Pusha Preme, who plays Velvet Gypsy in Tampa, Florida on April 18, 2025. Credit: Photo by Fabian Bailey c/o Gasparilla Music Festival
Tampa rapper Pusha Preme wears a mask to protect the privacy of his family, but the veil is always drawn back in his music.

“It’s not just about breakups—it’s about the moments that cracked me open and forced me to grow,” he told CL about his new EP, Sum Hearts R Meant 2B Broken (stylized in all-caps). “The project lives in that space between pain and power, where you learn to love yourself after losing what (or who) you thought you needed.”

Sonically, the record finds Preme in between the Afrobeat of recent work and bringing in alt-R&B influences, and he plays it all live at this Seminole Heights release show.

Tickets to see Pusha Preme play Velvet Gypsy in Tampa on Friday, April 18 are still available for $20.

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Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...