The most refreshing thing about the Clipse is how little baggage they have. When you listen to a Clipse album you aren't looking for hidden inuendo alluding to beef, or some drama involving getting shot, or shootin' someone else, or time in jail, or any of the other garbage that rappers use to build hype and persona. When you listen to a Clipse album, you're listening to pure, unadulterated rap and you never know what the next bar holds. Some will argue that all that label drama is baggage, but at least the Clipse try to distance themselves from it and try to get past it to just deliver the goods. They don't parley the Jive stuff into record sales, which I find respectable. Not only that, they endure all that nonsense and deliver one of the best lyrical experiences of the year.

Before discussing the lyrical content, the beats and musical aspect must be addressed. The Clipse have stated in the past that they get first-pick when it comes to Neptunes beats and it shows on this album. From the bouncy "Mr. Me Too" to the oddly haunting "Keys Open Doors" to "Momma I'm Sorry" (is that an accordian???) this album represents Pharrell William and Chad Hugo's best production work in some time. Strangely enough, some of these beats are leagues above the stuff on Pharrell's own album.

The Clipse spit fire. They don't have the lyrical complexity of say, Nas. They don't have the mezmerizing metaphors found on a Jay-Z set, and they don't have the ability to make any two words rhyme like Eminem. But their bars hit you right in the chest. It's mean, ugly rap. It's so good. Here are a couple of examples (you really need to hear it though, it's all in the delivery): "When I picture bits and pieces of bones chipped and flesh, it tears me to pieces/ Cooperate, escape and choose this/ Trust me, I'm your friend, I will walk you through this." (Chinese New Year) or "Youngin' don't make my sales rise/ I'll push you out yo' chuckas, Pusha hear the whispers of all you mother******s/ Papa says stay free of them suckas', minus that wicked street-jumper baller like the rucker/ Skip to my loo if you lookin' for a couple, roosters in the duffle/ Keep the hood screamin' cock-a-doodle-doo/ Coke by the ton, rap ni***s I'm the one." Even on the more mainstream "Mr. Me Too," The Clipse take no prisoners, "Wanna know the time? Better clock us/ Ni***s bite the style, from the shoes to the watches/ We cloud hoppers, tailored-suits like we mobsters, break down keys into dimes and sell em like gobstoppers/ Who's gonna stop us? Not a goddamn' one of ya'll."

One surprise on the album was the quality of the hooks. I expect Malice and Pusha-T to come with the bars, but I didn't expect the catchy choruses on "Trill," "Keys Open Doors," or "Dirty Money."

All in all, the album was definitely worth the wait. The Clipse are the most skilled rap duo in the game, here's hopin' we aren't waiting another 5 years for an album. Also, here's hoping the album sells. As the Clipse commented in a recent interview, they may have to resort to the publicity-stunt beefs if they can't find commercial success based on their talent alone. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to that...

This is really more like a 3 1/2 star album, but I'm a huge Neptunes fan. Anyway, I was watching my TV back in '02 and two guys I'd never seen before were rapping over a dope, albeit stripped down beat.....and then Pharell's grill pops up on the screen. The video : Grindin'. The group: Clipse. I immediately got the album after it dropped. No complaints there. Then, out of the blue, label issues leave them blackballed and handcuffed for 4 years. Then after creating huge a buzz by releasing a few excellent underground mixtapes, they finally see light at the end of the tunnel. The end result...Hell Hath No Fury. Lyrically, the new LP is just more of the same coke rap that made them so addictive to begin with. The difference this time is the stripped down Neptunes production. No radio friendly joints (with the exception of Mr. Me Too), no fluff, no frills, no hot artist of the moment....just Pusha & Malice hittin' you over the head with the blunt force of their street themes.

There are no wack tracks on the album, but there are a few that may fall under skip material after the new release buzz wears off. Tracks like "Momma I'm Sorry", "Trill", "Ain't Cha" (despite a decent Malice verse), and "Dirty Money" would fall under such a category. The songs bang right now, I'm just saying that I don't see myself popping in this disc and heading straight for these songs. Outside of that, the rest of the album flows well. It would've been nice if the album was longer (it's only 47 minutes long), but after waiting four years, I'll take whatever I can get from these guys as long as it isn't pop rap.

