"Reality bites like a Rottweiler/The Givenchy hoodie is top dollar,” Pusha T (né Terrence Thornton) raps on a ghostly No I.D.-produced gem on his forthcoming debut solo album, out this Fall. The line exemplifies his approach to to rap: Talk flashy and expose the harsh truths. He's told press that his first album without Clipse member and brother, Gene "No Malice" Thornton, is inspired by director Taylor Hackford's The Devil’s Advocate, but an early listening reveals that Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino’s crime thriller Sin City may be just as good of a fit.

Pusha’s yet-to-be-titled set is gritty and somehow even sexy. Cannons blow gloriously on one track as he warns that he’s got "assault rifles in the back like Rambo." On a destructive Kanye West record, he dubs himself the "Hines Ward of the crown lords" before the hook comes wailing in.

A few weeks back at Complex’s G.O.O.D. Music cover shoot in downtown NYC, Pusha was a proud teammate. Between individual and squad shots, he pulled over to a staircase to talk about crew's Cruel Summer album (out Sept. 4), what some of its highlight moments will be, the direction he and The-Dream are going on his solo offering, and adjusting to West’s recording style.