The thing about a Clipse Tiny Desk Concert is that, as Virginia natives, it’s something of a homecoming show for them. So, of course, when Pusha T and Malice hit the NPR Music offices the same day as the release of their new album, Let God Sort Em Out, they couldn’t JUST do songs from the new one, like “Ace Trumpets” and “So Be It.”
Instead, they take a 20-minute cruise through their classic, but all-too-short discography, opening with the fitting “Virginia” from their star-making debut album, Lord Willin’. From there, it’s a trip to their sophomore follow-up Hell Hath No Fury for “Keys Open Doors” and “Momma I’m So Sorry.” They skip Til The Casket Drops, which sort of makes sense; it was their least popular album and presaged their eventual split, so revisiting it would probably only bring down the mood.
The two songs from Let God Sort Em Out are “Birds Don’t Sing” and the Kendrick Lamar collab “Chains & Whips,” and no other song could make for the finale but “Grindin’,” the joint that introduced them to the world and terrorized school lunch tables across America all the way through 2002 (and likely since). A great tidbit from Bobby Carter’s write-up in the YouTube caption: ” At first, I didn’t know exactly what they were looking for in terms of sonics, but it clicked when I was told what they didn’t want: no jazzy renditions of their music.”
No jazz here, fellas. Just good ol’ futuristic Virginia Beach funk. Check it out up top.
