Circle round twice for the Encore…. If you Know You Know, from Pusha T, is one of my favorite tracks on his Daytona album.  This video is an example of visually amplifying the message you’re already conveying. The story of Pusha T, is what it is. Often, talking about his life, pushing weight while expressing where he’s at in this game. 4 Lit up Fires for this video, the review follows these opening bars, from Pusha T.

This thing of ours, oh, this thing of ours
A fraternity of drug dealers ringin’ off
I just happen to be alumni
Too legit, they still lookin’ at me with one eye
The company I keep is not corporate enough
Child Rebel Soldier, you ain’t orphan enough
A rapper turned trapper can’t morph into us
But a trapper turned rapper can morph into Puff

You can imagine what might happen should the 12’s find him traveling through the desert. This society can be a dry, uncaring desert for any black man, so this really could be a neighborhood near you. Relevant to these days in time, where seemingly police cams would lead to fewer police killings. Instead, we are often watching these, seemingly legally sanctioned killings on film. The officers involved, constantly getting those paid vacations that Collin Kaepernick spoke about. 

If you Know You Know is simple, and yet gets to a true crescendo.

We do not ‘see’ what happens at the end of the video. But … if you know how too many of these scenarios go, you know.

The tensions rise, as the video gets closer to this rapid conclusion, cutting off without ‘actually’ showing us what occurs. We hear shots, but do not see the end, which we can imagine, is what happens to our brothers and sisters slain in these streets. Now, not all of them are carrying weight like Pusha T, ‘might’ be in this video. Like most real M.C.’s he’s painting a visual here with his words, and using a ‘rap video’ the right way to paint, another one.  Hopefully he made it out of there alright…

The ‘anger’ depicted in the eyes of the police officers, as if they are demonically possessed, is a nice touch. They still hate to see a successful black man in America.

Been grantin’ wishes like a genie
To bad hoes in two-piece bikinis
I’ve been hidin’ where you can see me
The skybox is right next to RiRi’s
Solely responsible for showin’ rappers how to stand
On the front lines when trappers started throwin’ bands
Where were you when Big Meech brought the tigers in?
‘Cause I was busy earnin’ stripes like a tiger’s skin