Clipse Announce Reunion Album, First Album For The Hip-Hop Duo In 15 Years
Pusha T and No Malice recently announced plans to reunite as Clipse and release a reunion album produced entirely by Pharell Williams. We discuss it here!
CLIPSE at the 2002 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.
Credit: Featureflash Photo Agency via Shutterstock
By: Joshua Martin
Pusha T and No Malice recently announced plans to reunite as Clipse and release a reunion album produced entirely by Pharell Williams. The Virginia Beach based duo broke the news of the forthcoming album during an interview where Pusha T explained fans will definitely notice their growth as artists and the differences in their sound compared to others.
“I think this is where you get the difference between taste and filler. This music is curated. This is a high taste-level piece of work. You can only have that level of taste when you have the fundamentals down to a science. I think it’s been definitely missing. Then there’s the competitive aspect.” - Pusha T, Vulture Magazine
Veteran lyricist No Malice went on to add how this project reverts back to their roots, comparing their creative approach to a game of basketball.
“This is smart basketball. It’s fundamentals. And not only that, it’s authenticity. It’s what rap should look like if you’re real about your craft, real about your experience, real about your storytelling. It’s bringing the fans along to see the growth, not trying to fit in or fabricate.” - No Malice, Vulture Magazine
News of the Clipse’s looming album follows the release of their latest single, “Birds Don’t Sing” featuring John Legend which premiered during Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer Fashion Show in Paris this month. Their last studio album was 2009’s “Til the Casket Drops” which included several tracks featuring Pharell Williams.
The upcoming album is currently untitled but you can check out their Louis V performance below:
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A Look Into Hip Hop's Most Anticipated Artists And Projects In 2021
2021 is gearing up to be another dope year for Hip Hop releases. We take a look at some of Hip Hop’s most anticipated artists and projects for 2021!
By: James Teague
As we’re gearing up for an amazing new year (and yes it’s still going to be a great year regardless of everything covid-19 related), more new music is on the horizon for this new year to continue serving as our life soundtrack for the year. Even though there were some great gems that dropped last year, music 2020 was said to not really have a lot of impact due to the world getting altered because of COVID-19.
With everything going on whether it was with COVID, the presidential election, or the protests/riots that were all going on in America, I found lots of music lovers were not necessarily keeping up with all the latest new music that released each and every week. Hence why some of the albums released that I thought were going to do well actually didn't due to COVID-19. Luckily this year is a fresh start and we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel with this entire living situation. Here are some of my most anticipated artists that I'm looking forward to releasing new music this year.
TDE
The current Best Rap Label Top Dawg Entertainment has had a very quiet 2020 for the most part but it appears since SZA dropped her singles, the label is getting up for another busy year. It wouldn't feel right for me if i did each artist alone so i decided to do the entire roster in its entirety in this section.
KENDRICK LAMAR - Between the numerous rumors surrounding his upcoming album, him moving in silence for the entire year and only popping out to the public on several occasions, there is no telling of what's going to happen with this next Kendrick album. What we can all say is that a lot has gone on since his last album DAMN, which was released in 2017, and everybody is wondering what he has to say for this next go round. This is one of the reasons why I'm going to always be excited for a new Kendrick release.
SZA - Just like Kendrick, SZA has also been under radar since her debut album CTRL and pops out seldomly. Her two brand new singles “Hit Different” and “Good Day” have me ready and anxious for SZA’s upcoming album. The people have been very very anxious for SZA to release new music and were to the point of frustration where they were taking things out on Punch through Twitter. Between that and watching SZA through her social media living and experiencing life, I expect the new album to be as amazing as her debut.
JAY ROCK - The OG member of the label Jay Rock has been quietly working since his last album Redemption dropped in Summer of 2018. Since the pandemic, he’s grown his hair out and looks like he’s been in the zone with making music and living life. I'm interested in hearing what he has to say this time around whenever it's time to release his new album.
SCHOOLBOY Q - Coming off his last album Crash Talk, Schoolboy Q has always been staying busy on the feature tip. It’s either the features or social media whenever we see him, whether it's playing the daddy role with his daughter or if he’s out playing golf. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Crash Talk as an album from front to back, I can also understand why some of the fans felt like they were let down by this album. Q has said sometime after the album dropped that he was already back to work on his next album. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, I'm hearing that Groovy Q is back on his Blankface/Habits and Contradictions vibes for the next album.
