Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out
Hip-hop – Released July 11, 2025 – 13 songs, 40 mins
REID
Friday, July 11, 2025 marked the official return of Clipse. After a sixteen-year hiatus and a rumoured release since last fall, the brothers from Virginia finally returned with their fourth studio album, Let God Sort Em Out. If you follow along with us at TSR you know I’m a fan, I’ve been waiting forever for this one and I have a lot to say so let’s get right into it.
Let’s start with the roll out. Clipse and their team put in the work, orchestrating one of the busiest, most in-depth album promotions in recent memory. It started with a snippet video of M.T.B.T.T.F. a few months ago, followed by the first single Ace Trumpets and eventually So Be It. Singles are the industry norm but they did not stop there. The brothers appeared on countless podcast episodes pre and post release providing excellent insight into just about anything you’d want to know about them and their work. Understanding the creative process of the artform is the cherry on top for fans and Clipse has hours of interview material available to digest. This ranges from the steps Malice took before returning to music, the background story to the Kendrick feature to the Travis Scott call-out and so much more. These stories add layers to the music and make the fan appreciate them that much more. They followed this up with several live performances including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The ESPYs. My favourite was the Tiny Desk concert, made available at noon on the album release day with a mix of new songs and their classics. That’s some genius marketing right there. Overall this self-promotion was a huge success, building the hype exponentially and really elevating the moment.
At 52 and 48 years of age respectively, the concerns of a drop off for Malice and Pusha T were warranted. Expected, even; especially for Malice who was out of the game for so long. The reality is these guys are operating on another level. The lyricism is off-the-charts impressive as the album is flooded with metaphors, hidden meanings and double, even triple entendres. Now it wouldn’t be Clipse without cocaine trade royalty content and the riches that come with it but this record has much more. The Birds Don’t Sing is a deeply personal and heartfelt song dedicated to their late parents and they don’t shy away from beefs with a few parting shots at rappers Travis Scott (So Be It) and Jim Jones (Chains & Whips). Nothing wrong with a little rap beef as long as it isn’t violent and no one gets their feelings hurt so much they sue. Perhaps even more impressive than their pen is their delivery. The brothers are masters of enunciation and hold an immense presence as MCs. They both carry such conviction and precision in their rhymes and never let a beat drop go without cashing in.
Speaking of beats, who better to accentuate the rhymes of Pusha and Malice than their long time partner, Pharrell Williams. Listen, we at TSR dive into a lot of music and we’re no stranger to Pharrell’s work. Whether it’s this project in particular or this partnership, it must have lit a fire under him because we haven’t seen this level of consistent production from him in a while. He truly excels creating templates for the brothers to shine with their gritty, oftentimes angry rap style. M.T.B.T.T.F. is a great example of this as he starts them both individually with an acapella section before introducing the simple but hard beat for them to throw down on. Chains & Whips, So Be It, Ace Trumpets, F.I.C.O. and So Far Ahead all hit. The beat switches in the titular track and P.O.V. are epic. Packing all these in one album is elite.
Clipse did well to round out the tracklist with a quality list of features. Kendrick Lamar (Chains & Whips), Tyler, the Creator (P.O.V.), Ab-Liva (Inglorious Bastards), Nas (LGSEM/Chandeliers) and John Legend (The Birds Don’t Sing) all brought something special. Switching from Pharrell to Sza or someone similar on vocals would’ve been a welcome change to So Far Ahead and By The Grace of God. Otherwise this album, clocking in at an ideal forty-two minutes is all killer, no filler.
When it come down to it, every Stringer Bell just needs an Avon. Surgical rhymes over nasty beats. The Thornton brother reunion record is one of, if not the best of the year. Clipse rolled back the clock and sound as good as ever.
Overall Rating: 9.0/10
Favourite Song: M.T.B.T.T.F.
ROZ
As time passes by, trends within genres naturally change. Soundscapes diverge at one point in time before converging at some other point down the timeline in a much different state. Generations come and go, societal norms flux, and cultures transform as the years go on - and with it so does the music. Hip hop is arguably still a relatively new genre, and yet even with this in mind it feels as though everyone seemingly yearns for the ‘good old days’ of rap. Mumble rap, overuse of auto-tune and shallow wordplay are objectively rampant in the modern landscape with artists such as Future, Travis Scott and Trippie Redd moving albums and cementing the fact that those ‘good old days’ could very well be permanently behind us. While I personally don’t believe that all is lost (as we see talents such as billy woods, Larry June and the Griselda crew making ripples across the scene), sometimes it really does feel like the old lion needs to roar to show who the real king is. This week's review is the personification of that thought, as the TSR crew welcomes back the duo Clipse and their first album in 16 years, Let God Sort Em Out.
Strong wordplay is paramount, and Clipse has that in spades. The Birds Don't Sing starts us off and is undoubtedly the most gut-wrenching of the bunch. The two brothers dive into their psyche and pull out the burning pain inflicted on them after their parents passing – their mother in November 2021 and their father only 4 months later (found by Malice himself, described in morbid detail as the track plays out). P.O.V. is highlighted by a nasty feature by the one and only Tyler the Creator that itself precedes a beat flip and a firey verse from Malice. The braggadocio of the men and their success is rampant (if not already validated through their reputation and history at this stage) on a multitude of tracks, with E.B.I.T.D.A., Inglorious Bastards and Ace Trumpets hitting especially hard among the pack. As a direct contrast to this energy is the vulnerability shown on a few of the songs; not just the opening number but also on tracks such as All Things Considered and By the Grace of God, which adds a softer, more introspective component to the albums overall structure. Overall, Let God Sort Em Out is chock full of biting diss verses, double entendres and a deep layering of clever writing from front to back. Anyone who has wronged them is made known, loud and clear, with zero hesitation.