Hell Hath No Fury isn't your typical sophmore rap release. In rap, most artists drop ever 1 or 2 years in order to stay relevant. The Clipse had 4 years to create, rework, season, and marinate this album. The end result is quite possibly the best album of the year. I recommend adding this one to your collection.

Standout Tracks: Mr. Me Too feat. Pharrell, Hello New World, We Got It For Cheap, Wamp Wamp (What It Do) feat. Slim Thug, Chinese New Year, & Keys Open Doors

The Clipse has been in the mainstream for some time time since 2002. 4 years later they hit us with their third album (not their sophomore, their first one came out in 2000) "Hell Hath No Fury". And this has to be one of the best albums of 2006. Something must have happened to Pusha T & Malice these past 3 years, because they really come full force lyrically. "Hello New World" is one of those tracks that shows their lyrical skills. Seriously they have shown a BIG improvement from their "Lord Willin'" album. A lot of these songs have nice hooks which really makes their songs good such as "We Got It For Cheap (Intro)" & "Keys Open Doors".

Also the Neptunes beats are awesome! Their first single "Mr. Me Too" is one of the sickest beats I've heard from them. Heck even Pharrell spits a hot verse on that song. "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)" is just sick. To tell you the truth, I can't find one wack beat on this album from the Neptunes. The beats here are better than any ones that are on Pharrell's "In My Mind" and on The Neptunes' "Clones" albums.

Guests aside from Pharrell are also good. The Re-Up Gang do good jobs laying down verses on the songs "Ride Around Singing" as well as "Ain't Cha". Slim Thug handles the hook for the "Wamp Wamp" song. Bilal as well as Pharrell somes in for the slow & soft sounding track "Nightmares" to close off this album.

To have a gripe about this album would only be that the album seemed kinda short, only 48 minutes long, but still no filler. Also one song, "Chineese New Year" didn't appeal to me. Other than that, there is not one inconsistant part on The Clipse's or The Neptune's behalf.

To state before, this album is one of the best commercialized albums of 2006. I'm glad to see that they came back with a new album that is going to blow many weak albums way this year. (To tell the truth at one point, I thought they fell off). Three and a half years in the making, they really took their time with this one and made sure everything was carefully made. Guaranteed to make your head bop up and down. Props up to the Clipse for getting back in the game!

Lyrics: A
Production: A+
Guest Appearances: A
Musical Vibes: A-
Overall: A

Favorite Tracks: We Got It For Cheap, Mr. Me Too, Wamp Wamp (What It Do), Hello New World, Keys Open Doors, Ain't Cha, Trill, Nightmares

Peace!

Clipse came on the scene in a real big way with the track "Grindin'". 'Til this day I will still say that is the best Neptunes' beat that I ever heard. Their debut CD "Lord Willin'" dropped with pleasant results. My favorite tracks ended up being "Virginia", "When The Last Time", "I'm Not You" w/Jadakiss, Styles P and Roscoe P. Coldchain, and the "Grindin' (Remix) w/Noreaga, Lil Wayne, & Baby. The Neptunes hooked the Clipse up with some nice tracks and you expected the Clipse to be a force to reckon with. Then all of a sudden, you kept hearing words about there be another Clipse CD released and nothing ever happened. No single, no promotion, nothing.... We then found out that there label situation turned bad and they ended up on Jive Records. If they had any sense they would just let Clipse go since Jive has no experience dealing with rappers of today. Yes they were known for having groups like Boogie Down Productions and UGK in the past, but UGK has been well known for saying how Jive didn't know how to deal with rap acts and just knowing how to deal with pop acts.

