Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury

Anticipation. If this albums comes down to anything, it’s gotta be anticipation. First, the Virginia duo ride an album of Neptunes beats to double platinum success. Flippin some of the best coke rap in years over some truly avant-garde production, Clipse are the most unlikely group to taste success in 2003. Next up is three years of delays. Then two of the best mixtapes in the past 18 months build the anticipation even further. In between albums, the fan base grows from hip hop fans to the trendy fashionista crowd, and Clipse become the hottest hip hop group the average person can’t really remember. Finally a revered XXL rating ices the cake, and we have an album that could never be as good as promised.

So there you go, I’ve blown the ending of the review for you before we even got started. It doesn’t really matter how good this album is, it was never gonna be as good as what people were expecting.

Hell Hath No Fury is a sick album. For me, it sits as one of the top three albums of the year, with TI’s King and Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead. I can’t help but think it might sit unquestioned at number one if I weren’t expecting more.

We Got It For Cheap sets it off, serving as the traditional album intro; a low-key but uptempo beat allowing Clipse to invite you into the album. Mama I’m So Sorry follows, with straight chopped up organ stabs serving as the mirror and Pusha & Malice’s lyrics as the pure caine. Following this are two singles, Mr Me Too and Wamp Wamp and we’re off to a good start.

The album generally floats on a similar vibe, which on one hand gives us a solid cohesiveness throughout the album, on the other hand however, Hell Hath No Fury can feel a little devoid of genuine excitement. The down tempo tracks aren’t exactly snoozers, but Wamp Wamp, Dirty Money and Chinese New Year are the only tracks you could really hurt someone to.

The subtle production of New World is inspired work from the Neptunes, and coupled with Keys Open Doors, creates the real highlight of the album. The vibe of Hell Hath No Fury is entirely unique and complements perfectly the cold, detached demeanor of Pusha & Malice. The production really peaks on these two tracks.

There is nary a weak link on the album. Personally I can’t take Trill, it feels disruptive in the scheme of the album. Otherwise I don’t have a reason to skip anything. If there’s anything that could be changed about the album, a genuine banger (dare I say, in the vein of Grindin’) would really round things out nicely.

Written by Steve