The Greatest American Music: Pusha T's "If You Know You Know"

Awhile back RD and I did a podcast about the best opening songs to records. I’ve gone back and listened to every song I picked, then the record, to see if I still loved them, and I do. With that being said, we left out some great songs. That’s to be expected though. There’s so much great music, and everyone has their own personal taste. But today I want to add a song that I feel I really, really snubbed big time.

In my year end best of’s I do, I picked Pusha T’s record DAYTONA as my number one album of 2018. I still stand by that. And the opening song, “If You Know You Know”, should have most definitely been on my list of best opening songs. This is, not only his best song in my opinion, but one of the best hip hop songs ever recorded. This song really, really sets the tone for the whole record.

When the song opens, it’s a light beat with Pusha talking about a lot of things. It’s almost as if he is reintroducing himself to the public. It’s awesome and unassuming. It reminds me so much of Jay Z’s opener(s) on “The Black Album”. But, I like “If You Know You Know” better. But, when the main beat drops in, this song goes from great to classic. The beat is ridiculously bouncy and incredible. I’ve listened to the song 100’s of times, and I still dance incessantly to it every time it plays. The “bop bop’s” are an amazing touch. And when the beat drops and Pusha comes back on, I mean, come on. He is a great, great rapper. His verses are simply wonderful on the song. He also spans not just his career, but his life in this song. He talks about his drug dealing days all way to his fame and fortune. One of my favorite lyrics is, “I’ve been hiding right where you can see me, the skyboxes right next to Ri Ri”. I mean, that’s poetic man. That lyric says so much about his career. Yes, he’s famous, and yes, true hip hop fans know him, but he’s underrated. He’s so good, yet no one mentions him when they talk about the best rappers alive. That’s why I love the “hiding where you can see me” so much. It’s perfect. Then, he makes it known that he hangs with the biggest pop stars in the world. Ri Ri is Rihanna, I’m pretty sure. That’s incredible to me that he goes to games, and sits with or near Rihanna. I love that he put that in the song. I also love the chorus of the song. He talks about trap doors, car ports, and says more than once, “if you know you know”. Simply saying, the people who get this, will appreciate it. I like to think I understand what he’s talking about. Yes, I grew up in the suburbs, and I’m a white dude, but I know things. I’ve lived a kind of adventurous life. That’s why I feel like I can semi relate to this song.

All in all, what Pusha T packs into less than 3 minutes to open this incredible album is nothing short of amazing. As I said, I get hyped every time the song plays in my car. My kids, who probably shouldn’t listen to it, but I want them to be exposed to good music, love to dance to the song too. My daughter LOVES this song. “If You Know You Know” is one of the best openers to any album ever, and I felt like I had to remedy me not mentioning it during the podcast. This song rules, and everyone, if you haven’t listened to it yet, stop what you’re doing and listen to it right now. It’s that good. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty understands when Pusha T is talking about being the guy next to the celebrity. After all Ty is the guy next to world famous podcaster, and extremely attractive man, RD.

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