For Interview magazine's October issue, Pusha T interviewed his signee, Desiigner, about his musical inspirations, the success of "Panda," and his early childhood in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood.
Desiigner begins by telling Pusha T about his family's musical history. "If anything, I would consider my grandfather," Desiigner said in response to a question about his inspirations. "He's a blues player. I like the old soul—you know how it is, Pusha, that old soul. My grandfather, he went by the name Sidney "Guitar Crusher" Selby; he formed that old soul, that old blues, that old rock that I put on my songs. He bluesed it out. And my pops, he was old-school, too; he played that old funk."
Pusha T remembers hearing "Panda" for the first time, saying that he immediately new the record would be a hit, and tells the young rapper the he looked at "Tiimmy Turner" as "a new dimension of Desiigner."
The 18-year-old also opened up about his childhood in Brooklyn, and how he feels to be representing such a historic rap music locale. "I came from the block, where I was trapped," he explains. "I didn't want to live through that anymore. It wasn't because I wanted to do that; I was stuck there. Every day I prayed on it. I didn't want to deal with that."
Read Desiigner's full discussion with Pusha T for Interview magazine here.
