Pusha T Says He Puts On For His City, "When They Ask For The Face Of VA, Mine Is Definitely One Of Them"

G.O.O.D. Music's Pusha T recently talked about his love for Virginia and why he will always rep the place he began his career at no matter the amount of success still awaiting him.

In Pusha's eyes, the Virginia hip-hop scene has grown since The Clipse exploded onto the scene in the early 2000's.

"In all honesty, we've come a long way in my city. And when I say my city, I really mean that," Pusha said in an interview referring to Virginia Beach. "Out here, we've come a long way musically to be accepted by the bigger cities, the bigger Hip Hop hubs, so I'm not gonna get into anything that's gonna be an embarrassment to my city. Everybody knows, as far as this whole Virginia thing goes, I rep this to the fullest. I've been doing it out here for a long, long time. I've been holding this place down everywhere I go. When they ask for the face of "VA," there's a few names that they're gonna bring up. And mine is definitely one of them." (Hip Hop DX)

Last summer, VA-bred emcee Skillz declared himself the best artist from their state.

"And if I aint the best MC from VA? Then who is? I believe its me...always have.," he tweeted July 24th.

"And I wd say that same statement in the same room w Pusha, Malice, P, & whoever else you can think of. Cuz it really aint that many of us."

"Im from Virginia ni//a! My mindstate is young AI...Ima respect you..but on the court?? Ima try to break ur fkin ankles."

"@SkillzVa n u arent the 3rd best from VA...Pusha Malice Pharrell when Missy drops pls n*gga lk really...shutup<-- n*gga? get a real earring"

"If you in a craft and your not pushing to be the best then what are you really doing? lol" (Skillz's Twitter)

In 2010, Virigina-bred producer Pharrell labeled Pusha T one of hip-hop's best lyricists.

"I think that's gonna be amazing," Pharrell said when asked about Pusha possibly joining Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music. "[Pusha] had been working with 'Ye. I told him, 'You should do that.' We made a lot of great records together, and we'll continue to make great records. I want him to grow and get other experiences out in the world. He's gotta figure that out. He's gotta go out there and see it. Make no mistake, lyrically, that kid is one of the greats -- him and his brother. Lyrically, those guys are really serious. They're well-respected by all of the good dudes. Jay-Z loves them, T.I., Jeezy loves them. All of your favorite rappers, they appreciate a Pusha line or a Malice line. They do. I'm saying with respect for all those artists -- I work with those artists. I know the conversations we had. They like what they do. It's been a long time coming for Pusha and what it is he's trying to do. He's gonna get it. And Malice too." (MTV)

Earlier this year, Pusha hit up SOHH and talked about his long-awaited G.O.O.D. Music debut album.

"The way I want to put out my solo album, those ideas are definitely taking form right now," Pusha told SOHH. "It's just that I want the world to understand that in The Clipse, well, I look at it like this. A lot of people understand the dichotomy with Pusha being more brash, the more wordplay-type one. And then you have my brother, Malice, being the more introspective and more conscious-driven. And it's not that I don't think like that, it's just the fact that we play roles in our group. And we're d*mn good at that. And I'm d*mn good at this. And it's not that I don't have those views, I think I just want the world to get a full 360-degree perspective of myself, my opinions and my mind." (SOHH)