This is actually very culturally appropriate.
Clipse has taken things back to the past with the build-up to the first album in more than a decade, Let God Sort ‘Em Out. First, they built anticipation for the LP with a series of traditional editorials. Then, on the evening of June 16, they turned back the hands of time by passing out their second single, “So Be It,” to DJs like DJ Hed and Funkmaster Flex to premiere on various platforms. Now, like the days of years past, they’re sharing that single on a Tuesday instead of a Friday.
The chilling yet hypnotic production by Pharrell provides the perfect backdrop for Pusha T and Malice to pop their s—t, but it also offers a platform for the duo to each address topics of conversation surrounding themselves and the culture. Toward the end of his last verse, Malice spares two bars to disgust the ongoing rift between Chad Hugo and Pharrell of the Neptunes. Simply put, the duo is completely disbanded, and the Clipse are running with their longtime collaborator and friend, Pharrell.
“Ain’t no more Neptunes, so P’s Saturn/Off the first ski-up, they re-up, it’s a pattern,” Malice raps.
Just a few bars later, Pusha T sends shots in the direction of his former G.O.O.D Music counterpart — Travis Scott.
“You cried in front of me, you died in front of me/Calabasas took your b—h and your pride in front of me,” he raps. “Heard Utopia had moved right up the street/And her lip gloss was poppin’, she ain’t need you to eat.”
Pusha T has been vocal in his disapproval of his former G.O.O.D Music counterpart Kanye West’s reactions, but this appears to be the first time he’s addressed Scott lyrically. While he doesn’t mention Scott by name, the mention of Scott’s last album, Utopia, and allusions to Kylie Jenner and Alexander “A.E.” Edwards leave little to the imagination. In a recent interview with GQ, the Virginia native elaborated on the bars sent the rapper-producer’s way.
“The true context of that is we were in Paris, literally working, and he was calling to play P his new album. He came to [Pharrell’s] studio [at Louis Vuitton HQ, where Clipse recorded most of Let God Sort Em Out]. He interrupted a session,” Pusha T told Frazier Tharpe of GQ. “He sees me and Malice] there. He’s like, ‘Oh, man, everybody’s here,’ he’s smiling, laughing, jumping around, doing his fucking monkey dance. We weren’t into the music, but he wanted to play it, wanted to film [us and Pharrell listening to it]. And then a week later, you hear ‘Meltdown,’ which he didn’t play. He played the song, but not [Drake’s verse].”
And Pusha T isn’t done. According to Tharpe and others who have heard the album, “Jim Jones gets a whole verse for that run of interviews where he repeatedly disparaged Pusha’s legacy” on the highly-anticipated track, “Chains & Whips.” Until the album is released, check out the “So Be It” video below.
