I took a listen once through earlier today. First impression is that it's damn good - around 8 out of 10 if I have to quantify. I did feel the beat selection felt somewhat... formulaic, if not...
I took a listen once through earlier today. First impression is that it's damn good - around 8 out of 10 if I have to quantify. I did feel the beat selection felt somewhat... formulaic, if not monotonous, by the time I got to the end.
Beforehand, I was wondering what Chad Hugo's absence from the tried and true Clipse + Neptunes formula would have meant for the music, but after Push revealed that Hell Hath No Fury, an undeniable classic, was produced solely by Pharrell (which is almost true - Chad did one song), I figured everything would have been fine. But now, LGSEO sounds like it could have maybe used Chad's touch with some chords and stuff on the second half of the album. I know that there was some sample-clearance trouble with So Be It that forced them to initially upload an alternate version before replacing it with the original later in the day... so it might be possible there were other songs that had samples removed.
Still needs more listens, but I'm confident I'll like it more as I revisit.
Also, No Malice has so many quotables, it's ridiculous.
Clipse are back! Some background on the album on its Wikipedia page. For the uninitiated, the brothers Pusha T and (No) Malice haven't released an album together as Clipse in about 15 years...
For the uninitiated, the brothers Pusha T and (No) Malice haven't released an album together as Clipse in about 15 years (apparently, the duo formed in 1994, way ahead of their debut album!). Given the quality of their solo projects and features the past decade, and the excellent single releases ahead of time, I had quite high expectations… and wasn't disappointed whatsoever. Not only are the lyrics great and clever (no surprise), the beat selection is pristine too (also no surprise, thanks to Pharrell). I really like this album's overall sound. Also, it doesn't at all overstay its welcome like a lot of other albums these days, with a runtime of only about 40 minutes.
Surprisingly, the most "meh" part I took away, at least from my first listen of the tracklist today, was the Kendrick Lamar feature. Which is weird, because I'm usually a Kendrick stan repeat listener, lol.
All other features are no doubt amazing, though, so I'm sure I'll grow into this one too eventually.
are you in /r/90sHipHop? it’s a fun sub for some older stuff that I’ve forgotten about. I like dot, but i don’t like most of his features. they’re either too strong for the track or seem out of...
are you in /r/90sHipHop? it’s a fun sub for some older stuff that I’ve forgotten about.
I like dot, but i don’t like most of his features. they’re either too strong for the track or seem out of place / rushed.
Definitely has that Pharell sheen all over the project. Not a problem for me since I love his production, but I do prefer the beats on Hell Hath No Fury for being a little grittier. No Malice is...
Definitely has that Pharell sheen all over the project. Not a problem for me since I love his production, but I do prefer the beats on Hell Hath No Fury for being a little grittier. No Malice is incredible.
Melon (Anthony Fantano)’s review dropped! Spoiler The record received his sixth-ish, if memory serves, 10/10. Well deserved, imo. I’ve also been listening to it some more and have to agree with...
OK, took a few days to let it breathe and gave it a second listen today. I saw so many "instant classic" takes when it first came out (I also saw quite a few "this is trash, only for old heads"...
OK, took a few days to let it breathe and gave it a second listen today. I saw so many "instant classic" takes when it first came out (I also saw quite a few "this is trash, only for old heads" opinions from Drake stans lol).
I still give it an 8 to 8.5 out of 10, but not any higher. The flow from song to song after track 7 or 8 kinda sucks... mainly because no one lets their beats play out anymore, they just cut off. Each song individually is great, but it just needed some outros or interludes to connect some of the last 4 or 5. This anti-album, pro-playlist meta for streaming-era music annoys me.
ALL the rapping on the album is top tier though. I could maybe do with maybe 50% less Pharrell on hooks and background talk but that's nitpicking.
I don't know what chances it has for album of the year, but they've gotta be shoo-in for the rollout of the year. Here they are performing The Birds Don't Sing on The Tonight Show, really touching presentation.
I took a listen once through earlier today. First impression is that it's damn good - around 8 out of 10 if I have to quantify. I did feel the beat selection felt somewhat... formulaic, if not monotonous, by the time I got to the end.
Beforehand, I was wondering what Chad Hugo's absence from the tried and true Clipse + Neptunes formula would have meant for the music, but after Push revealed that Hell Hath No Fury, an undeniable classic, was produced solely by Pharrell (which is almost true - Chad did one song), I figured everything would have been fine. But now, LGSEO sounds like it could have maybe used Chad's touch with some chords and stuff on the second half of the album. I know that there was some sample-clearance trouble with So Be It that forced them to initially upload an alternate version before replacing it with the original later in the day... so it might be possible there were other songs that had samples removed.
Still needs more listens, but I'm confident I'll like it more as I revisit.
Also, No Malice has so many quotables, it's ridiculous.
Clipse are back!
Some background on the album on its Wikipedia page.
For the uninitiated, the brothers Pusha T and (No) Malice haven't released an album together as Clipse in about 15 years (apparently, the duo formed in 1994, way ahead of their debut album!). Given the quality of their solo projects and features the past decade, and the excellent single releases ahead of time, I had quite high expectations… and wasn't disappointed whatsoever. Not only are the lyrics great and clever (no surprise), the beat selection is pristine too (also no surprise, thanks to Pharrell). I really like this album's overall sound. Also, it doesn't at all overstay its welcome like a lot of other albums these days, with a runtime of only about 40 minutes.
Surprisingly, the most "meh" part I took away, at least from my first listen of the tracklist today, was the Kendrick Lamar feature. Which is weird, because I'm usually a Kendrick
stanrepeat listener, lol.All other features are no doubt amazing, though, so I'm sure I'll grow into this one too eventually.
are you in /r/90sHipHop? it’s a fun sub for some older stuff that I’ve forgotten about.
I like dot, but i don’t like most of his features. they’re either too strong for the track or seem out of place / rushed.
Really enjoyed my first listen. I watched the NPR Tiny Desk that released today as well.
Love it
LFTL: Clipse: Tiny Desk Concert
Definitely has that Pharell sheen all over the project. Not a problem for me since I love his production, but I do prefer the beats on Hell Hath No Fury for being a little grittier. No Malice is incredible.
Melon (Anthony Fantano)’s review dropped!
Spoiler
The record received his sixth-ish, if memory serves, 10/10. Well deserved, imo.
I’ve also been listening to it some more and have to agree with his take of “no skips” on this album!
OK, took a few days to let it breathe and gave it a second listen today. I saw so many "instant classic" takes when it first came out (I also saw quite a few "this is trash, only for old heads" opinions from Drake stans lol).
I still give it an 8 to 8.5 out of 10, but not any higher. The flow from song to song after track 7 or 8 kinda sucks... mainly because no one lets their beats play out anymore, they just cut off. Each song individually is great, but it just needed some outros or interludes to connect some of the last 4 or 5. This anti-album, pro-playlist meta for streaming-era music annoys me.
ALL the rapping on the album is top tier though. I could maybe do with maybe 50% less Pharrell on hooks and background talk but that's nitpicking.
I don't know what chances it has for album of the year, but they've gotta be shoo-in for the rollout of the year. Here they are performing The Birds Don't Sing on The Tonight Show, really touching presentation.