ISAIAH RASHAD - I don't have a clue as to why Zaywop is taking forever with releasing his album but he is the only member on TDE right next to Ab Soul who hasn't released a brand new album since 2016 with The Sun’s Tirade. He’s been previewing brand new music here & there on his instagram live. Whether he drops an album this year or not, I'm looking forward to hearing from Zaywop musically soon. He has been away for far too long.
DRAKE
The anticipation for his new album Certified Lover Boy is at an all time high right now. Since last year between all of the Drake leaks and his last project Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Drake has really been in his bag on the music tip. It felt like since his last interview with Elliot Wilson on rap radar, it feels like he’s been more focused than ever making sure the new album is quality material. All of the leaks and his last project have shown me that we haven't seen anything yet for Certified Lover Boy. It’s supposed to be coming out sometime this month but we shall see and find out.
PARTYNEXTDOOR
It felt good hearing back from Party after releasing his album PartyMobile, after being on a hiatus from releasing new music. Now that we’ve had time to properly digest the new album, I think it’s time for Party to work on a brand new album and the reason that I say that is because since he was away for so long prior to Partymobile, it feels more appropriate that new music should start dropping.
G-HERBO
I've always been a fan of G-Herbo’s music since the beginning of his career back when he was calling himself Lil Herb. But ever since hearing his new song “Statement”, it’s become my 2021 song for the year. It makes no sense how many times I’ve had this song on repeat. Between the Dipset “I Really Mean It” sample and Herbo rapping forreal, the aura of that entire song sounds so refreshing and focused. I'm looking forward to 25 The Album , the title of his upcoming album. I don't know what's going to happen this coming album, but if he has more song quality sounding like “Statement”, then I'm very excited for this brand new album coming.
K-CAMP
After releasing Kiss 5, one of the better albums of 2020, K Camp made it clear that in 2021 he was coming for the number one spot. Every year, K Camp drops a new project and every year he always has a hit record kept in the tuck. I expect this year to be no different.
RODDY RICCH
I'm very interested to see where Roddy Ricch is going to go with his Sophomore Album. Coming off having such an incredible year in 2020 with his debut album, Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social, Roddy has kept himself busy with doing his features while also staying out of the way during this global pandemic. Roddy said earlier that he was in no rush to put out a brand new album and that he likes to take his time with creating his next album. He was able to win a lot of people over with the music that he was making but I'm interested to see what level is going to be able to take when it comes to the sophomore. He strikes me as a young man who is about his business and wants to make sure that he shows up each day as his best self. I'm looking forward to seeing what lemons that life will give to Roddy in order for him to tell his story on the album.
FUTURE
Instagram pictures surfaced of DJ Esco , Metro Boomin, and 808 Mafia all being back in the studio working together which prompted the rumors of Monster 2 possibly being in the works. Now as far as I know, I cannot say if that’s really going to be true. However, I did see that Future deleted all the pictures off of his Instagram page and whenever you see an artist do something of that magnitude, then that means get in formation because it looks like there’s going to be a new album due to us at any given day/moment.
YOUNG THUG
Even though Thugger is always active on featured guest tracks abd collaboration projects, it almost feels like forever since we've heard a solo album from him. So Much Fun exceeded my expectations and has been in my album rotation for a while still to this very day. It appears Thugger is getting ready for Slime Language 2 with the lead single Take it to Trial Featuring Gunna and Yak Gotti. This looks like this going to be a Young thug and friends album but i'm glad to hear that Thug will be releasing brand new music this year.
LIL BABY
Cheers to another rapper who had the best 2020 yet in regards to hip-hop music. Lil Baby has done enough hits, songs, features, all for the year to help him get to where he's supposed to be. Having said that, for some reason it feels like some people are still not giving Baby the respect he truly deserves. From the awards show not properly nominating him as one of the better artists whether the nomination is for the album or him as an artist. He’s already closed off on the features and is back in the lab cooking up brand new music from what i'm hearing. Even with all of the success coming to him, Lil Baby is still hungry to show and prove to the real ones that he’s here to stay.
NIPSEY HUSSLE
Word has got out through J Stone, one of Nipsey’s close friends and collaborators, confirmed that there will be a brand new Nipsey Hussle album that’s going to be released soon. J Stone had revealed on the The Bootleg Kev podcast that there’s so many verses Nip has done where he thought that he's heard everything. For me personally, as long as Nipsey’s team is involved in the process of making this album, then I'm all for this release. It was messed up knowing that he was in work already with his next album and the collaboration project with Meek only for him to pass away unexpectedly.
