It hardly feels like 7 years since I was beating my hands across my desk to the beat of “Grindin’”, but like it or not, time has a way of changing some people. Luckily for us who enjoyed that infectious Virginia Beach sound, the ever-revolving calender has been kind to The Clipse who last night rocked a standing-room-only Webster Hall Studio crowd as the brothers from the V-A set the mood right for another big summer.
Choosing mostly to pull selections from their 2006 album Hell Hath No Fury (as well as their cleverly titled 2008 crew collaboration with Re-Up label mates Clipse Present: Re-Up Gang), biological brothers Malice and Pusha-T kept the capacity crowd on its feet and with hands waving. Allowing the crowd to fill in the hook left vacant by Slim Thug, The Clipse turned up the tempo on the radio anthem “Wamp Wamp (What It Do)” and the is-it-or-is-it-not pot shot at Lil Wayne with “Mr. Me-Too.”
Arguably the biggest moment of the night was when the boys announced that they were going to take it back to where it all started and the beat dropped on the aforementioned “Grindin’.” While eyes quickly scanned the room to see if hook-deliverer and close associate Pharrell Williams would make an appearance, thoughts of that cameo were quickly forgotten and the duo carried out the track like the trunk-rattler it always has been.
They closed-out the show with the new single (featuring a man who was barely even a name-worthy producer when Grindin’ came out, Kanye West) “Kinda Like a Big Deal” and if this performance showed anything, it is that The Clipse are still at the top of their game and ready to take their place atop the hip-hop game.
Sometimes, Ben Wallace sings vocals.
Poor Malice…he appears concerned. Forgetting your setlist? Been there.
Staring contest. Ready? Go!
