Release Date : August 20, 2002
Label : Star Trak / Arista Records
Whoever would of thought the Clipse would go from having a shelved debut album to having one of the biggest Hip-Hop songs of 02. I used to watch Rap City like everyday in my teen years, so I remember when they used to show the Clipes The Funeral video and that was the only single from the Audio Exclusive Footage album. Although the album got shelved, it can still be found on the net. The VA duo didn't take off right away, but another group that The Neptunes were working with ended up buzzing first, and that was Philly's Most Wanted. The Clipse were featured on their album on the song Street Tax, they also were on N.E.R.D's In Search Of... album. Pusha T went by the name Terrar at the time.
Then in 02, Clipse finally found the right single and that was Grindin, and that song was all over the place and had the summer on smash. MTV2 had the Sucker Free Countdown, top 20 videos. I remember it like yesterday. The beat alone is a reason to listen to Grindin, did you hear those booming drums? We get those hard hitting drums all throughout the album because the Neptunes produced the whole cd. Clipse followed up with two more successful singles, the club banger When The Last Time featuring Kelis and Pharrell and the radio friendly Ma, I Don't Love Her featuring Faith Evans, where they get accused of cheating on their girls, but Pusha and Malice deny those claims. Malice gets straight to the point "If I don't know I don't know, lets not go that road I don't know who she is, don't care who told".
On Virginia, the Thornton brothers pay tribute to VA, the place they were raised and hustled at and let you know how real it is out there. The Clipse rap with confidence, so even if you didn't believe they really sold drugs, the mic presence they have makes it sound believable. Gangsta Lean is one of my favorites. Now I'm not gonna lie, at first I thought the song was about females, but Pusha said its like one of those comparing females to weed songs. When you hear the lyrics it can be both, I like how they put that together plus Pharrell is on the hook and you know Skateboard P is gonna bring a dope hook to the table. The beat bangs and they lyrics are on point.
Comedy Central featuring Fabolous, Cot Damn featuring Ab-Liva, Pharrell and Rosco P Coldchain, and I'm Not You featuring Jadakiss, Styles P and Rosco P Coldchain, (who makes his second appearance on the album). Those three songs are just straight lyrical joints. Everybody kills it on their verses. Clipse does has some missteps, like the extremely boring Ego. Lets Talk About is decent at best, not to mention its from Jermaine Dupri's Instructions album. Last but not least, who's idea was it to put two Grindin remixes on the album? Those were not needed, I'm not saying they were wack, but we were fine with just one version of the song. Overall, the Clipse were a breath of fresh air when they came on the scene and Lord Willin' still holds up very well today. The Clipse definitely helped bring some street music back into the mainstream.
4/5
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