My Name Is My Name is the debut studio album by American rapper Pusha T. It was released on October 7, 2013, by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings. While leading up to the album's announcement, Pusha T released the mixtape Fear of God and the EP Fear of God II: Let Us Pray during 2011, along with collaborating on the GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer (released in 2012). In 2013, he also released another mixtape Wrath of Caine. The album's production was handled primarily by Kanye West, along with several producers, including Pharrell Williams, The-Dream, Hudson Mohawke, Sebastian Sartor, Don Cannon, Swizz Beatz, Rico Beats, Mano and Nottz. It also features guest appearances from Rick Ross, Jeezy, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Future, Pharrell Williams, Chris Brown and Kendrick Lamar, among others.
The album received widespread acclaim from critics and was positioned highly on many "Best Albums of 2013" lists by major publications. The album also fared well commercially debuting at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 74,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was promoted by five singles: "Pain", "Numbers on the Boards", "Sweet Serenade", "Let Me Love You", and "Nosetalgia", along with the promotional single "Who I Am".
Background
After establishing his solo career, while signing a deal to GOOD Music in September 2010, Pusha T released his first solo project, a mixtape, titled Fear of God (2011). Following the release of his mixtape, he released his first extended play, a sequel to the mixtape, titled Fear of God II: Let Us Pray (2011). After the release of his EP, Pusha T started working on his debut album, and at the time it had included production from Kanye West, The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Ryan Leslie and Alex da Kid. After continued to working on his first full-length album, which was originally set to be released in 2012, it was pushed back due to his participation in GOOD Music's first compilation album Cruel Summer (2012).
In July 2012, Pusha T told MTV that while he was putting together his solo album, he was heavily influenced by Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino's 1997 film The Devil's Advocate. "This album was based off the movie 'Devil's Advocate'. Not theme-wise at all, but just in the feel of the album. 'Devil's Advocate' is a very dark movie, but at the same time, visually, it's beautiful. The album is based off of that because I speak about the harsh realities of street life but there's a lot of glitz and glamour that comes along with that. If you just look at it at face value, you might think, 'It sounds a bit like he's glorifying [street life]', but when you get tuned into the record, you realize that you get both sides of it."
In 2012, in an interview, Pusha T spoke on the inspiration behind the album title. "Basically, I tried to pick a title that embodied who I am as an artist. I wanted people to understand like Pusha is everything that I really, really am. Actually, there is a line in 'Pain' where I say "My name is my name," that line comes from Marlo Stanfield from the series The Wire. It was one of the more prominent catch phrases that he said at the end of that series. He was basically saying, I am who I am, I stand on my name I live this. I really felt that embodied my presence in the rap game." Pusha T announced the new title of his album in November 2012, along with Spin reporting that his album had been pushed back until 2013. On March 19, 2013 Pusha T said that the album would include 13 songs and that he had already finished 11 of those songs.