Why Pusha T Just Wrote A McDonald's Diss Track
Bronx-born rapper Pusha T went hard in roasting McDonald's in a recent Arby's advertisement. The intensity of those lyrics can be likened to the heat used to roast the chain's popular apple pies to get them to their crispy texture.
Some lines of the new song, which was featured in the Arby's commercial "Spicy Fish Diss," were absolutely brutal. Though the ad was barely over a minute, Pusha T covered a lot of bases in explaining why McDonald's isn't all that. At the beginning, he instantly put McDonald's notorious Filet-O-Fish on blast by saying, "How dare you sell a square fish asking us to trust it?" To be fair, the sandwich, which he later cusses out, was described as "plain ... okay ... nothing special" by one Redditor.
The commercial has fast food fans rolling on the ground in laughter because of the rapper's sharp remarks. Furthermore, early Pusha T fans have been especially appreciative of the jingle: One user commented on the ad's YouTube video, "... hilarious track and gets better if you know about Push's history with McDonald's."
McDonald's paid him "peanuts"
Fast food lovers from the early 2000s can probably recall that the artist had composed the memorable "I'm Lovin' It" jingle for the very chain that he has now targeted. So why would Pusha T have beef with McDonald's?
According to Rolling Stone, although the singer and his brother co-wrote the lyrics of McDonald's iconic, "I'm Lovin' It" campaign, he wasn't compensated very well for it. To be specific, he described the pay as "peanuts." Though the rapper admitted that he was just starting out and wasn't looking for a lot of money at the time, after doing some reflection, he realized he could have definitely gotten paid more for his work. For reference, Justin Timberlake, who sang the jingle, received $6 million from the global fast food company.
Pusha T explains that there is an element of "ownership" that goes into his work, so when a company uses it, he deserves some sort of financial recognition. He admits that Arby's compensated well for this deal, which definitely is a bop, and fans definitely agree. One fan commented on the Arby's YouTube video featuring the song, "They should have played this during the Superbowl. Straight [two fire emojis]."