Pusha-T’s Jarring Video Shows The Brutality & Force That Some Of Us Know Too Well
Pusha-T has released the full version of the “If You Know You Know” music video. The visual accompaniment to the opening Daytona track began as a series of vertical shorts on streaming platforms. Now fully-produced, the first full visual from the Kanye West-produced G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Records release raises the stakes and maintains the chilly tone.
“If You Know You Know” keeps the footage seen in the previous clips. Police officers stop Pusha-T in the desert. It is not clear if he was even speeding. The executive-artist provides two white law enforcers with his license and registration, visibly confused by the traffic stop. As they run his information and further assess the car, they draw weapons and order the driver from his vehicle. A third officer, a female, arrives on the scene in addition to a K9 police dog with infrared hate in its eyes. That hatred and anger appear on the faces of the three cops as they close in on Push’. The jarring beat from West intensifies the drama. At 2:36, lightning strikes in the sky as Pusha is asked to step out of his white Ferrari and put his hands on his head.
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Pusha puts his hands over his face then behind his head. In the closing shot, it is just the car with its brake lights on. “If You Know You Know” takes on deeper meaning in this symbolic portrayal of those who have been pulled over for driving while Black.
Daytona (#3) is the highest-charting album of Pusha-T’s career.