THE CLIPSE - Hell Hath No Fury | Review By: Conan Milne


Release Date : November 28 2006

Label : Re-Up/Star Trak

Rating: 4/5

Dub Quotable: Their sophomore, Hell Hath No Fury, provides a more revealing expose, although like true hustlers Malice and Pusha seem to be keeping certain gristly truths close to their chest.

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Clipse’s story is well documented. Rather, the surface of it is. The base of the story tells of two rags-to-riches Virginia brothers; drug dealers done good. What isn’t as clear is the mentality of these men. Their previous, cocaine heavy album didn’t explain why the brothers Thornton were willing to partake in the risky business of crack peddling. Their sophomore, Hell Hath No Fury, provides a more revealing expose, although like true hustlers Malice and Pusha seem to be keeping certain gristly truths close to their chest.

On second single “Wamp Wamp,” the nasally voiced duo aren’t concerned with the past. Instead, they’re more focused on the luxuries that their celebrity has afforded them. “Mirror, mirror, who’s the fairest,” smirks Malice over The Neptunes conga driven drums. Pusha is just as materialistic: “Look mama, I be fly papa/strictly Bathing Ape, Ice Cream and BBC rocker,” he boasts. Things run smoothly until intrigued queries of which business the two are (or were) in arise. Pusha then abruptly snaps, “Don’t ask what I sell.” While “Wamp Wamp” is enjoyable, it remains the sonic equivalent of attending a party without really knowing what’s the occasion.

Lavishness pertains on the sleazy, synthesizer heavy “Trill.” Over the repeated, perverse chorus of “bitch, I’m trill,” Mal and Push are confronted with adorning females. “It’s me, ma, you ain’t dreaming/Starstruck – bitch damn near stopped breathing,” is a typical example of the pair’s arrogance. With money, hoes, and clothes all in steady supply, tracks like “Trill” portray Clipse as perfectly content with their position in the industry. They make ‘Mr. Me Too’s’ out to be the extent of their worries. Furthermore, they make the title Hell Hath No Fury somewhat ironic. There is more to the story than this.

It’s only on the subdued “Hello New World,” that we are really led beyond the glitzy front, to the seedier underbelly of the brothers environment. Pharrell almost steals the show with his melancholy chorus, but it’s the rare home truths that really stand out here. “The judge is handing out ‘life’ like it ain’t somebody’s life,” Malice hauntingly notes. In these brief four minutes, the consequences of Clipse’s onetime trade, and why they were willing to chance them in the hopes of grasping a better future, are comprehended.

“Hello New World” showcases only a small part of Clipse’s former reality. Sadly, the majority of this thrilling album suggests that the two men may be too guarded to reveal all. Perhaps the shadowed history that we take voyeuristic interest in has given way to their current, seemingly satisfied state of mind. After all, why trip off of the past’s troubled moments when the present is so fruitful? The Clipse’s story is well documented. Still, there’s more that we want them to say.










 

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