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Clipse Defend Direction Of Til The Casket Drops

Seemingly low first-week sales, and a mixed reception from critics, hasn’t deterred one-half of the Thornton brothers, Pusha T, from touting the inarguably impressive performance of his big brother Malice throughout Clipse’s new album, Til The Casket Drops.

“That was good!,” Pusha exclaimed to HipHopDX recently when Malice’s clever quip regarding the business of music and its affect on Hip Hop from TTCD selection “Showing Out” was recited back to him. “That was so fuckin’ good I was pissed! I was pissed. ‘Common loved her, I wish I never met her / They slutted her out, it’s nothing left to treasure.’ I was sick! When he said that – Yo, sometimes when we be like putting down these verses…Like I don’t hear what he does, he don’t hear what I do. He’ll go somewhere and write, I go somewhere and write. Boom, we come back, we drop it. Dog! When he said that I was so tight! And you know you can’t go back and rewrite. You can, but ya know, that ain’t fair. But I was so tight! I was pissed.”     
Echoing a similar sentiment of disdain for the game, Pusha himself shines brightly on the opening track from the twosome’s first post-Jive Records release, the appropriately-titled “Freedom” . Prior to declaring that his “critics finally have a verse of mine to jerk off to,” the younger Thornton laments that music for him has become a “self-made prison” that’s “poison to family and friendships.”   

“I’ve lost friends behind it, I’ve lost love behind it, family’s been torn behind it,” Pusha explained of his arousing verse. “The business of it isn’t always the friendliest… I just feel like that the music business puts a strain and has put a strain on relationships, a ton of relationships of mine.”    
 
Clipse’s critics are sure to be excited to learn the meaning behind Pusha’s eyebrow-raising remark on “Freedom” regarding the industry’s affect on him: “Pompous muthafucka, just look what them Jews made me.” Even with brother Malice’s previous observation on the stellar steel-pan drum driven single “Wamp Wamp (What It Do)” from the group’s critically-acclaimed sophomore outing, 2006’s Hell Hath No Fury, that his wamp wamp “cools to a tight wad, the Pyrex is Jewish,” Pusha insisted in his discussion with DX that the duo is clearly just engaging in clever wordplay and refute any suggestion that Clipse is Anti-Semitic.  

“You know what it is?,” Pusha asked rhetorically. “Everybody’s like so – It’s so funny how everybody gets so uptight about this racial stuff. Like, damn man, do you understand what just happened with us and Obama’s Fried Chicken? Did you hear about that?”

Controversy engulfed Clipse recently for choosing the location of the in-the-news restaurant in Brooklyn as the backdrop for the video to their standout new single “Popular Demand (Popeyes).”



“It’s fuckin’ crazy!,” Pusha decried of the hubbub. “And all it is - To me, Obama’s Fried Chicken was nothing racist about that, it’s just the fact that he was elected President and in celebration that chicken shack or whatever it was changed its name to that. Whoopty-fuckin’-do. But [it’s] the same thing [as the ‘Jews made me’ line]. Jewish people, I mean, like they don’t run the record industry? Like what, I can’t say that? I mean, I don’t know that a lot of…ya know, c’mon! It’s their business!”

Pusha clarified his position and added, “But it’s like yo, look what they made me. And I’m saying that I’m – It’s like pompous, like yo they have created…I’m in this industry and they’ve created me and this industry and look how arrogant I am. Like you sorta gotta take it in the whole context of the – not just that one line, you gotta sorta take the full [line] before it and the two after it. But it wasn’t a swipe at Jewish people, man. I love Jewish people.”        
 
While Pusha’s “Freedom” lines are currently courting attention, it’s Malice’s grown-man musings on Til The Casket Drops that are sure to peak the interest of listeners for years to come, maybe most notably Mal’s admission on the aforementioned “Popular Demand (Popeyes)” that the elder Thornton brother is responsible for the affect his words have on Clipse’s youngest fans: “I fathered this / If I misled any kid that’s fatherless /That burden’s on my soul as long as I exist.”