PUSHA-T
Daytona came out back in 2018 and yet it feels like it's been out for almost half a decade. There’s been rumors of a Pusha/Madlib project for a while now that haven't been confirmed yet. However in another interview, Pusha had confirmed his upcoming album so far is produced by Pharrell and Kanye West. He also said that it should be almost done very soon. We’ve only heard about Pusha’s music ever so often lately. The last time we heard from Pusha was about his drake diss verse on Pop Smoke’s Posthumous deluxe album, Shoot for the Star, Aim for the Moon. I'm already expecting the music to be very superior but I'm just ready for a brand new album coming very soon.
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10 Rap Albums You Should Have On Your Radar For 2019
2018 was a good year for hip hop with some dope projects being released. With the New Year, here are 10 rap albums you should have on your radar for 2019!
By: James Teague
Not only does the New Year bring fresh new clean slate in our lives but it also brings us new potential musical classics. 2018 was really a doozy with the music releases. It was to the point where some people were debating whether or not there was too much music being released. Though it has been the new year for some time, we’re still anticipating the new musical releases that are coming. Everybody is gearing up for artists that are releasing new music this year. Here’s a list of my top 10 anticipated artist whose projects that I’m looking forward to for the new year.
1. Schoolboy Q - TBD
At the height of Top Dawg’s evolution, it never surprises me when they set the tone each year when it’s album time for the roster. Schoolboy Q is one of the top anticipated releases within the squad that i’m looking forward to. We last heard from Groovy Q back in 2016 on his Sophomore album, Blankface LP. He’s been spotted killing features here & there. It’s been reported that Q was close to finishing his album but he pushed the album release back due to the sudden death of his good friend/comrade Mac Miller. According to Q, when he spoke about this at a concert, he said he wasn’t ready to release it because of having to do interviews and being asked to speak on Mac’s Death. It appears that Q got his mind right and is ready to go with the new release. Im so excited to hear what’s to come this time around from Groovy Q.
2. Isaiah Rashad - TBD
Outside of Q, another member of the Top Dawg family, Isaiah Rashad, is gearing up for their new album release as well. Isaiah has actually been real quiet since the release of his sophomore album The Sun’s Tirade. While we already know how Kendrick, Jay Rock, & SZA can roll on album releases, i’m real interested to see and hear which direction is Zay going with his music releases.
3. Dreamville - Revenge of the Dreamers 3
Following the Revenge of the Dreamers 3 sessions all throughout 2019 so far has been one of the best moments in hip-hop even in the early stages of the new year. Watching the sessions from the outside in via social media is like being a kid walking into a candy store. It also felt like it was an exclusive invite only fan club as each and everyday, rappers, artists, Musicians, & certain media members were invited to the sessions. Everything on IG from the Invites to the pictures/ video snippets, Seeing theses sessions unfold right before our eyes through Dreamville in an organic way will be amazing. Nothing’s for certain on whats going to come from these sessions but all of the music released, whether it makes the compilation album, someone else’s album, or serves as a single loosie, seeing that the ROTD 3 session playing a role into bringing this moment for life and I believed this topic was here for years.
4. J. Cole - The Fall Off
There was already an announcement of Cole’s next album “The Fall Off” during this KOD run. The last thing that we’ve heard on the status of the album was that he was “Working on it” according to a Tweet made. If you have been under a rock lately, it appears that Cole was re-inspired and has been in the studio more often working with his peers and exploring different producers. Seeing Cole expand himself to different artists and producers is cool and i’m anxious to see if this is going to play a part in creating his next album.
5. Future - Future Hndrxx Presents: The WIZRD
Even though initially Future dropped 4 projects last year ( curated Superbly Soundtrack, DJ Esco Presents Kolor Blind, Beast Mode 2 & Wrld on Drgs tape with Juice Wrld), it still really felt slick light year musically. It felt as though we didnt necessarily see or feel his presence like that (unless you were glued to his IG) At the top of the new year that, he announced his next album The WZRD is scheduled for release on 1/18 and it’s included a documentary accompanied by the album which was released on 1/11. The tracklist dropped today and what i’ve gathered was that this album be a mix of FUTURE & HNDRXX, his last two major albums released in 2017.
6. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
One of the better underrated rappers in the game, Freddie Gibbs has blessed the listeners with two projects this past year; Freddie and his collaboration with Curren$y called Fetti from his collaborating has been still riding the wave of his project released last year with Kenny Beatz titled, Freddie. It’s been announced already about the release of Bandana with Madlib. Freddie has been dropping heat all 2018 and so I expect it to be the same coming from him this year.
7. 21 Savage & Young Nudy - 4L Gang The Album
Both 21 Savage & Young Nudy were making their rounds this past year when they respectively dropped their solo projects, (Slime Ball 3 from Nudy & I Was > I Am from 21) for the streets to hear. Both projects ended up being amazing and helps continue to solidify both of their positions in the Atlanta rap world. It was announced at the end of the year that 21 & Nudy were planning to a collaborative project and have dropped a single out titled “Since When.” At the Beginning of the new year, a poll was made on twitter asking to help 21 decide which projects to start on between Savage Mode 2, Without Warning 2, a New Album, or the 4L Gang album. Safe to say it was officially decided the 21/Nudy album was going to be priority for the new year.
8. Rick Ross - Port of Miami 2
Rozay has been teasing us about Port of Miami 2 through his tweets, from telling Just Blaze happy birthday and thanking the Justice League. Rather You Than Me was one of the top albums to be released in 2017, one of my personal favorite recent Rozay albums. I’m interested to see where the sound is going this time with Port of Miami 2.
9. Chance The Rapper - TBD (Chance’s Solo, Chance/Kanye Good Ass Job & Chance/Childish Gambino)
Aside from the features and some loosies given to us, that time we received a full blown project from Chicago’s friendly neighborhood rapper Chance the Rapper was back in 2016 with Coloring Book. It’s already expected that he has a few projects that are on the way; including his own Solo album and two collaborative albums; one with him & Childish Gambino and the other with Kanye for GOOD Ass Job. He’s been real tight-lipped about the new album but stay tuned.
10. Pusha-T - TBD
I don’t have a lot of details on this album but through the grapevine, i’ve heard that Pusha T would be releasing an album this year. There’s not a lot of information regarding this but at this point, anything is possible with The President of GOOD Music.
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“There’s no rules in this.” - Just How Deep Is This Pusha T and Drake Beef Going?
The beef between Drake and Pusha T has everything from pillow talking to fake friends, but just how deep is it going? There’s lessons to be learned from this.
“Stay away from beef at all costs.”
By: Omar Cook
It’s the middle of October and this beef between Drake and Pusha T is STILL dragging out from the summer. I mean, it was pretty quiet for a minute, and all seemed well…until we heard the interview between Drake and Lebron on Lebron’s newest HBO show The Shop. In the interview, Drake discussed how he felt betrayed by Kanye West by blaming him for leaking the info on his child to Pusha T. He also discussed Pusha T’s role in the beef by saying he went too far by speaking on his friend, Noah "40" Shebib’s condition of multiple sclerosis.
“Rap purists and people who just love confrontation, they love to say, ‘Aye there’s no rules in this shit.’ But there are fucking rules in this shit. I knew something was gonna come up about my kid. They had to add the deadbeat thing to make it more appealing, which is fine. I understand that. Even that, I was like, OK. The mom and dad thing, whatever. You don’t even know my family. But I’mma tell you, wishing death on my friend that has MS… I study rap battles for a living. Now when you mention defenseless people who are sick in the hospital, that passed away, that really sent me to a place where I just believed then, and believe now, that there’s just a price that you have to pay for that.”
So of course upon hearing this interview, most of are thinking, damn Kanye, why you do Drake like that? And of course Kanye is the easy target because he’s a head case. So in hearing this interview, you would almost expect nothing less than a response from Pusha T himself. and that’s what we got. Pusha T revealed who the TRUE source of his information was in an interview on Joe Budden's podcast, and it wasn’t from who we expected.
"The information came from 40," the G.O.O.D. Music president said in reference to Drake implying that Kanye West was the source. "It didn’t come from Kanye, at all. 40 is sleeping with a woman, who begins to...he talks to her daily. Five, six hours a day...And ultimately speaks about how he's disgruntled about certain things, notoriety and things involving Drake and his career, and so on and so forth. With that also came the fact that Drake has a child. With that also came the trip that everybody took to go see the child, and bring him gifts, and all this information. She divulged this information. That's where it came from."
