My Name Is My Name is the debut studio album by American rapper Pusha T. It was released on October 8, 2013, by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. While leading up to the album's announcement, Pusha T released the mixtape Fear of God and the EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray during 2011, along with collaborating on the GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer (released in 2012). In 2013, he also released another mixtape Wrath of Caine. The album's production was handled primarily by Kanye West, along with several producers, including Pharrell Williams, The-Dream, Hudson Mohawke, Sebastian Sartor, Don Cannon, Swizz Beatz, Rico Beats, Mano and Nottz. It also features guest appearances from Rick Ross, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Future, Pharrell Williams, Chris Brown and Kendrick Lamar, among others.
The album received widespread acclaim from critics and was positioned highly on many "Best Albums of 2013" lists by major publications. The album also fared well commercially debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 74,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was promoted by five singles: "Pain", "Numbers on the Boards", "Sweet Serenade", "Let Me Love You", and "Nosetalgia", along with the promotional single "Who I Am".
Background After establishing his solo career, while signing a deal to GOOD Music in September 2010, Pusha T released his first solo project, a mixtape, titled Fear of God (2011). Following the release of his mixtape, he released his first extended play, a sequel to the mixtape, titled Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011). After the release of his EP, Pusha T started working on his debut album, and at the time it had included production from Kanye West, The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Ryan Leslie and Alex da Kid. After continued to working on his first full-length album, which was originally set to be released in 2012, it was pushed back due to his participation in GOOD Music's first compilation album Cruel Summer (2012).
In July 2012, Pusha T told MTV that while he was putting together his solo album, he was heavily influenced by Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino's 1997 film The Devil's Advocate. "This album was based off the movie 'Devil's Advocate'. Not theme-wise at all, but just in the feel of the album. 'Devil's Advocate' is a very dark movie, but at the same time, visually, it's beautiful. The album is based off of that because I speak about the harsh realities of street life but there's a lot of glitz and glamour that comes along with that. If you just look at it at face value, you might think, 'It sounds a bit like he's glorifying [street life]', but when you get tuned into the record, you realize that you get both sides of it."
In 2012, in an interview, Pusha T spoke on the inspiration behind the album title. "Basically, I tried to pick a title that embodied who I am as an artist. I wanted people to understand like Pusha is everything that I really, really am. Actually, there is a line in 'Pain' where I say "My name is my name," that line comes from Marlo Stanfield from the series The Wire. It was one of the more prominent catch phrases that he said at the end of that series. He was basically saying, I am who I am, I stand on my name I live this. I really felt that embodied my presence in the rap game." Pusha T announced the new title of his album in November 2012, along with Spin reporting that his album had been pushed back until 2013. On March 19, 2013 Pusha T said that the album would include 13 songs and that he had already finished 11 of those songs.
Recording and production
On April 13, 2013, at the 2013's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Pusha T announced that he would be going to Paris later that week, just to put some final touches on the album, afterwards he would announce a release date. In June 2013, Pusha T had been set to turn in the album to Def Jam for mastering, however, Kanye West presented Pusha with some additional beats. This resulted in Pusha going back to the studio to continue the recording. In early stages in the recording process, he began working on the album with Kanye West, Symbolyc One, The Neptunes, Bangladesh, and Ryan Leslie. Since then, he has confirmed that he was working with The-Dream, Just Blaze, No I.D., Nottz, Don Cannon, Nashiem Myrick, Carlos Brody (of The Hitmen), DJ Mano, Swizz Beatz, Rico Beats, Travis Scott, Hudson Mohawke, Young Chop, and Sham, amongst others on the album's production. On August 4, 2013 he announced that the song he wanted to be the album's intro was produced by Joaquin Phoenix. On August 22, 2013, Pusha T appeared on MTV's RapFix and told Sway Calloway that the bulk of the album's production would be handled by Kanye West, while confirming production by Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, The-Dream, Nottz, and Don Cannon to be featured on the album.
Leading up to its release Pusha T announced that the album's guest appearances would include Rick Ross, Kanye West, The-Dream, Future, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, and the Re-Up Gang. He also said he was looking to get a couple more cleared up. In early January, Pusha stated that fellow Clipse member No Malice could appear on the album, however, in July, he confirmed that Malice would not be featured. He also said his dream collaboration for the album would be with Jay-Z. In an August 22, 2013, appearance on MTV's RapFix he confirmed that additional guest appearances, that had yet to be revealed would come from Ab-Liva, Kelly Rowland, and Pharrell.
Release and promotion While performing in Vancouver, British Columbia, it was reported that Pusha T announced that he would be releasing, for promotional purposes, a mixtape, titled Wrath of Caine by the end of 2012. However, it would have to be pushed back to 2013. Pusha T described the tape as street-oriented music intended for his longtime fans. "Wrath of Caine is basically just me catering to my core. It's all about just street Hip Hop, street music" he said. "It's just something that I like to do. It's something that I feel like has no boundaries, no parameters. I can do what I really, really want to do...[my approach to the mixtape is] not about more of a creative [decision], I just think it's about more of what I want to hear for myself and what my fans want to hear. They want to hear lyrics, they want to hear street [music]...it's just the whole street life perspective."
