“Sunshine” by Pusha T (ft. Jill Scott)
These days Pusha T may be known more as being akin to a battle rapper, as in 2018 he personally dissed Drake on the underground hit “The Story of Adidon“. But it seems as if there is a lot more to Pusha than beef songs, as revealed on “Sunshine”, which is one of those African-American centered social-commentary pieces that have always been present in rap music.
“Sunshine”
For starters, it would appear that in the chorus the word “sunshine” is used unconventionally to rather point to a negative feeling. Said “sunshine” alludes to the notion of “the day”, which is presented as being “so long”. So more specifically, it is “the day” itself that has a negative connotation.
And “the day” serves as a metaphor for, most easily explained, the era of race-based discrimination against African-Americans in the United States.
Of course said era is still ongoing. And that is what Pusha T implies at the beginning of the first verse, that ‘America needs a miracle’. In other words, institutional racism is so historically entrenched in American society that by the looks of things it will never go away. And he takes the traditional hip-hop approach to adopting such a disposition, by noting various instances or facts that buttress said argument.
The Freddie Gray Incident
Well more specifically, this song is for the most part based on just one of those incidents. The said incident was the controversial death of Freddie Gray in 2015 while he was in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department.
And when Pusha mentions ‘sending another to the FEDs’ after namedropping Gray, that is because such incidents, when they go viral as with this one, tend to end up being investigated by the federal government or what have you. And whereas T states that in Freddie’s death the law enforcement involved were found “not guilty”, in actuality the case never even went to trial.
The Unfair Treatment of Blacks
Pusha then goes on to lament the perception and portrayal of Black people in the eyes of the mainstream and more specifically major news organizations like FOX and CNN. And along those lines he mentions Don Lemon. Don is a famous African-American news anchor affiliated with CNN.
Don often speaks on Black issues. However, he is someone who many African-Americans themselves may deem as being out of touch with the streets. Don is in fact the son of who Wikipedia described as “a prominent attorney”, so it’s not like he grew up in the ‘hood or anything.
And that’s the point that the rapper sets out to make. According to him, you can’t understand the Black ghetto unless you’ve actually lived there. And he goes on to conclude the verse by once again mentioning the police. However, this time he more clearly states his belief that they are designed, most simply put, to kill Black people.
An Eye for an Eye
Now when people like Freddie Gray are killed by the police, the reaction of the Black masses, especially in the locality where the incident itself took place, tends to be protesting. Ideologically speaking, said protests, as established by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., are supposed to be peaceful in nature. And what Pusha T is saying is that he isn’t on it like that. Instead he’s more of the eye-for-an-eye type. And he goes on to once again present the criminal justice system as one intended to kill and furthermore incarcerate the Black masses.
A Rich Black History
Now another common aspect of these types of rap songs is that the vocalist would often focus on some positive aspect of Black history, even if said aspect may not be verifiable. For instance, there is a long-standing rumor that the model for the Statue of Liberty was a Black woman. Furthermore, this rumor has it that the monument itself was originally intended to serve as a symbol espousing Black freedom or what have you. And Pusha T introduces that idea in this song as fact.
Blacks Need to Defend Themselves!
But shortly thereafter he once again turns his attention to the police and how, when they end up killing a Black person, they often go unpunished. Afterwards he namedrops the likes of Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Huey P. Newton who preached that African-Americans should defend themselves against violent racists, including those employed by law enforcement, with force. It should be noted that Newton co-founded the legendary Black Panther Party.
What Pusha is getting at via these references is sort of a plan by Black revolutionaries like himself to take over the system, as in they can’t rule concurrently with the racist powers-that-be.
Primary Focus of “Sunshine”
The bridge then drives home the idea that the primary focus of this piece is in fact police brutality, as inspired by the death of Freddie Gray.
So “Sunshine” is one of the earlier songs from the Black Lives Matter era, coming out a few years prior to the movement going mainstream in 2020. And rap music being what it is, when an incident like that of Gray’s is made public, in which a Black male dies in the hands of police despite putting up virtually no resistance, then certain musicians, like Pusha, will inevitably get to dropping tracks like these.
Release of “Sunshine”
This track was released on 18 December 2015. Pusha T released it as part of his second standard LP, “King Push – Darkest Before the Dawn: The Prelude”. Said undertaking is a product of Def Jam Records alongside Kanye’s GOOD Music.
And whereas “Sunshine” was not a single, it still proved potent enough for Pusha to debut the song a couple of days before the issuance of King Push, via The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. And he also posted the lyrics onto Genius on that same day, 15 December.
Pusha T
Pusha T is a rapper who was born in the Bronx though grew up in Virginia Beach. He made a name for himself, with his brother No Malice. The two were part of a rap duo known as Clipse that came out around the turn of the century. However, Pusha really became famous in his own right after hooking with Kanye West circa 2010. He went on to become one of the more notable artists on Yeezy’s label, GOOD Music.
More Interesting Facts
Kanye West is also one of the producers of this track. He accomplished that task with Mano and Baauer. And its writers, besides Pusha T, are:
- Gian Franco Reverberi
- Claudio Ghiglino
- Susan Duncan-Smith
- Jill Scott
Jill Scott is a singer from the east coast city of Philadelphia. She is generally considered to be one of the best R&B/soul singers of the early 21st century. This is even if, relatively speaking, she hasn’t necessarily been a major commercial success. And Pusha was actually featured on a track she dropped earlier in 2015 entitled Fool’s Gold (Remix).
Freddie Gray (1989-2015) reportedly fled on foot upon perceiving that the cops were watching him. He did so seemingly due to the fact that he was carrying a knife. Upon being promptly apprehended, the police did arrest him “without the use of force or incident”. This is according to one of the officers involved.
However, in the process of being transported by the police, Gray wound up sustaining injuries which ultimately cost him his life. This resulted in protests, some of which degenerated into riots. Freddie’s family was eventually awarded over $6,000,000 dollars by the City of Baltimore. However, the police officers involved, after a federal investigation, were not charged.
Besides those mentioned above, other celebrities namedropped in “Sunshine” are hip-hop Talib Kweli and Flavor Flav.