That’s right. Pusha T revealed that the information came from Drake’s friend,40, who was pillow talking about Drake’s situation to a woman he was sleeping with. This situation makes the lyrics to Drake’s song Light It Up even more relevant today, and just a little bit creepy as Drake and Jay-Z both spoke about a possible situation like this happening in that song. “And if you pillow talking with the women that are screwin' you/ Just know that she gon' tell another nigga when she through wit you” Drake said on the song. Drake, here is how they gon' come at you/ With silly raps for you tryin' to distract you/ In disguise, in the form of a favor/ The Barzini me, watch for the traitors” Jay Z said. That was 9 years ago and this shit really just played out. Crazy.
Pusha went on to also say "Only reason I'm here now, for real for real, is because [Drake] was so passionate about the MS thing," he said. "And they did the backlight and they put the spotlight on his face, 'When you said my friend,' but your friend is the reason why. That's how it came about. That narrative's gotta die. Listen, it needs to die. It's done. That narrative is done." I think it’s safe to say we solved the mystery of where the information came from.
In response to Drake talking about there being rules to rap beef, rapper Styles P chimed in on the issue in a recent interview with Hot 97 saying “You can’t expect in any type of warfare, any type, not just rap, ain’t no rules,” Styles P said. “You gotta go into it knowing anything could happen. That’s why your best bet is to not engage. Stay away from beef at all costs.”
Styles also said, “I don’t got nothing against Drake, but how does a guy say what’s the rules in a rap battle that had a ghostwriter before. That’s not fair dog. You gotta stay up there. You’re beautiful up there. We love you up there. But don’t come down here and change the rules. That’s wrong because it’s war.”
Truth is, when it comes to hip hop, Styles P is right, ain’t no rules to a rap beef and we’ve seen this throughout history with some of hip hop’s most notorious rap beefs. Pusha T baited Drake into a beef and Drake took the bait and didn’t have enough gas to finish the race. Bottomline. If he never wanted to worry about rap beef '“rules”, he should have never took the bait and responded. Not only that, but he engaged in the beef and threw in the white towel! Then claimed he had this career ending response that he cooked up but didn’t want to release it because it would “hurt too many people.”
I’m really not sure what else we’re going to hear from this situation but it’s starting to look like an old episode of Ricky Lake. The drama is finding it’s way to the light. We don’t expect Drake to be a battle rapper, we know that’s not your lane. But there’s lessons to be learned here. Lesson 1, is never engage in something that you know you can’t finish, especially if you have to stoop down to someone’s level to be involved in it. Lesson 2, is watch who your friends are and what you tell them because you never know what they’re saying behind your back.
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Drake and Meek Mill Squashing Their Beef Is What Hip Hop Needed
Drake and Meek Mill hit the stage together in Boston to squash a longtime beef! We discuss it here!
“We need more peace in the world, we need more love in the world. Meek Mill that’s my brother, that’s my nigga from day one”
By: Omar Cook
Faith Evans and Mary J. Blige fought at Diddy's house in the Hamptons. Cardi B and Nicki Minaj got physical during fashion week. Mac Miller was found dead in his home. In what has been a week full of unforeseen storylines in the hip hop world, add this one to the list. Drake and Meek Mill just ended their beef. Wild.
Drake and Meek Mill Squash Beef In Boston
Drake hit the stage in Boston for a stop on his Aubrey and the Three Migos tour Saturday night, and in the plot twists of all plot twists, Drake brought out Meek Mill to perform Dreams and Nightmares. "We need more peace in the world, we need more love in the world. Meek Mill that's my brother, that's my nigga from day one" Drake said on stage. This what hip hop needed!
Drake and Meek have been beefing since 2015 when Meek accused Drake of having ghostwriters to write his songs. Meek also had an issue with Drake not shouting out Meek’s Dreams Worth More Than Money album, Since then, the beef has been fueled with a bevy of diss tracks.
A surprising as this is, it's only fitting that this beef has come to end because Meek has been filled with a new energy since his release from prison. The rapper has been on a mission to fight for criminal justice reform since his release and holding onto a petty rap beef would just be a distraction to the cause. Drake really doesn't need anymore beef as he already went at it with Pusha T to kick off the summer.
Will this mean we will see some music between the two artists in the future? Time will tell, but or now we can just enjoy the black unity.