“Generation lost,” picked up Pusha after having that line from arguably the most powerful rhyme of ’09 recited back to him, “They saying they can’t teach us / The answer’s in the Lord like ‘Saturday Night Fever!’ Now, hold on, because ain’t nobody said that line [back] to me yet. How do you not mention ‘The answer’s in the Lord…’ When you see John Travolta what is he doing in that movie? He’s pointing to the sky in that suit. ‘The answer’s in the Lord like Saturday Night Fever. Tell them boys get the line, understand the line. It’s like, he’s phenomenal! Yeah he blacked out, [Malice] blacked out on that [one] too.”

But does the younger, and at times less pensive penman, share his brother’s feeling that Clipse are personally responsible for the affect of the coke raps on the young and impressionable?

“Yeah I feel like we definitely were very [influential] to the resurgence – ‘cause [there’s] always been street Hip Hop,” Pusha replied when asked. “It started in the streets. Trust me, Melle Mel, I’m not trying to take any credit or anything away from any of these guys who pioneered this, I’m just saying that we definitely started the resurgence with ‘Grindin’,’ with that type of honesty, with sitting on police cars counting money in the hood, [but]like it was a bit much. I definitely feel like I have a responsibility to, if nothing else, tell both sides of the story. And that’s it. Like, I’m not saying I can save a kid or save anybody. I don’t know what I can do. I know that you’re not just gonna hear me say, ‘I got the hoe, I got the bitch, I got the money, I got the car, I got the jewelry,’ without telling you that, ‘They took my family in ’09 / Let’s slow grind / When the time’s given we’ll unveil the goldmine.’ Like I’ma tell you, you gon’ know, I lost and I won.”     

Poignant poems from responsible reality rhymers doesn’t seem to be enough though to satisfy some observers of the Virginia duo. When asked about the mostly critical review of Til The Casket Drops that was included in the December 2009 issue of Spin magazine, Pusha was both accepting and admonishing of the critique of Clipse’s sonic makeover.   

“I mean, I think so,” he said in agreement with writer Thomas Golianopoulos’ overall impression of TTCD as being a decidedly more commercially-accessible effort. “I think the record has that, but you gotta remember though, who is this Spin guy, number one? And number two, this is the same guy…and the people who think like that, they don’t wanna hear us do nothing! They want a album of twelve ‘Keys Open Doors.’ That’s what they want from [us]! I can’t do that every time. So I’m sorry. I’m sorry Spin magazine.”

“And if I could do that again,” he added, “I would probably really be in jail. That’s the difference between me and the rapper that they love. Because the truth of the matter is, our shit be a little bit realer than everybody else’s. So they might wanna be happy that I am in a different space. ‘Cause it take us – Dog, we listened to Hell Hath No Fury, me and my boys listened to it, and they say things to me that I’m not gonna say in this interview, but they say things like, ‘Yo, you know I forgot you really rapped back then.’ [Laughs] They tell me they forgot I was rapping! That’s how different – That’s the difference between – Can’t no Spin man tell me nothin’.”        

The “startling” shift in direction from Clipse’s stoic sophomore full-length and its off-kilter soundscapes that’s referred to in the Spin review was punctuated by the summation that “Breezier doesn’t always equal better.”

One observation Pusha doesn’t dispute in Mr. Golianopoulous’ review of Clipse’s new album is that, “Throughout, older brother gets the best of his carefree little sibling.”
 
“I can go for that!,” Pusha jubilantly conceded. “Fuck it! Listen man – You know what it is? That’s always a running competition. There’s always a [debate like], ‘Oh shit, Pusha’s better than Malice, Malice is better than Pusha.’ There’s always a fuckin’ – One guy listens to it and he hears A, another guy listens to it and he hears B. I personally feel like Malice came so fuckin’ correct on the album, but I think the album was – this is his album. This album was like this redemption, this fuckin’ – Ah, you know how he just gets deep on you sometimes? And he just gives you this like perspective? And then he’s so wicked with it that he’ll tell you how he sends mixed messages while talking about something else. Like, he’s wicked with it. But I think, ya know, hey man, I appreciate [the accolades he’s receiving]. Ain’t nothing like losing to your brother. I can lose to him anytime.”    

