{"id":1970172,"date":"2025-08-20T10:08:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1970172"},"modified":"2025-08-20T10:08:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:08:45","slug":"clipse-are-paving-a-new-frontier-in-rap-with-let-god-sort-em-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/clipse-are-paving-a-new-frontier-in-rap-with-let-god-sort-em-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Clipse are paving a ‘new frontier’ in rap with ‘Let God Sort Em Out’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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No one really <\/i>thought Clipse would get back together.<\/p>\n

The duo, composed of brothers Pusha T and Malice, is well known for setting a new precedent for rap throughout the aughts. If you wipe the dust off and think back, you\u2019ll probably remember them for hits like \u201cGrindin\u2019\u201d or \u201cWhen the Last Time,\u201d both produced by the Neptunes \u2014 another duo, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo \u2014 and both off of their debut, \u201cLord Willin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the surface level, Clipse was an insanely talented rap duo out of Virginia Beach, Va., closely linked to Pharrell, who would go on to be one of hip-hop\u2019s most in-demand producers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had just turned 8 when we moved from New York to Virginia,\u201d Malice remembers. \u201cI think it was a bit of a culture shock for me\u2026 I remember thinking how the people in Virginia just talked different.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the brothers, born Gene and Terrence Thornton, quickly noticed that a lot was happening around them. Malice remembers when they used to \u201ccongregate down at the ocean front\u201d and freestyle: \u201ceverybody would come out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before they \u201cbumped heads\u201d with Pharrell, who was a friend of a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had heard about Pharrell and he had heard about me,\u201d Malice says. \u201cOne day, Pusha decided he wanted to rap on a song\u2026 it was called \u2018A Thief in the Night.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPharrell was like, \u2018Y\u2019all should be a group.\u2019 And we agreed, and it was easy\u2026 it all came together in Chad\u2019s room in his attic.\u201d<\/p>\n

But their first brush with fame came even earlier than their debut, with the release of \u201cThe Funeral.\u201d At the time, the brothers had struck a deal with Elektra Records with some help from Pharrell, but the company ultimately shelved their would-be debut \u201cExclusive Audio Footage,\u201d which contained the song.<\/p>\n

Clipse were released from their contract shortly after, but the project would live on through the love of fans \u2014 or, \u201cfamily,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, we were superstars when we shot \u2018The Funeral\u2019 video<\/u><\/a> in \u201899 in Virginia\u2026 I mean, that was it; what else was there to do?\u201d Pusha said. \u201cThe video debuted on HBO, and we shot it at home. For me, that was the Grammys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the mountaintop,\u201d Malice chimed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the mountaintop!\u201d Pusha echoed.<\/p>\n

Those early Clipse days were special, and the duo saw themselves at the center of a cultural shift and as a driving force in the rap game at the time. And Virginia, oddly enough, is where it was all happening.<\/p>\n

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Malice, left, and Pusha T of Clipse have cemented themselves as legends of East Coast rap.<\/p>\n

(Cian Moore)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

It had a lot to do with Teddy Riley \u2014 the father of New Jack Swing \u2014 who set up camp in Virginia Beach along with his Future Recording Studios. That became a hub in the \u201890s for established artists like Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston as well as rising stars like Timbaland and the Neptunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a time of creativity,\u201d Pusha said. \u201cWhether it was Pharrell and Chad up the street or my brother working with Timbaland in junior high school \u2026 the energy of Virginia was at an all-time high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people in Virginia are very creative and aspire to make something out of this music thing,\u201d Malice added. \u201cAnd I think what we\u2019ve done is show them that it is very tangible and doable and reachable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it would all come to an end in 2010, when Pusha T and Malice went their separate ways. Albeit an amicable split, it was still abrupt, with the latter experiencing a spiritual reawakening that set a hard contrast to the drug-dealing-infused lyrics that often occupied their music.<\/p>\n

It was certainly a shock to fans, but both would remain close. According to Malice, it had a lot to do with the lessons their parents bestowed upon them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way our parents raised us, that family is absolutely everything \u2026 there is no bickering, there is no animosity,\u201d he said. \u201cMy dad was really big on family, and not only family, but brotherhood. And I don\u2019t even mean like, just biological brotherhood. I mean brotherhood and all that it entails.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always used to say in the earlier Clipse days, \u2018want for your brother what you want for yourself,\u2019 and it\u2019s something that we hang on to with both hands,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

So, the door always remained open for a Clipse reunion. And there were hints.<\/p>\n

They appeared on longtime collaborator Kanye West\u2019s \u201cJesus Is King\u201d in 2019, and Pusha T\u2019s solo album \u201cIt\u2019s Almost Dry\u201d boasted an impressive Malice feature on track \u201cI Pray for You\u201d in 2022. On the latter, Malice is back, seemingly as if he never left the game:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in the mix \/ opened up your nose like I\u2019m cuttin\u2019 it with Vicks \/ Slavin\u2019 over stoves like I rub together sticks \/ Paved another road so my soul would coexist \/ But Heaven only knows, I won\u2019t dig another ditch.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Malice made a rare guest appearance on Pusha T\u2019s fourth studio album, \u201cIt\u2019s Almost Dry,\u201d in 2022.<\/p>\n

(Cian Moore)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

According to him, there were \u201cquite a few baby steps involved\u201d before an all-out Clipse project was underway. But an enlightening conversation with his father, who died in 2022, made it \u201cmake sense for my psyche.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the last conversations I had with my dad, I asked him what he thought about me rapping again. And why that was important to me was because my dad was definitely in a church. He was a deacon,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd just to hear him say that he thought that I had been too hard on myself, I didn\u2019t even expect him to say anything remotely along those lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he was like, \u2018You know what to do now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It took Clipse around two years to complete \u201cLet God Sort Em Out,\u201d befittingly, entirely produced by Pharrell. Its rollout led with \u201cAce Trumpets\u201d and the infatuating \u201cSo Be It.\u201d The latter track ingeniously flips an obscure sample of \u201cMaza Akoulo\u201d by Saudi Arabian musician Talal Maddah. Notably, it also takes aim at artist Travis Scott over his alleged disloyalty.<\/p>\n

It highlights an ongoing dissatisfaction that the brothers have with the current state of rap, an overall landscape that they say is \u201cflawed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were coming to set standard and reset the table,\u201d Pusha says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had many opportunities to come back and do something, but it just wasn\u2019t the right time,\u201d Malice adds. \u201cMoney\u2019s not going to dictate anything we do. We don\u2019t ever compromise our art for anything. Whatever we do is going to be done at the highest level, and it\u2019s going to feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was no surprise that the album featured verses from the West Coast\u2019s Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator, who are some of the best wordsmiths out right now.<\/p>\n

On \u201cChains and Whips,\u201d Pusha T opens up lethally: \u201cThe question marks block your blessings \/ There\u2019s no tombstones in the desert \/ I know by now you get the message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malice follows suit, assuring \u201cYour lucky streak is now losing you \/ Money\u2019s dried up like a cuticle \/ You\u2019re gasping for air now, it\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Warning: Video contains profanity.]<\/i><\/p>\n

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