DISCLAIMER: This is all written after first listen. This post will be a bit different, and probably longer than other posts on the blog. Links at the end.
clipping. is the experimental hip-hop trio of Daveed Diggs, best known for his Tony-winning role in "Hamilton", Jonathan Snipes of Captain Ahab, and William Hutson of Rale. They've been creating experimental, noisy hip-hop since around 2010, combining the rapid-fire flow of Diggs with sharp feedback bursts and blown-out, distorted instrumentals. They incorporate excellent samples in their music as well, from crushing glass to a truck backing up. Since their inception, they've worked to create an incredible sense of atmosphere; dark, grimy, and foreboding, their songs reek of the locations brought up.
With the huge success of "Hamilton", more and more fans have been drawn to clipping.'s output. Following their trajectory has shown a refining of their sound to a fantastic climax with "CLPPNG", an album of noisy, brainy tracks with a unique sound. The rough edges of "Midcity" were smoothed out somewhat with incorporation of less outwardly noise-driven elements. The question after this was: where to now?
The answer was "Wriggle", an EP released in June. It seemed to be a continuation of "CLPPNG", but a bit more disjointed: modern hip-hop was almost parodied on "Shooter", disgustingly grimy cut "Back Up" harkened back to their earlier sound, and "Hot Fuck No Love" is one of the dirtiest songs of the year. It seemed like clipping. had stayed true to their formula, making slight variations as opposed to large jumps forward.
With the release of "Splendor & Misery", however, the EP turns into something different: a farewell to a sound clipping. has seem to grown past. This new album is radically different: gone are recognizable samples, replaced by cold, metallic soundscapes and blaring sirens. Diggs' impressive flow and great lyricism are present, but entire songs have been turned into instrumentals or, stranger still, choral pieces reminiscent of old American folk songs or sometimes African American spirituals.
This album toes a strange line between out-and-out concept album and avant-garde art piece, telling the story of a cargo-ship in the future after an uprising of the people (slaves, human cargo) leaves all but one. This person, referred to as Cargo 2331, uses music within the ship's hull to explore human history and begins to chart his future. It's a topic that, at first glance, seems ridiculous, but in the midst of the album, 2331 is an easy character to project oneself onto: he is terrified and liberated by the darkness of the universe, he raps Kendrick Lamar's "Control" verse to himself just because he can, and even strikes up a relationship with the ship's computer.
The project casts a strange spell from the first track, the first mention of a repeated theme ("Long Way Away"), foregoing the usual lightning-speed flow of Diggs over tense silence and feedback stabs in favor of a, forgive the wording, spacey soundscape with melodies hanging in the background like a ghost. The following track sounds like a typical clipping. intro: it's impressive how readable the lyrics are, which describe the captain of the ship detailing the occurrences aboard. The song ends with the "uprising" - a swift, violent smattering of noise, over as soon as it starts. The next song, "All Black", introduces us to 2331 with a subtle, metallic instrumental that feels like a storm not quite breaking: after the violence of "The Breach", the tension created through "All Black" is palpable. Lyrically, this may be my favorite on the entire album. It has a spoken-word quality to it that contrasts the repeated mantra of "all black everything" - it's a fantastic dynamic. The following track is labelled a a freestyle, with a fast flow that fades into the distance as well. It's worth noting here that all the songs lead into each other beautifully, making the album, with its genre-hopping tendencies, feel cohesive.
"Wake Up" has a driving bass pattern that mimics modern rap music (maybe some juke influence?), with a strange sing-song-y rap style married with the rising and falling sirens of the ship. It leads directly into the strange, new style of the album - a style that is reminiscent of folk music, chanting voices under a beautiful feature soloist. From what I gather, this seems to be 2331's examination of human history through the music found on the ship - it doesn't stray from the concept, though, leading into a metallic interlude led by a female AI. The next track, "True Believer", is really fucking strange. It tells the story of a civil war type of battle, with odd chanting coming through in the chorus. It's a gorgeous song, shoving the two main types of songs on the album together in a way that feels very theatrical.
The instrumental that follows leads beautifully into "Air 'Em Out", a fantastic single from the album that somewhat confounds me in the context of the album. To be honest, I lose track of the concept in the last third of this record, but the atmosphere is so undeniable that I really don't mind. This track is dark, ambient and spacey, with massive bass hits contrasting the star-like synth stabs. It's the introduction to the "hardest" moments of the album, and the most outwardly rap-focused. The next two tracks, a crackly, textured freestyle and a harsh, quick rap cut, are difficult. They leave accessibility behind in favor of making an impressively harsh noise-hop tune.
This is followed by the strangest, most out-of-left-field moment on the entire album: "Story 5", a beautiful choral piece following a revolutionary named Grace. The "Story" series has always followed characters at a pivotal moment in their lives, while this one takes on an entire life in a haunting and somewhat disturbing manner.
The last two tracks, "Baby Don't Sleep" and "A Better Place", are totally crushing and oddly uplifting, respectively. The former is the noisiest track on the album, recalling moments on "Midcity" while furthering 2331's journey. The last track is another pairing of the two main styles, featuring synth piano chords hammering under Diggs' melody, repeated the last time here. It's also very theatrical, feeling about as much like a finale as a modern hip-hop record can.
As a note, this album is slated to come out September 16th. I'm on the fence with how I feel about leaks: if I can support the artist in some way aside from purchasing a digital copy of the music, it seems fine to me. I highly recommend supporting art and artists, and it's your decision if you want to download this or other "leak" posts.
This is an experience of an album, a weird and groundbreaking work that will turn off some and totally click with others. It requires deep listening, and I honestly can't wait to jump back into its odd, horrifying, and weirdly beautiful world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUR_ChqUJbc ("Air 'Em Out")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVIRXPG7oY ("Baby Don't Sleep")
http://tinyurl.com/zfmjl57 (MEGA)
http://tinyurl.com/hr3r6wr (FileFactory)
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