Til The Casket Drops is available now in stores and online from Columbia Records. 

Purchase Til the Casket Drops by Clipse

Raekwon And 9th Wonder Speak On CNN�s War Report

The Hip Hop duo that is Capone N’ Noreaga (CNN) recently filmed themselves preparing for an upcoming show with Raekwon: playing arcade golf, recording in a hotel studio, and more. On top of that the duo also caught up with Raekwon and producer 9th Wonder before their show in North Carolina.

Both 9th Wonder and Raekwon gave their thoughts on the upcoming follow-up to CNN’s War Report album.

“Much respect to ya’ll man,” said 9th Wonder. “From War Report to NORE’s solo album to one of my favorite Capone N’ Noreaga joints ‘The Invincible’ that Premo did.”

“Yo put it like this. All I’mma say is get ready for another classic. You know what I’m saying. Niggas is really on they shit 3,000 percent…Niggas is on they grind hard body,” Raekwon added.  

The follow-up to War Report, which was released in 1997, is expected to be released some time in 2010.




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Raheem DeVaughn Talks State Of Hip Hop, New Double LP

Raheem DeVaughn is one of Hip Hop's go-to feature singers. Like his Jive Records label-mate Anthony Hamilton, Radio Raheem has ascended from the ranks of underground emcee appearances to major singles and Grammy Award nominations and BET Award wins.

Speaking with HipHopDX earlier this month, DeVaughn recalled his early beginnings from some forgotten faces of the Rap underground through to his most recent major label work. "Probably, My first one was the joint I did with Asheru [& Blue Black] featuring Talib Kweli called 'Mood Swings.' Then me and [Jazzy] Jeff connected. Actually, we got connected through Kev Brown, and it pretty much travelled from there. I worked with De La Soul, I'm on both of the last UGK albums , I'm on Talib Kweli's [Eardrum], the Ghostface [Killah's Ghostdini album], just whole bunch of little projects."



Like many in the Hip Hop community, and perhaps many readers of this site, Raheem also asserts that quality is often lost in the genre. "I just enjoy making great music. I love Hip Hop, I love what Hip Hop used to be about. I feel like it changed tremendously, drastically. I got my own opinions on that, but I feel where I can get in and preserve it and work with some cats that I think are talented and respect my talent and give them a record that something you can hear indefinitely." He added that Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 is his favorite Rap release of 2009. He went into detail, "[Raekwon] put out a real Hip Hop [album], but it doesn't feel dated either. He put it out the album and it felt like when the Wu was out, feel like the way a Wu-Tang album should sound like. That was probably the hardest joint, no compromising. You can tell he did specifically what he wanted to do. I don't want to let the cat out the bag yet, but you can definitely expect some Raheem DeVaughn/Raekwon collabos in the near future."

With that opinion in tact, Raheem is bringing some talent in the game, via his 368 Music Group. His first artist, Phil Ade, both raps and sings. "He's 21 years old. He's really dope, really creative. So [I've] just been developing him and being be a mentor at the same time, it's coming along rather nicely. If you want to check his new mixtape and project it's been out for a couple months now, It's called Starting On JV you can download it at 368MusicGroup.com." DeVaughn says that some of his own promotional work is only available on the site for free download.

Another trend in the 2009 has been the burgeoning DMV movement. Through success from Wale and Mario, the DC-Maryland-Virginia area witnessed a lot of national success. A pioneer in that awareness, Raheem commented, "I always [have] been looked at as kind of the spearhead of the movement, as far as the underground is concerned, because of my background being as the artist that had his own mixtapes and independent albums. I used to put them together myself and package them," he recalled. "I was able to give advice to Wale before he started, I was able to give to Tabi Bonney, [and] more importantly, just to lead by example. I think definitely being nominated for the Grammy's the last two years in particular definitely brought attention to the area. Also, I think it's that time, every area has their time and as far as the DMV is concerned now is definitely the time whether it's independent or a major release, music is music."

