a kind of statement. Pusha’s not offloading history, nor merely reliving past glory from the Lord Willin’ era. He’s clearing room for what’s ahead, both in his closet and in the culture.
The day after his birthday, which he spent soaking in Kendrick Lamar’s concert in Boston and having a big dinner with friends, King Push sounds focused and energized. We talked about the stories behind some of his pieces, the way hip-hop has taken the lead in luxury fashion, and why he’s confident the new Clipse album is going to lap the competition.
GQ: “Keys Open Doors” is one of my favorite Clipse deep cuts, and it’s also the title of this archival sale you’re doing with GOAT. What doors are you hoping this collection opens for people?
Pusha T: I just want people who follow what it is that I do in the fashion lane to get a peek into the closet—it gets me inspired. Hopefully they can see where I was in that particular time period. I do this pretty often in regards to just purging my closet. When I’m going through it, deciding what I’m giving away and what I’m not, I can just feel the different places and time periods where I was into certain things. Just being in the competitive spirit of fashion and always trying to be onto what’s next, I end up not being able to keep a lot of things. Because, man, it gets overwhelming. And when I get overwhelmed by my closet, I just stop. [Laughs.] I just stop wearing anything and just keep it very uniform. So I need to always be having new things introduced to the fold.
Yeah. Always, man. I have to purge. There’s always a lot of press, a lot of events. Always something where you gotta be dressed and keep that competitive spirit going on.
You’ve gotta stay “So Far Ahead,” one might say.
Yes. Yes. So far ahead. You know they behind.
Why is it important to you to stay so far ahead in fashion? And how does that extend to your music?
I really look at fashion as being synonymous with just hip-hop culture. My favorite rappers couldn’t just rap good, they had to have the best jewelry. They had to drive fresh cars. It was an all-encompassing thing. And those are the rules I’ve tried to play by. I feel like you need to lock your fans in with more than just the music. If they can connect with you on all of those different touch points, then you got a fan for life.
Let’s dive into your closet then. The Prada split flame bowling shirt—I feel like this was a whole moment when you rocked it at the Governors Ball in 2018.
Oh, man. The flame bowling shirt, I think, was the start of a wave. I think me and Jeff Goldblum were the only ones that had it at the time. Prada just always comes with it, and that particular season, the bowling shirt and the different iterations they came out with were very much so a must-have. It was colorful and it was, at the same time, great to perform in. I just knew Guv Ball at that particular time was a big stage and a big place, so I knew the fit had to be everything that I needed it to be. And Prada was right on time with that.
The New Yorker called your shirt “performance art” at the time.
Oh, for real? [Laughs.] That’s hard. I didn’t know that. Shout out to New Yorker. Performance art is crazy.
The Dior Schiffer Rouge watch. This thing’s fire. What’s the story behind that?
It was a gift from Kim Jones for Paris Fashion Week [last year]. Kim has always been a good friend. We’ve always supported each other. He did my wedding suit in 2018. At that particular fashion show, he showed up for me to make sure he gifted me that watch. Dior under Kim has always been very tasteful, very classy. It’s always been an ‘If you know, you know’ type of thing.
You wore a lot of Dior pieces after Kim Jones came on as artistic director in 2018. Another item of his, the Alex Foxton x Dior bomber, is on this list. On “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes,” you even rap: “The dope game destroyed my youth / Now Kim Jones Dior my suits.” How’d you guys first connect?
I really don’t know, man. I’m sure it started from both of us being fans of each other’s work, which turned into, “Come to a show, come here, come there.” Around this time, too, I was seeing Kim a lot because he was just around in music, whether I was meeting up with Ye or whatever the case may be. I can even go as far back as “Numbers on the Board” (off Pusha’s 2013 solo debut My Name Is My Name) being one of his favorite joints. That music and fashion connection is what actually brought us together. Music is a great backdrop for designers, and especially Kim, to create. At the time, that’s what he was into.
Yeah, man. I had that for New York Fashion Week [in 2023]. That’s actually when I wore the blazer and shorts with the Thom Browne fit. I chose to walk with the dog bag in memory of my dog who had passed away, CJ. I was like, “Aw, man, let me rock this bag in memory of him.”
Oh, man. Sorry to hear about CJ’s passing. My cat died recently, so I know how it feels. You wanna pay tribute to them.
Yeah, man. I had to do something fresh for him, and it was right on time. I thought it was fresh, I really did. And I thought that particular fit was fresh too. Something’s always gotta mean something. It’s always purposeful.
There’s also the sample pair of Pharrell x Adidas Superstar 92 ‘Virginia’ sneakers. You and your brother starred in the campaign for those. Did that feel like a full-circle moment?
Yeah, the Pharrell design. He has a fascination with oversized shoes. You can definitely see his influence in that. But the Superstar in general—c’mon, man, that’s one of the most hip-hop silhouettes ever. Made famous by Run-DMC. Probably one of the first brands to really, fully embrace hip-hop culture… You got the Clipse as a duo representing Superstars, and historically Run-DMC as a duo representing Superstars, doing the campaign shoot in Virginia, and Pharrell being the actual designer of this particular Superstar. It was a full-circle moment in about three to four different ways right there.
What’s it been like just revisiting your creative relationship with Pharrell and No Malice while working on the new album?
It’s been really good, man. I feel like creatively we’ve shown each other that this doesn’t have to ever stop. You know, we can definitely do this forever. We’re collectively creating and thinking competitively about the climate of music and where it’s at and how we can attack it. It’s been a really fun, fun exercise.
Just looking for ways to stay so far ahead, right?
Yeah, that’s it. Exactly, man. You keep referencing that and you can hear the arrogance even in a song with a gospel hook. [Laughs.] That’s just how we feel.
Well, since I keep talking about it, tell me about “So Far Ahead.” What does the song mean to you?
Musically, the song is just on another level. It just speaks to our creative taste and palate, how we are and how we feel like we are so far ahead. Once you listen to it, you’ll understand it. The lyrics and the stencil and the pattern are sophisticated. It’s not quintessential rap that don’t mean much. We’re actually giving it to you in a pattern and a stencil that not many can do. And not many can make it cohesive or so clean and recitable, where people want to recite it. We’re just ultimately bragging that we’re better and that’s just it. So far ahead.
So while making this album, you guys have been actively looking at the current rap scene and taking stock of the landscape?
Yeah, for sure. I have to say that. We are taking inventory and staking our claim that no one is better than us.
I think for me, when you hear the music and see us on LV runways, it just shows you how far rap has come. There was a time where certain brands wouldn’t touch our music or wouldn’t touch the content. There would be certain times when a brand wouldn’t acknowledge the influence, or would be scared to acknowledge the influence. Those things are long gone. I think the influence can’t be denied anymore. This particular music is the influence. People don’t necessarily look at other genres and be like, “Oh my gosh, I want to look like this or I want to dress like this.” Everybody looks at the hip-hop genre and takes everything from it and puts their twist on it. They may repurpose it in their own way, but it all comes from us first. And that’s the truth.