Clipse are masters of their craft, and their craft has been blessed with having a superior canvas to showcase their art. That canvas I speak of is the immaculate studio production across Let God Sort Em Out, ran by the legendary ex-Neptune, ex-N.E.R.D., Pharrell Williams much like their albums of old. Every single beat on the album is executed with excellence, showcasing that regardless of all the various projects and endeavors going on in Pharrell’s life, he is still at the very top of the mountain when it comes to skill behind the desk. Sample selection is king in the world of hip hop, and Pharell knows exactly what to pick out and where exactly to put it in each mix he creates. His attention to detail on keeping the low end powerful yet breathable (through use of various 808-type kicks) makes for a dynamic low end that doesn’t feel too buzzy or muddy. Each song packs a heavy punch on the bottom, while at the same time allowing room in the top of the mix for Pusha and Malice to work their magic with very little impediment. String and piano arrangements are directed flawlessly, the overall tonals feel varied, and the samples selected for loops are both catchy and diverse across the board. For an album that nears 40 minutes, it absolutely zips by - truly the work of one of the best to ever do it. The only critique I’d give the man is that perhaps his days of belting out those tenor vocals are over – save the voice for directing in the studio, Pharrell! Your beats speak with enough volume on their own to warrant anything else.
In a world full of surface level efforts catering to what’s popular now or what may get the most clicks on a Tik Tok video, nothing breaks through with more veracity than something as well crafted and fleshed out as Let God Sort Em Out. The album is a masterclass in the fundamentals, with a crisp jab (pristine production), a powerful cross (superb flow) and a devastating hook (effective features through Nas, Tyler the Creator and Kendrick). It’s funny what you get when you leave the parlor tricks at home and rely on raw talent and skill. There’s no better feeling than witnessing legends return, then watching them meet all expectations. It took Let God Sort Em Out 16 years to get here, but Clipse have not missed a beat since all those years ago. Both hard-hitting and heart-felt; the bar has officially been raised for hip hop in 2025.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Song: Ace Trumpets
LUNDI
When considering some mixture of my personal fixation on sad boy music, our blogs indie focused lane, modern rappers only caring about what *vibez* help them go viral on tiktok, and Kendrick Lamar dropping his latest album after the 2024 year end taped, it’s been a hell of a long time since TSR jointly salivated over the prospects of an upcoming rap album. It’s pretty fair to say there’s a decently sized chunk of disdain from our trio when it comes to the current state of hip-hop. This week though it all goes away, and with the success Clipse is having perhaps Let God Sort ‘Em Out will turn the tides on what rap will be going forward. We can only hope.
Starting with the men of the hour themselves, Pusha T and Malice deliver a rap clinic on Let God Sort ‘Em Out. Vocally they sound crisp, annunciating every syllable on every bar with ferocity. Now certainly classified as veterans of the hip hop craft, the duo plant their flag with what will almost certainly be mentioned among iconic rap albums in the future. Their mixture of lyricism on pop culture, nostalgia, adulthood and religion blend together well to provide a well packed and insightful overarching theme on everything that has fuelled their admiration for one another as business partners, friends and most importantly brothers.
Throughout their years, it’s not only respect that’s been gained between each other, it’s an immense amount of respect gained from the entire rap industry. There can’t be many, if any, other artists who can pull Pharrell to produce and get features from the likes of Tyler, the Creator, Nas and Kendrick Lamar. Great features too, that stick to the album motif and mesh with Pusha and Malice. These aren’t mailed in random freestyles that are more about getting the big name for streaming numbers and the presence of more rap icons help elevate an already fantastic album.
And in speaking of Pharrell’s production, god damn these beats are dope! … Just more hard hitting analysis from yours truly at TSR. In all seriousness though, this is the best collection of beats I’ve heard front to back on an album since Kanye was taking his meds. Pharrell’s producer credits are just insane at this point and he will go down as one of the greatest to do it when all is said and done.
But Pharrell give it, Pharrell also take it away. As a more casual hip hop fan it’s glaring how poor the hooks are on this album, particularly in the back half. John Legend creates the only major eye roll early on (it’s literally called bird song sir) but from All Things Considered onwards the chorus’ range from god awful with Pharrell’s own grainy auto tuned trash to somewhat passable with M.T.B.T.T.F where Clipse simply take the matter into their own hands.
Now I know that perspective won’t really bother the album target audience much and I’m venting on an aspect I barely docked the album for but in knowing I’m the lowest score and on the bottom of this blog I’m going to double down to avoid regurgitating my mates who will no doubt dive into extreme detail on the elements I merely glossed over. My hot take (I think it’s hot) is that hooks are what make the live rap experience so special. Even the best rappers with elite breath control at most equal their album quality. Most times rappers just have a hype man who drop their beats from a pre packaged mix. The features don’t show up unless it’s a massive headline show. What are you left with? The hook and the audience. You know what gets an audience out of control? A sublime hook to scream and bounce with. It might not directly hurt the album, but damn what could have been.
Let God Sort ‘Em Out is a welcomed return of Clipse and powerful rendition of hip-hop in the style that made the genre in the first place. Learn from your elders, kids. This is what rap should be.
Overall Rating: 8.1/10
Favourite Song: Chains & Whips