2010 promises to further that pioneering movement on DeVaughn's part. He has a double disc called The Love & War Masterpeace coming on 368 Music Group/Jive Records. Like previous releases in the '90s, the discs are themed separately. "[ It's] half socially conscious, half love," Raheem told DX. "I have a lot of collabos not that I feel like I needed, these are artist I always wanted to work with so I had the opportunity to do that. [Ludacris] is on the album, Wale is on the album, my new artist Phil Aid is on the album, Bun B is on the album, Damian Marley in on the album."

A few months after the epic Rap collaboraton "Forever" with Eminem, Lil Wayne, Drake and Kanye West, Raheem DeVaughn has assembled a single cut that's a super-collaboration of his peers. "I have one song in the particular that features Anthony Hamilton, Dwele, Citizen Cope, Chrisette Michele, Bilal, there are a couple other people, it's called 'Nobody Wins The War' it's for the soldiers. What's so ironic about it is that the song has been written and recorded over a year and a half and with the address [President] Obama just made to the state, it's right on time. If you're a artist and you really pay attention to what's going on, it's not rocket science to put something out with some substance and talk about things that are unfolding right before our eyes."

Purchase Music by Raheem DeVaughn

Fans Get Advanced Copy of Lil Wayn'e Rebirth

After a shipping error on Amazon, it was found that 500 Lil Wayne fans received his highly anticipated album Rebirth two months before it was actually supposed to be shipped.

The album, which has been one of the most anticipated releases since it was announced, was meant to be released in early February. Some of the fans who pre-ordered the album were able to get their copy early. Amazon sent those copies out on its previous release date, which was December 15.

 As a result, Rebirth has been posted on various websites for bootlegging purposes. Wayne has not made a comment about this incident as of yet.

Lil Wayne has also been working with Young Money to release new music including "Fuck da Bullshit ," and "Pass That Dutch ," as well as his highly anticipated collab with Eminem, "Drop the World ."

He is also readying a tour with his Young Money crew in suspport of We Are Young Money, their compilation which will be released December 21.

12/17 - Hidalgo, TX @ Dodge Arena
12/18 - Laredo, TX @ Laredo Entertainment Center
12/20 - Corpus Christi, TX @ American Bank Center
12/26 - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
12/28 - New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
12/31 - San Diego, CA @ San Diego Arena
1/1 - El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Arena
1/2 - Tucson, AZ @ Tucson Convention Center
1/5 - Beaumont, TX @ Ford Park Arena
1/6 - Austin, TX @ Travis County Expo
1/7 - Allen, TX @ Allen Events Center
1/8 - Lafayette, LA @ Cajun Dome
1/9 - Little Rock, AR @ Alltell Arena
1/10 - Southaven, MS @ Desoto Civic Center

Below, you can view "Bedrock," a Young Money track featuring Lloyd.

Ruste Juxx & Marco Polo Team For New Album

Duck Down Record’s Ruste Juxx and producer Marco Polo have come together as a duo to unleash Exxecution. The album is tentatively scheduled to be released on March 23, 2010, with features from, Buckshot, Sean Price and DJ Revolution.

Describing their first studio encounter as a success, Polo explained, “The joints came out so crazy that we said, 'let's turn this into a full-length album.' Working with Duck Down all these years it was only a matter of time before Juxx and I got to a specific project. The best part is the work happened organically. Nothing was forced. Ruste came through, heard beats, wrote, recorded...done deal.”

Ruste Juxx added, “I'm killing off wack emcees and Marco's murdering the producers. I couldn't help but to write some killer shit to the beats Marco made. If I wrote something wack to his production, then it's a wasted beat. I can't have that!"

This will be Marco Polo’s second collaborative effort in as many years, as he released Double Barrel alongside Coney Island emcee Torae this past June.

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