Pusha T knows how to charm a room, whatever the nature of his activities before entering the music business. He has gone from a childhood in middle-class Virginia and early-00s fame as one half of sibling hip-hop duo Clipse, to a solo record deal on Kanye West's Good Music imprint. His stage name references his street-life past, although he swerves direct questions about exactly how much of his so-called "crack rap" is based on truth – Clipse's second album, Hall Hath No Fury, was more or less a handbook on how to run a crack-dealing business – and how much is fiction. Whatever the case, Pusha T is comfortably graduating to the next stage in his career.

Pusha T runs on stage as the drilling rat-a-tat of a snare drum kicks in on opener King Push, from the 2013 album My Name is My Name. He raps every lyric with a ferocious intensity, barely giving his hype man the chance to get a word in edgeways. Dressed all in black and balancing on the balls of his feet, he bounces his shoulders in time to the music, while leaning toward the crowd in the sold-out venue, who shout back "I'm King Push, still King Push" over the Kanye West-produced track's vocal hook.

"London, make some motherfucking noise," he shouts, pointing a finger to the balconies. He smiles at the audience's whistles and whoops, typical of his matter-of-fact and straightforward demeanour.

Whether blasting his way through his guest verses on Good Music's 2012 hit Mercy and Kanye West's Runaway, or on Numbers on the Boards, Hold On and Pharrell-produced Suicide from My Name is My Name, he proves his technical ability as a rapper while joyously dancing along to each high-tempo song. King Push has found his throne.

• Pusha T appears at Reading and Leeds festivals, 22-24 August