Clipse then went to "grindin'" on the streets. Clipse, Ab-Liva and Sandman created the Re-Up Gang and they started making and appearing on mixtapes. The best of those mixtapes being We Got It For Cheap Volumes 1 & 2. Clipse showed that they still possessed the lyrcial fire behind the microphone. For some reason, Jive just wasn't releasing their music. Finally, in early 2006, I was introduced to "Mr. Me Too" which featured Clipse & Pharrell on a track with a nice Neptunes beat. I would later find out that this would be the first single to their 2nd official CD "Hell Hath No Fury". Everytime they would talk about the release date of the CD it kept getting pushed back until later and later in 2006. I even thought the Halloween 2006 date would stick but I was wrong again. There was controversy about the track that would end up being the Clipse's 2nd single: "Wamp Wamp (What It Do) w/Slim Thug. Foxy Brown originally had used the beat for a track that was supposed to be on her "Black Roses" CD that was supposed to be released on Def Jam. Pharrell and Chad Hugo must have got impatient with Foxy Brown's release date especially with Foxy going deaf and not knowing when and if she would ever record music again. Before you knew it Clipse had made a track to the same beat and they were making "Wamp Wamp" their second single, after everything was worked out between Foxy, Def Jam, The Neptunes and Clipse.

Finally, "Hell Hath No Fury" was released. Things get off to a good start with the "We Got It For Cheap (Intro)". Pusha T and Malice display why we enjoyed them so much on "Lord Willin'" and Pusha T definitely has improved his flow into an entire another level. "Mama I'm So Sorry" is definitely one of my favorite tracks as The Neptunes' production on this track is just plain "sick". I don't even know what instrument that is that keeps blaring into the track. Clipse make no apologies as to who they are and the lyrics just keep going. My favorite track ends up being "Ride Around Shining" which features Ab-Liva. Most people will not like the fact that Pusha T is speaking of hustlin' the entire CD like he is Rick Ross or Young Jeezy, but his lyricism is 125% better than the 2 artists I just mentioned. "Keys Open Doors" basically falls along the same lines, with the exception of the beat as Pusha T sounds as if he has alot of things to get off of his chest. "Nightmares" is basically the only track that doesn't have the same familiar theme of the rest of the CD. I am not sure where they found Bilal, who has been MIA since Common's "Be" CD, but he definitely does a nice job on this track as the Clipse try to create their own 2006 version of the Geto Boys' "Mind Playing Tricks On Me". Pusha T even starts his verse with the same words that Willie D used to start his verse on the track out with. You will either love or hate "Trill" which is the only thing close to a club or commercial track other than "Dirty Money". The Neptunes track is just "sick", so even if you are not a fan of the track at first, the production will grow on you after awhile. "Chinese New Year" sounds as if Clipse and Roscoe P. Coldchain are trying to pull the infamous "AKickdoe!" like Master P, C-Murder and UGK did back in the day on C-Murder's "Life Or Death" CD. Since times aren't going as good as expected, they take the matter into their own hands to get what they need to acquire.

I don't have too many problems with "Hell Hath No Fury". The biggest disappointment is how long Jive Records made us wait for a 2nd Clipse CD. "Lord Willin'" was released in 2002, so this should be the 3rd Clipse disc and not the second. Second of all, I am sure that the Clipse had more than 12 tracks to work with. I am glad that they didn't have 19 tracks with 5 filler tracks like most CDs have, but I am sure that the Clipse had more in the lab to add to this CD. I am not a big fan of "Dirty Money" (which Jive actually wanted to release instead of "Wamp Wamp" as the 2nd single for "Hell Hath No Fury", which shows you how much they know about rap music) or "Ain't Cha" w/The Re-Up Gang but the other 10 tracks definitely make up for the weakness of those 2. Lyrcially, Clipse are on another level since "Lord' Willin'". If you enjoyed "Lord Willin'" as much as I did then you should definitely pick up "Hell Hath No Fury", eventhough the constant talk about hustlin', pushin' it to the limit and the benefits of these things may wear on you after awhile.

James' Top 5

1) Ride Around Shining w/Ab-Liva
2) Mama I'm So Sorry
3) Wamp Wamp (What It Do) w/Slim Thug
4) Keys Open Doors
5) Mr. Me Too w/Pharrell

Honorable Mention:

Nightmares w/Bilal & Pharrell
We Got It For Cheap (Intro)
Chinese New Year w/Roscoe P. Coldchain

Too bad these guys don't get the props they deserve. Talented and cool they have a sound that no other rap group has, and with the Neptunes doing the producing they should be megastars by now, but instead people want to listen to Ludicrus... go figure.