Riding low, top-down, banging up the car speakers with Malice behind the wheel, Pusha T in the passenger side, and Jesus Christ in the back. 

Lord Willin’ was the beginning of what I now recognize as the sound that put Virginian Hip-Hop on the map. 

The Clipse, better known as Clipse, showed the world of Hip-Hop that gangster rap in Virginia was not afraid to get bizarre. But if you ask me, that’s just Southern Hip-Hop in general. If you’ve been reading this blog since 2019, then you’d be familiar with my love for Southern Hip-Hop, and 9 times out of 10, Southern instrumentals are bound to leave the earth’s atmosphere; in this case to the planet Neptune. 

An entirely Virginian sound with the unique and experimental use of percussion by production duo The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) and the rap duo, comprising of brothers Pusha T and No Malice came together for Clipse’s debut album Lord Willin’, then committed to this collaboration for four more albums. This is music that all gangster rap lovers can get with, all the way until ’Til The Casket Drops.  

Clipse, being the founding fathers of ‘Coke Rap’, were liberal about the reality of their lives as drug peddlers, this type of authenticity is a tragic part of what Hip-Hop listeners enjoy in the genre. Regarding rap, I’ve always said that the delivery is half the job. I appreciate hearing an artist’s personality and attitude radiate alongside their lyricism, and Pusha T is certainly one of those rappers. Although he and his brother, No Malice, have a similar sounding voice, the difference in their presence and flow allows them to take ownership of their individuality and lyrical abilities. Pusha T even came to have one of the most iconic ad-libs in Hip-Hop history that acts as a signature when he supplies a verse during a feature.

Yeugh!

Pusha T

I have always been curious about whether the name of their duo ‘The Clipse’ was meant to be a play on the words ‘eclipse’ and ‘clip’. A ‘clip’ could either be referring to the act of killing, or a device, generally, a strip of metal or plastic, used to hold loose cartridges together to facilitate faster loading of a rifle or magazine which would probably be a reference to the hardening life of crime they partook in during their youth which started with the bricks they received from their own grandma (talk about the ‘family business’, lol). 

I do, however, want to argue that the number two occurs several times just by looking at the creative dynamic that exists between the artists that contribute to the sound of Clipse. We are looking at two people in each duo, and two duos that complete the sound. The ultimate question then becomes; who is the Sun and who is the Moon? Is it that The Neptunes are the sun as they formulate their perky beats, being eclipsed by the confessions and observations of Push and Malice? Or could it be that Pusha T and Malice eclipse each other as they interchangeably encode their verses? Or maybe the eclipse could be the spiritual darkening they both underwent after having to hit the streets to make ends meet. 

I’d like to know what you, the reader, think. Am I reaching? Discussion box open.