A Review of Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury

In late 2006, The Clipse released their sophomore album Hell Hath No Fury. Having been delayed for about three years, The Clipse sound as if they have nothing to lose, and are going for broke to please their core fans. Hell Hath No Fury is a short and simple album about hustling. There is no beef with rival rappers, no distracting skits, no filler, no socio-economic filter applied; just fifty minutes of punch-line heavy verses that exult in the illicit, over fresh and crispy beats provided by The Neptunes. Because it is The Clipse simply doing what they do best, they have created the album by which they should be judged. It is quite simply their best work.

There are no overt concessions to radio; the hooks are complex as are the verses, and the club records are much grittier than typically pop-fare. On their previous album, the Neptunes provided both pop-oriented songs and the kind of gritty tracks that best suited the duo, which resulted in an uneven record. Here, the Neptunes provide twelve of their most quirky and memorable beats over which The Clipse simply run roughshod. No track is timid; each one is bold and daring, which suits the Virginia rappers just fine.

As for the rappers, it's as if they are trying to outrap every elite emcee from Kool G. Rap and Rakim to Jay, Z, Andre 3000, and B.I.G. at once. In some sense, they succeed: few of even the most talented artists have whole albums this sharp, this focused, this witty, this polished, and this acerbic. It is insightful and profane, brash and elegantly crafted, witty and raucous. From the opening of We Got it for Cheap:

"I force feed you the metric scale
Rap's like child's play, my show and tell
Within each verse, you see the truth's unveiled
They manufacture proof as they lie to themselves
Puppets on the string like a yo-yo
Bouncing like a pogo, they praying I never go solo"

the one liners keep coming until the album's closer Nightmares, featuring Bilal on the hook. The duo's rhymes are lithe and nimble tongue twisters, easily as intricate as Jay-Z's early work. There is clear respect for and attention paid to craft, from the double entendre of the title of track eight like Keys Open Doors, to charismatic boasts:

"ADT's ain't stop me. Simple like ABC's
Snip cut game just as easy as 1-2-3
Breaking and entry's so elementary"

from the excellent Chinese New Year. Every line is delivered with an audible and seamless flair and panache.

Replaying the album will only deepen your appreciation of it, and reveal deeper meanings each time. It's truly an amazing work, featuring the kind of devotion to lyricism that has been in rare supply since the nineties.

Buy The Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury here

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