Pusha T removes Jadakiss collab ‘Hunting Season’ from streaming after Pop Smoke’s death, draws mixed response
Rapper, songwriter and record executive Pusha T has pulled the 'Hunting Season' song from streaming services. The decision came after the recent news of the rising rapper Pop Smoke's death. Pusha T had collaborated with Jadakiss on the new song and the news of the rapper's death has affected the hip-hop scene in more ways than anticipated. The song was removed due to its subject matter which drew similarities to Pop Smoke's murder.
'Hunting Season' was released on streaming services on February 21 ahead of the upcoming Jadakiss album's release date, titled 'Ignatius', which is due on February 28. Jadakiss' lyrics say, “When I think of these rappers, I wanna go huntin'," which he drew inspiration from his close friend Ignatius “IcePick” Jackson, who passed away from cancer in 2017.
According to Rolling Stone, Pusha T shared an Instagram post on February 21, saying, "‘Hunting Season’ was a request that IcePick Jay (RIP) always had and in light of his death me and [Jadakiss] made an incredible song,” adding, "With that being said, the whole concept of hunting season and the hypothetical ideas of ‘killing rappers’ isn’t [sitting] well with me while mourning the recent death of Pop Smoke. Rest in peace Pop and condolences to his family.”
In response to a Twitter post by Karen Civil who is an American social media and digital media marketing strategist, fans of Pusha T shared their thoughts of the song being removed and paid their respects to the rapper. One of them called him "tough", while another referred to the removal as "true spit".
A fan said, "#Salute the #Wolf @PUSHA_T for having scruples". Amidst the encouraging comments, a few were in disbelief of the rapper's sincerity referring to Pusha T's feud with Drake, saying, "Oh now he's a grown-up after all the petty drama with Drake".
Another tweet said, "He is a clown. If he was a trending topic from his Drake 'disses' he wouldn’t be apologizing. Back to the drawing board Pusha... no Drake to use for album rollout/momentum."
Pusha T dropped 'Daytona' in May 2018, which was aimed to be a diss track specifically at Drake. In the song, Pusha T takes a dig at Drake for using a ghostwriter and less than 24 hours later, Drake released 'Duppy Freestyle', which takes aim at both Pusha T and Kanye West. The issues between the two seemed to have continued till December last year, and Drake opened up in a video, expressing that he has no intention to make amends with Pusha T.
