Pusha T and (No) Malice have proven that there’s no aging out of making a rap classic as their new album Let God Sort Em Out has hip hop fans giving them a standing ovation.
After a delay caused by tensions with Def Jam—hence the changing of their moniker from “The Clipse” to simply “Clipse”—the Brothers Thornton have reunited for their first offering in 16 years as a group. The pair took a traditional route to their album release by doing an actual rollout, including visuals, merchandise, an album signing, and interviews with several publications, culminating in a Tiny Desk concert where they performed some of their biggest hits.
At 48 and 52 years old, respectively, Pusha and Malice are shutting down any ideas of rap being solely a young man’s game, and we’re here for it. Their lyrical prowess, though seasoned, is still as lethal as ever, and their caviar dope-dealing bars are just as IG-ready as their younger hip hop peers. Plus, they tapped their fellow Virginia-native Pharrell Williams for nostalgia’s sake, making the album’s sonic footprint the dream of millennial music fans everywhere.
Describing the album as “sophisticated urgency,” Pusha T has leaned into the irony of two of the genre’s elder statesmen being able to deliver one of the most anticipated and positively reviewed projects in recent years.
“A perspective on life and how we view it,” he explained in an interview with Jerry Lorenzo for Spotify. “A perspective of the game, music, and how we feel about it. Also, just the idea of what hip hop means to us and the sense of like, this is a competitive game and we actually live it. We always try to showcase that being fundamentalist, with the word and showing that this is timeless. What we do is timeless.”
Clipse Confronts Losing Their Parents On Their Opening Track, “Birds Don’t Sing”
Let God Sort Em Out also showcases featured verses from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Tyler The Creator, Nas, and Stove God, along with an appearance by John Legend, whose vocals are on display on the emotional opening track of the album. “The Birds Don’t Sing” chronicles the brothers’ feelings following the deaths of their parents less than 4 months apart, and sets the tone for the project’s transparency.
“We had to get that out of the way because it just had to be done,” Malice said of the track during a sit-down on the Joe Budden Podcast. “You always think, as far as death, it’s going to happen to somebody else, it’s going to happen at some far off abstract time, not in your family or whatever. With my parents passing within four months of each other, it wasn’t just like once. Once it happens once, you think it’s going to be another long time [before it happens again] but it was like back to back.”
Pusha T Doesn’t Hold Back On Kanye, Who Says He Misses Their Friendship
Pusha T has relished in the opportunity to be doing all things music with his brother again after going at it solo, primarily with Kanye West‘s Good Music. As always, he’s never one to mince words when talking about his experiences or feelings about fellow artists, including his former friend and collaborator, West.
“I feel like me and Ye, we don’t gel,” he said. “Where I am right now in my life, I’m not with anybody who ain’t on my team — especially when I’ve been on your team. He champions and stands next to anybody and everybody who don’t f**k with me. And I don’t get that. I don’t understand that.”
He gave more insight into why the two parted ways in a GQ interview saying,
“He’s a genius. But that’s why me and him don’t get along, because he sees through my fakeness with him. He knows I don’t think he’s a man. He’s shown me the weakest sides of him, and he knows how I think of weak people.”
Pusha’s candor didn’t deter Kanye from taking to the internet to let people know that he “misses” their friendship, to which the “Ace Trumpets” rapper responded, “I don’t care about that at all. I’m sure, I would miss me too.”
Oop. Well, we will be busy listening to the Clipse’s new album on repeat for the foreseeable future.