On December 5, 2012, the first song released from the mixtape, "Blocka", which features guest vocals by Popcaan and GOOD Music's Travis Scott. The reggae-inspired track was produced by Young Chop. The music video was released on December 10, 2012. The second song was, "Millions", which features guest vocals from fellow rapper Rick Ross. The mixtape cover was revealed on January 15, 2013. The mixtape was released for free download on January 28, 2013. The mixtape also features guest appearances from French Montana, Wale, Kevin Gates, Troy Ave and Andrea Martin, also it included the production from Kanye West, Young Chop, Harry Fraud, The Neptunes, Jake One, Illmind and Bink, among others.
The album was included on multiple "Most Anticipated Albums of 2013" lists including eighth by Complex and ninth by XXL. In January 2013, Pusha T announced that his album will be releasing at the end of quarter one of 2013. During the red carpet for the 55th Grammy Awards, Pusha T announced that his album would have to be pushed back till May 2013. On April 29, Pusha T announced through his Twitter page that the album would be released on July 16, 2013. In July 2013, he confirmed that the album would be pushed back, and then on August 22, he confirmed that the album would be released on October 8, 2013.
On August 30, 2013, Kanye West unveiled the simplistic standard and deluxe edition album covers via his Twitter account. On September 21, 2013, Pusha T released snippets for the standard edition tracks. On September 27, 2013, Pusha T released the music video for the intro track "King Push". On October 2, 2013, after a few days of being credited as a co-producer of "King Push", Joaquin Phoenix denied having assist in producing the song. He said, "While it was widely reported that Pusha T used my beat and that I produced his song, I can't take any credit. A friend's son played me his music, and all I did was make an introduction to Kanye's camp." On October 3, 2013, during an interview with Rap-Up, Pusha T revealed that it was actually the son of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich who produced the song, saying "Joaquin Phoenix gave the beat to 'Ye, so when I got the beat from 'Ye, it was, Yo, Joaquin gave me this beat. So me, I'm just like, OK, I know Joaquin's into music and you know the whole thing, so I'm like, Oh, damn. I believe it is the son of Lars Ulrich from Metallica. I hope I'm not wrong this time. It was mistaken because it came from Joaquin." On October 1, 2013, the album was released for free streaming via Myspace.
Starting April 24, 2013, Pusha T and fellow Def Jam rapper Fabolous begun the Life is So Exciting Tour in Providence, Rhode Island. The tour features 28 shows and ended on June 1, 2013. The tour was in promotion of My Name Is My Name and Fabolous' sixth studio album Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power. On December 9, 2013, it was revealed that Pusha T would be co-headlining the 2 Good 2 Be T.R.U. Tour with 2 Chainz, a North American tour to begin on February 4, 2014, in Boston, Massachusetts and end on March 24, 2014, in Washington, D.C. The tour will also feature August Alsina and Cap.1 as opening acts.
Singles On October 9, 2012, Pusha T released "Pain" featuring Future, as the first single from the album. On October 10, 2013, the music video was released for "Pain" featuring Future. The first promotional single released from the album would be "Millions" which features Rick Ross. The song originally appeared on his mixtape Wrath of Caine, however Pusha also released the song for retail sale on January 29, 2013. The music video for "Millions" was released on February 10, 2013. At the 55th Grammy Awards he announced the song would be featured on his album. On March 8, 2013, in an interview with DJ Semtex, Pusha T said that "Millions" would not be featured on the album after all. Moreover, Pusha T confirmed a further collaboration with Rick Ross.
On April 29, 2013 Rolling Stone gave his following single "Numbers on the Boards" four out of five stars, stating "The star is Kanye West's beat, a contusive bass blur with percussion that's like bamboo sticks on a busted radiator. The result is near-perfect no-bullshit hip-hop." On May 9, 2013, the music video was released for "Numbers on the Boards" which featured cameo appearances from Kanye West and Chief Keef. The video was shot in Paris. The Kanye West and Don Cannon-produced song was then released as the album's second single the following day.
In March 2013, during an interview Hot 107.9, he announced that his next single is "Who I Am" featuring Kanye West. On June 11, Pusha T announced that "Who I Am" would be released in two days on June 13, 2013. The final version of the single featured 2 Chainz and Big Sean, however Kanye West still provided the production of the track. However, the song did not end up receiving an official retail release, instead becoming the album's second promotional single.
On August 30, 2013, Pusha T premiered the audio to the album's third single, "Sweet Serenade" featuring Chris Brown. After during a Twitter Q&A, he would reveal the song was produced by Swizz Beatz. It would then be released for retail digital download on September 4, 2013. The music video was released for "Sweet Serenade" on October 7, 2013.