Pusha T Never Expected “The Birds Don’t Sing” To Reach Beyond His Own Grief

Pusha T wrote about losing his parents without expecting other grieving families to find a place for that pain in their own lives.

In a new ABC News interview, Linsey Davis asked him about people using Clipse’s “The Birds Don’t Sing” at funerals. Had he imagined the record becoming more than a personal expression?

“Never,” Pusha T replied.

He went back to what making the song had meant to him, his brother Malice and their longtime collaborator Pharrell Williams. The brothers’ parents died four months apart, and the people helping turn those losses into music knew the family long before the sessions began.

Pusha T explained that he and Pharrell grew up together, adding, “our families are intertwined.” That shared history made the recording personal for more than the two brothers behind the microphone.

He described the emotion among those making the record and those listening in the studio. “It was a very tough record to make,” he said.

The song opened “Let God Sort Em Out,” Clipse’s 2025 reunion album, with John Legend and the gospel choir Voices of Fire joining the brothers.

Pusha T addressed their mother in his verse, while Malice turned to their father. Before listeners reached the album’s street stories and rivalries, they heard the brothers work through their family’s grief.

That opening position was deliberate.

In an earlier GQ interview, Pusha T recalled people crying through the sessions and needing breaks. Rather than save the song for the album’s final stretch, the brothers decided it should introduce the project.

Malice had initially doubted they would finish it because writing about their parents stirred up so much. He later described the process as therapy. Looking at his own grandchildren also helped him understand the responsibility their father had carried, giving him a new way to think about those memories.

Malice had hoped it could do that. While discussing the song before the album’s release, he explained that honoring their parents also meant reliving his own grief with each line.

“Everyone is familiar with loss of some sort, and hopefully this can serve as healing for them as well,” Malice told Interview.