Exclusive: Pusha T and Tyler the Creator's "Trouble On My Mind" Video Shoot

Pusha's claim of symmetry might sound like a cheap grab for publicity. But he says he didn't like the original treatment, and called Tyler to discuss. "I said, if I'm gonna do a record with you, if we're gonna shoot a video, we need to be causing chaos. And he was like 'Oh my god! I was thinking the same thing! Aahhh!' So I said, let's just tear up L.A." They also decided to change the concept to include the doppleganger costumes.

"The song, people aren't expecting it, and I want to show people that I can hop in your world and you can hop in my world, and it ain't fucking up nothing. It's gonna be beautiful," he explains.

Andrea Domanick

Odd Future gets down with grandma behind the scenes.

Pusha says he's now planning to buy Tyler a pair of Balenciaga shoes, if only because Tyler kept wondering why they named them something so "stupid."

"He said, 'That just sounds like an ugly name! Man, I don't want to wear a suit, I don't want to wear shit like this!' and I said, 'Well I don't want to fuckin' dress like the Brady Bunch!'"

Andrea Domanick

GOLFWANG

But if "Trouble On My Mind" (produced by The Nepunes, Tyler's most loudly proclaimed influence) is a collaboration that's wholly unexpected, it's also emblematic of the artistic perfect storm that Pusha T's upcoming solo EP promises to be: With guest spots from Tyler to Young Jeezy to Kanye West, and with production by The Neptunes and Bangladesh, the record seems less unorthodox and more a summation of the state of hip hop today.

Andrea Domanick

"I'm so excited about all of this, I'm just doing any and everything. Why not? This is the first time I feel like I've really been able to compete in the game," Pusha says, citing his time spent collaborating with Kanye in Hawaii as transformative to his creative process. "I felt like when I first came out, I wasn't really being competitive [despite the critical acclaim]. I liked being in Virginia and out of the way. I think it's always the journalists and the other rappers who say 'Oh yeah, Clipse is the shit. Clipse is sophisticated.' But when it comes down to do it, you go through so much that that praise just isn't enough. I need all of it. I want all the perks. Right now, I have to jump in with both feet. I just need more, man. I'm fiending for it now."

Andrea Domanick

Pusha T performs tonight at the Key Club with J-MO, Scholar Weems, Rambohustle. His EP of all new tracks will be released in August on G.O.O.D. Music / Decon / Re-Up Gang.