Friday, December 01, 2006

Reintroduction to Hip Hop: Clipse

I haven't fully listened to a hip hop album in years. Simply put, I gave up on it. After Jay Z's Black Album, not one album appealed to me. My frame of reference is always going to be early Tribe Called Quest, B.I.G. and Wu Tang - including some amazing debut solo - releases. I even skipped over Ghostface's critically acclaimed Fishscale, although I think I may be ready to check it out. Well, I couldn't ignore the reviews of Clipse's new album Hell Hath No Fury. Adding to my reason of intrigue is an album fully produced by the Neptunes (who are behind countless Pop and Hip Hop hits across the years) and these boys are from my home state, VA. I'll always plead old school (because I'm getting kind of old) so I'm not sure I would deem this an instant classic but I have to say this is pretty damn good. The thing that impresses me most is the length of the album and the lack of "skits." Absent are all of the shitty intros, outros and skits that often water down a quality hip hop album. This is an album without any filler, just 12 quality tracks that you can listen to all the way through - the way a great album should be. I will always be a rock guy at heart but this one may be worth a look.

MP3: Clipse - "We Got It For Cheap"
MP3: Clipse - "Hello New World"
Buy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

some great and overlooked recent hip hop albums

People Under the Stairs- O.S.T.
Panacea- Ink Is My Drink
Spankrock-yoyoyoyo
Madvillain- Madvillainy
Dangerdoom - Mouse and the Mask
Madlib - Shades of Blue (if u like jazz)

merry listening

JK said...

Cool, thanks. I'm definitely familiar with a few of these but I'll check it out.