With the long-delayed Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse have done what music lovers hoped they might: release a classic. With musical partners the Neptunes, Clipse have crafted 12 great songs of desperation and distribution, glamour and gloating. These are probably the best dozen Neptunes tracks in years. Together, the quartet has created an album that's deep, dark, and one of 2006's finest.
In their 2005 release, We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2, Malice and Pusha T were cold-blooded, joyous, and morally complex all at once. In this latest album, the two men are brilliant at nearly every turn. The younger Thornton brother, Pusha, remains brazen about minor details like his sunglasses, while injecting a great intensity to his verses. His elder brother, Malice, leans more on family and fraternity.
The duo is true to their sound, a simmering executioner's song. Rarely explicitly violent, their conviction feels like carnage on "What It Do (Wamp Wamp)". Malice even compares himself to the genocidal Hutu tribe on the track. The energy and flair in the track is palpable. The Neptunes' mystifying sonics further elevate the record. When the drum sounds are light and chimey, the surrounding melodies sound sinister and dark. Trill" and "Ride Around Shining" are freakishly beautiful constructions.
Hell Hath No Fury is uncompromising music. Except for a woeful album-closer, “Nightmares”, Fury is a twelve step sequence of poisonous and caustic rap. Even though the album was delayed more than three years, Clipse still refused to make concessions. The result is an incredibly good music collection.
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