Pusha Preme is here to put Tampa, Florida on the map. Being a first generation African from Sierra Leone, the rising star combines his profound love of Hip-Hop and R&B with Afrobeats, creating a sound that separates himself from the rest. Being the catchy hooks and melodies, it’s the substance in his lyrics that resonate with fans the most, inspired directly by real life experiences.
Pusha Preme is currently on a mini-tour, traveling with his band, The Wandering Assassins. While Preme may admit to being shy in person, any hint of that completely disappears on the stage. When he gets on the microphone, Preme immediately transforms into artist mode, giving fans an unforgettable experience for the books.
Pusha Preme recently opened for G-Eazy and Phony Ppl in front of thousands at Saint Pete Pier. You can’t miss Preme with his mask covering his face, which is directly inspired by the legendary MF DOOM. On the music tip, Pusha Preme just dropped the deluxe version of HEROES EVENTUALLY D!E.
AllHipHop spoke with Pusha Preme in downtown Los Angeles to discuss his background, name, MF DOOM, new music, opening for Young Thug and more.
AllHipHop: You’re first generation Sierra Leone. Where did you grow up in the States?
Pusha Preme: Born and raised in New York. I moved to Tampa further down in life. I went to high school there, then I left. Went to college, got hurt. Moved back to New York.
AllHipHop: How’d you get hurt?
Pusha Preme: Playing basketball. I got hurt in college. From there, I moved back to Tampa and had to start everything over. I was with a group and we split up, I didn’t want no bad blood so we moved and started over. I remember how it was being an artist in New York, you had to be artist 24/7. I really got no chance to be at ease or be regular. I’ve always been in the arts, always been into crafts. Always been making stuff: shoes, jackets, clothes, everything like that.
I started making these premes, after watching the MF DOOM interview. We had a similar story. His brother died, then my brother was in the group. He stopped doing music, then he became MF DOOM off that. That’s how I became Pusha Preme.
AllHipHop: So that’s the inspiration behind the mask?
Pusha Preme: Oh yeah, definitely. We have similar stories. Once his brother passed and he left the group, then he became MF DOOM from there. A lot of people don’t know that. For me, it was similar. My brother , we were in a group together for almost 10 years. When he stopped doing music when he went to Fiji, I had to be on my own.
AllHipHop: What’s your favorite MF DOOM song?
Pusha Preme: Ooh, I can’t say that I have a favorite. Because I got put onto him so late, that I’m still learning about him every day. I can tell you my favorite album is Mm..Food.
AllHipHop: What does the mask mean to you? It’s so pretty.
Pusha Preme: I appreciate it. We work on a new mask every album. I look at them as Preme’s (mask), an illustration of what I’ve been going through musically and going through my life. It dictates what the album is. Each one has a name, a character, things of that nature. I do it so I can separate being the artists, then being by myself and with my family. I’m really tight with my family. I tell people as a good example: if it was your birthday, I’m Preme and I pull up? Now it’s both our birthdays. I never want my artistry to take away from anybody else. I look at it no different than a firefighter or a doctor. When they put the uniform on, that’s what they do. When they don’t, they don’t.
AllHipHop: What’s the inspiration behind your name?
Pusha Preme: My brother gave me that name. The Pusha part was I’m always pushing something, because I used to make clothes, hats, shoes, all that stuff. The Preme is an acronym I had: Poetry and Rhythm Elevates Minds Effectively.
AllHipHop: What is it you want fans to get from your music?
Pusha Preme: It’s feel-good music that illustrates people being in a relationship and chasing their dreams.
AllHipHop: What was the moment you realized you could do music for a living?
Pusha Preme: When we started getting paid for shows. Oh okay, if I do a couple of these, do the math, I’ll be able to take care of bills.
AllHipHop: What was the first bag?
Pusha Preme: When we did our show for the billboard, that was the first time. We made three grand that show.
AllHipHop: That’s a lot! A lot of artists that aren’t making that much.
Pusha Preme: I just have a good support system. We net between 200 to 300 people per show, then after the expense paying the band… It starts off, but then the net goes down the more payout you have. We’ve been coming up with a system to get everything going.
AllHipHop: What’s the meaning behind your album, HEROES EVENTUALLY D!E?
Pusha Preme: The last album was the sequel to what we had going on called HATE TO SAY GOODBYE. When my grandmother passed, I dedicated that album to her. It was super difficult because all these great things were happening musically, then she passed. It f##### me up high key, not even low key. For me to get over that hump, I started creating more Afrobeat songs. Telling the story: I got this going on, my grandma passed and I still have to be a new father. I’m married, so I have to do all this s### and still be Preme. It was extremely, mentally difficult.
AllHipHop: And you’re still making music?
Pusha Preme: Exactly. Independently. I’m running a new label, so I have staff now. I gotta do payroll and make sure people are getting gigs. Meet people like Javo in L.A., it’s been so much. For me to be able to let that happen, I had to understand that heroes eventually die. We all have heroes in our life that we look up to, but they eventually have to pass. That’s why we made that album.
AllHipHop: What can we expect from the deluxe?
Pusha Preme: More of the sound that people liked before, before we started doing more Afrobeats. We do more that Cactus Jack sound, real trap and Hip Hop. That’s what we normally do. But because of the way Hip Hop is moving, where we’ll get more of a global fanbase, we want to go to what makes sense. We always get those calls and emails like “Yo, can you do this song? Can you do that song?”
And it shows. On the 23 of December, we got a Spotify plaque for hitting a million streams. The song “Outsiiide,” it’s trap. People still want that sound from us. The music business, you have to cater to who you gotta cater to.
AllHipHop: If fans are new to Pusha Preme, what’s one song they need to listen to?
Pusha Preme: “Adam & Eve.” “Adam & Eve (Can’t Let It Go)” because there’s always something that we all can’t let go. Whether it’s a relationship, whether it’s a toxic thing that’s hurting your life or whether it’s something you’re really passionate about.
AllHipHop: How was it opening for Young Thug?
Pusha Preme: That was interesting, because Gunna was there. In retrospect… yo. It was cool though, he showed love. He said “keep doing your thing.” It was in Orlando at The Beacham. It was cool. Because we came, there were a whole two cars full of people [laughs]. It was dope. I can’t remember too much of it, just from the footage. We threw a lot of shirts. We started doing the whole water thing before that became popular. We met Thug, Thug is surprisingly very tall.
AllHipHop: What about Jadakiss?
Pusha Preme: Jadakiss is dope. That was a milestone for us. We had booked him, so it was in the reverse. We booked him to be there when we opened for him. Chilled with him in the Airbnb, chilled with him in the studio. It lets me know he really cares about this, it’s not about the money for him.
AllHipHop: Any goals for yourself as an artist at this point of your career?
Pusha Preme: I want to be able to set myself apart from everybody and motivate others. Someone can see my story and think, “I can do it too.” They don’t necessarily have to make a mask but really believe in something. Have an artistic integrity about yourself and things will come together.
