Hell Hath No Fury

Rap isn't generally my go to genre for music. I dabbled a bit in high school, enjoying some Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, and Ludacris, but it was always a distant interest of mine. I found songs that I liked, but full rap records were generally boring to me, particularly as I'm not a person who's very interested in lyrics and verbal cleverness. I've heard songs hundreds of times, and still don't know the words. I find myself far more captivated by melody, instrumentation, production, and performance, so the lyrics generally take a backseat. As great classical rap generally relies on poetic talent, the art form rarely intrigued me. I've always been attracted to rap groups with phenomenal production, rather than lyric genius (i.e. Kanye). I have always appreciated a good punch line, though, particularly when I understood it and it was delivered in a way that was legible.

Enter The Clipse. A rap duo composed of brothers Gene (Malice) and Terrence (Pusha-T) Thornton, Clipse captivated my attention first for their fantastic production, and the phenomenal flow, delivery, and cleverness in their lyrics is what has kept my attention for all these years.

You usually can't judge a book by it's cover, but all it takes is one look at the album art to know that this record is going to be hot. They're sitting on an oven, with walls wallpapered with money, wearing crowns. Cmon. And the music within absolutely delivers one-million percent on the heat promised by the art.

The first song that hooked me on Clipse was Mr. Me Too. And it's a fantastic starting point to figure out exactly why these two are so great. The first sense I got from the track is the unbelievable production by the Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo). The entire album is filled with absolutely disgusting beats with excellent tone, sampling, and minimal instrumentation, allowing the listener to really get into the groove of each track. The beat is omnipresent, and fills out the track nicely, but never overshadows the vocals.

Mr. Me Too also shows us about the characters presented in the song. I don't know if Malice and Pusha-T actually conduct half of the illegal doings discussed in their album, but it's completely believable. In addition to their credible street nature, they are also incredibly gifted lyricists who are capable of constructing meaning within meaning, yet always going back to their core message, which is that they are drug dealing badasses that all men want to be, and that all women want to be with.

For are few examples from Mr. Me Too, here's a few lines from Pusha-T's verse establishing himself as a drug pusher extraordinaire:

"All my niggas caked up, sellin' gray and beige dust

Had that money right or end up in the trunk taped up

We don't chase and duck, we only raise the bucks

Peel money rolls 'til our thumbs get the paper cuts"

Or Malice' verse communicating similar themes:

"Wanna know the time? Better clock us

Niggas bite the style from the shoes to the watches
We cloud hoppers, tailored suits like we mobster

Break down keys into dimes and sell them like Gobstoppers

Who gon' stop us?

Not a goddamn one of you"

Mr. Me Too also communicates a few more subtle things about the group, beginning with the feature by Pharrell, who gets two verses on this masterpiece. While by no stretch are these bad verses, his lack of ability to hang with Malice and Pusha-T is painfully obvious, even to the novice observer of rap music. His flow is identical in just about every line, compared to the varied, fascinating, yet always sensibly diverse approaches of Clipse. His lyrics lack any sense of the clever wordplay which Clipse has, preferring instead naked bragging, which just doesn't feel as credible.

Another high point of this record is Malice and Pusha-T's incredible ability to craft a true rap hook. In an age in which every rapper is a singer too, crooning terrible autotuned melodies over great beats, Clipse absolutely mastered a catchy yet rapped hook in a way no group has since been able to approach. The entire record is filled with them. 

Other highlights from the record include Ride Around Shining, Chinese New Year, and perhaps my all-time favorite rap song Keys Open Doors.

I'll leave you with perhaps my favorite set of lyrics from Keys Open Doors discussing just how much coke they have hidden in their freezer:

"Open up the Frigidaire, 25 to life in here

So much white you might think your holy Christ is near

Throw on your Louis V millionaires to kill the glare

Ice trays? Nada! All you see is pigeons paired

The realest shit I ever wrote, not Pac inspired

It's crack pot inspired, my real niggas quote

Bitch never cook my coke! Why? Never trust a ho with your child"

Hell Hath no Fury isn't a perfect record. I really don't care for Trill, or for Nightmares. But it's one of my favorite rap records of all time, and it's a fabulous example of high production and lyrical quality blending together seamlessly to produce a masterpiece. I'd give it a 9.5/10.

-TRO