Stevie G: New Clipse album delivers the goods
‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is the new album from Clipse.
Clipse, long-time associates of the Neptunes, have been active since the mid 90s but only really blew up 20 years ago, and after Pharrell signed them to his Star Trak imprint, they soon hit the big time.
The explosive was followed by their hugely successful , and after two more great but commercially disappointing albums, they disbanded. Pusha T remained busy doing some excellent solo albums but is the first proper get together from the Virginia brothers in 15 years or so.
Pusha T explained how he bought himself out of his label, Def Jam, as they refused to release a song that featured Kendrick Lamar. It appears here. Rappers such as Travis Scott, Jim Jones, Drake and former associates such as Kanye were dissed by Pusha T during this run, but this was an album, out now on Jay Z’s Roc Nation, built on more than hype.
Long-time producer and friend Pharrell is now no longer accompanied by Chad Hugo as the Neptunes era is over for now, but there is a feeling that he kept his best beats for Clipse, and the singular vision behind this album really helps. Clipse, and even Push as a solo artist, always benefited from this singular gimmick-free vision, and it’s really welcome in an era of over-bloated guest appearance albums with multiple producers.
In truth, this has been the pattern that rap has followed now for nearly 30 years, but there remains many who are trying to reign in this tendency to have too many people calling the shots. Pharrell, Push and Malice have been together for decades and the chemistry between the two brothers in particular remains amazing, while the guest spots are kept to a minimum. But what guest spots they are! The aforementioned Kendrick Lamar, Nas and Tyler the Creator are the big names here, and all deliver the goods, while long-time pal Ab-Liva is on board too.
Adversaries such as Drake, Travis Scott, and Jim Jones look a bit pathetic in comparison, and though the former two will sell more, there is no doubt that culturally will be respected by fans of a hip-hop culture that is becoming increasingly lame in mainstream circles.
The Kendrick Drake beef at least brought a lot of these topics back to the surface, and Kendrick himself is one of the MCs responsible for the resurgence of top-quality bars on the mainstream side of things. He and Push can back themselves to the max and I pity the rapper that steps in their path. The pop rap of Drake and others will continue to be popular, but we can see that there is another way now at least. This is the spirit on which hip-hop was founded.
The return of the Clipse has also brought more dialogue to the topic of ageism in hip-hop. A once young person’s game is anything but these days, and rappers such as Pusha T, Malice, Common and Nas are all delivering classic material at 50 odd years of age. One of the few things Travis has over Pusha T is his relative youth (though he’s now in his 30s too), but it’s interesting that so much of the best rap now comes from older artists. It wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago, when Migos, Young Thug, Rae Sremmurd and many more were emerging. Hip-hop felt very young and vibrant at the time, and the trap soundscapes felt new and exciting.
But a great MC is a great MC no matter what the age, and here, both Malice and Push have proved once again, that they are two of the greatest.
