We just want to have a stronghold on the game. Pusha T: To fully establish Re-Up Gang Records as a whole Clipse movement. Pusha T: “Keys Open Doors.” I love the crowd reaction, love the play on words. We use metaphors a lot, too.ĭBK: What’s your favorite song to perform live? There are parallels that we draw to a variety other issues and themes. Most people don’t get it and it’ll go over their head, but the college audience, they’ve got me going, ‘Wow!’ I’ll always see, like, four guys in the front row saying everything word-for-word.ĭBK: Why do you think college students, most of whom have not been involved in the hard drug trade, relate so much to your hardcore lyrics? Pusha T: Because the college fan is so attentive and so passionate about the lyrics. It’s really a fan’s show.ĭBK: Why do you enjoy playing at colleges? It’ll be heavy on Hell Hath No Fury material. Fans have heard two perfectly produced Neptunes albums, but this release will be more diverse.ĭBK: What can concert-goers expect from your show? It’s a good time to hear the Clipse come out of their shell. Pusha T: We’ve worked with The Neptunes, the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. It means I’m gonna keep doing this music until I die.ĭBK: Who have you worked with on the album? That’s a saying we have amongst our friends in Virginia Beach. It’s gonna be called Till the Casket to Drops.

We’re trying to release the album in the first quarter of next year. Pusha T: Columbia’s great because we have a lot more creative control. We can vent.ĭBK: How has Columbia Records been treating you guys, and when is your next major release coming out? It’s a great way for them to hear us and to keep us relevant. Pusha T: Mixtapes are definitely a big part, especially for the fans.

The Diamondback: How important have mixtapes been to Clipse’s career, especially when Jive Records kept delaying your albums? The Diamondback spoke to Pusha T to discuss the group’s upcoming album, the new record deal and why college students make the best fans. Now Clipse has signed with Columbia Records just dropped a new mixtape, Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang (a joint effort with rappers Major Figgas and Sandman) and is headlining the Fall Semester Sound-Off Concert on the campus Thursday. The Virginia Beach-raised pair was rhyming over The Neptunes’ beats years before the super-producers became fashionable and brazed complications with Jive Records to bring their grimy tales of the underworld to fans’ ears. Clipse, the hip-hop duo of brothers Malice and Pusha T, took crack rap to a whole new level with hit albums Lord Willin” (released in 2002) and Hell Hath No Fury (released in 2006).

Clipse rap group