On 25 Years Of “Knowing” About Drugs, BIG, Pusha & Nightmarish Black Excellence

Or…From “If You Don’t Know Now You Know” to “If You Know You Know”

In 1994, Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace emerged as a superstar emcee largely on the back of writing rap songs that exposed the everyday realities associated with being successful at selling crack cocaine. In 2018, Terrence “Pusha T” Thornton finally emerged via similar means. His Kanye West-produced “If You Know You Know” kicks off the seven-song, cocaine powder-laced shotgun blast of lyrical brilliance that was DAYTONA, his mainstream crossover moment into heightened levels of rap super-stardom. Pusha’s life as an epilogue to Biggie’s legacy represents one of 2018’s finest musical moments. Bittersweetly though, it may also showcase a nightmarish life after death for the trope of the super-dope drug dealing trapper-ternt-rapper.

There was something in the edutainment of Biggie’s verses that allowed him to juggernaut to immediate hip-hop stardom. “Juicy’s” hook of “If you don’t know, now you know…