Over 15 years ago, Clipse (aka real-life brothers Pusha T and Malice) dropped Til the Casket Drops—and then kind of did just that. Pusha kept grinding, releasing projects like It’s Almost Dry in 2022. Meanwhile, Malice took a well-earned spiritual sabbatical to recover from burnout. Now, after years of cryptic teasers and surprise Louis Vuitton runway debuts, the reformed duo is officially back with a new album, Let the Lord Sort Em Out, dropping July 11.
While they could’ve just quietly delivered new music like some chill uncles returning from retirement, they decided to go full scorched-earth instead—airing out the rap world like it’s 2006 and they’re still pushing weight in Virginia.
Clipse lets the choppa sing
In a new GQ interview, Clipse talked about the upcoming album—but also took time to check some major names off their “we got time today” list. Here’s a quick roll call of who caught strays.
Ye
Pusha T used to be G.O.O.D. Music’s golden child—until Ye pulled a Ye. After inviting Clipse to work on “Use This Gospel” (over a beat from “Follow God”), Kanye hit them with the ol’ psych! and kept the track for 2019’s Jesus Is King. That beat-snatching incident was the beginning of the end. “We made some great shit, bro. We did…But…let me tell you something,” Pusha said.”
From a financial POV, though, Pusha T said that Ye kept his word, giving 50% ownership stake in the masters of his own GOOD Music roster back to the artists like himself.
“The greatest thing he did and why I am okay with where me and him are right now—and I’m cool with staying that way—is because at the end of the day, my truth is my truth, but I still respect what he did in the business. And he speaks ill about the music we’ve made and giving me certain records, but the one thing he did give me was all the profits back from the Def Jam deal,” he said.
Drake
When it comes to Drizzy, the duo’s stance is…less than positive as well.
The Clipse x Drake tension is nothing new. When Pusha T dropped “The Story of Adidon” in 2018, revealing Drake’s secret son and throwing in that blackface photo for good measure, the beef went from passive to nuclear. Since then, Drake’s been in his feelings, taking passive-aggressive shots at Pusha and Pharrell (who’s producing Clipse’s new album), even posting up in Pharrell’s jewelry auction like a jilted ex.
Is Pusha T bothered by Drizzy’s antics, though? Not in the slightest.
“He’s always said he was a fan. So I feel like that’s something a fan would do. It wasn’t like [P] was hurting for money and sold his jewelry,” Pusha T said.
He also shared his thoughts on the ongoing legal battle between Drake and UMG, stating that “the suing thing is bigger than some rap shit. I just don’t rate you. Damn, it’s like it just kind of cheapens the art of it once we gotta have real questions about suing and litigation. Like, what? For this?”
Kendrick Lamar
Speaking of Drake’s antics, K. Dot’s drama with the Toronto native impacted his highly anticipated (and now confirmed) verse on the track “Chains and Whips” on the project. While the majority of the verse was kept under wraps, GQ did reveal one quotable line from Lamar: “Therapy taught me how to open up/it also showed me I don’t give a f***.” Def Jam (under UMG) didn’t want two of Drizzy’s opps to link up on the track.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing…And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, ‘We’ll just drop the Clipse.’ But that can’t work because I’m still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go…” Pusha T said.
Eventually, that is exactly what happened. Def Jam dropped Clipse and Pusha T (who apparently paid seven figures to get out of his deal), so now they are with Roc Nation instead.
“I think that that synergy, just in a rap sense, is going to speak volumes,” he said about their new home. With July quickly approaching, who knows what else Clipse has up their sleeves? One thing we know for sure though — the fans can’t wait to hear it.
