clipping. – “Visions of Bodies Being Burned” review

This is the brand new album from Los Angeles experimental hip hop trio clipping.. Fronted by Daveed Diggs, he joined forces with William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes to drop their midcity mixtape in 2013 & it landed them a contract with Sub Pop Records shortly after. The label granted them a full-length debut the following year but I didn’t completely hop on board with these guys until their Deathbomb Arc debut Splendor & Misery in 2016, which is a fantastic sci-fi odyssey. They returned around this time last year by dropping their magnum opus There Existed an Addiction to Blood & to celebrate it’s 1-year anniversary, Daveed & company are back with a sequel.

The intro talks about how the album will pick up where the last one left off over a dark ambient instrumental whereas the next song “Say the Name” retells the story of Clive Barker’s Candyman over an electro-industrial beat. After the “Wytchboard” interlude, the track “’96 Neve Campbell” with Cam & China pays tribute to the final girl characters in slasher films over a hyphy beat while the song “Something Underneath” talks about a monster lurking over a buzzing beat.

The track “Make Them Dead” talks about murder over a noise instrumental while the song “She Bad” gets flirtatious over a skittering beat. After the “Invocation” interlude, the track “Pain Everyday” gets paranormal over a breakcore instrumental while the song “Check the Lock” is a worthy sequel to the classic Seagram joint “Sleepin in My Nikes” with a deranged beat.

The track “Looking for Meat” with Ho99o9 sees the 2 groups talking about cannibalism over an industrial beat which & after the “Drove” interlude, the song “Eaten Alive” is a homage to the Tobe Hooper film of the same name over a hollow beat. The track “Body for the Pile” talks about murdering 3 cops over a harsh noise instrumental from Slickness & before ending off with the Yoko Ono-inspired “Secret Piece” outro, the final song “Enlacing” gets on the Lovecraftian tip over a cloudy beat.

Much like the new Alla Xul Elu album Mauxuleum that dropped the week before, I think Visions of Bodies Being Burned just goes to show how underappreciated horrorcore is in the hip hop culture. The concepts that Daveed bring to the table throughout have only leveled up in comparison to There Existed an Addiction to Blood & the trio’s production is a lot more darker as well.

Score: 4.5/5

clipping. – “There Existed an Addiction to Blood” review

clipping. is an experimental hip hop trio from Los Angeles, California consisting of Daveed Diggs on the mic as well as William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes both on production. They first came together in 2013 with their midcity mixtape, which eventually landed them a contract with Sub Pop Records & the label granting them a full-length debut the following year. However I didn’t completely hop on board with these guys until their Deathbomb Arc debut Splendor & Misery in 2016, which is a fantastic sci-fi odyssey. 3 years have since passed & the trio are coming back out of the shadows with their 3rd full-length album.

After the intro, we go into the first song “Nothing is Safe”. Where Daveed talks about the cops raiding a drug house over a darksynth beat that later incorporates some rattling hi-hats during the final hook. The track “He Dead” talks about being chased by the cops over a dark ambient instrumental & after the “Haunting” interlude, the song “La Mala Ordina” with Benny the Butcher & Elcamino of all people talks about the glorification of gangs in hip hop over an a dissonant beat.

The track “Club Down” talks about a venue being closed early over a paranormal instrumental & after the “Prophecy” interlude, the song “Run for Your Life” talks about being chased by a psychotic woman with La Chat providing a fantastic closing verse from her perspective over a beat that starts off minimal, but turns into a trunk knocker when La Chat comes in. The Show” paints a vivid picture of this red room that Daveed has found himself in over some electronics that tune in & out like a transmitter but after the “Possession” interlude, “All in Your Head” contains a great pimping/demonic possession metaphor in the lyrics albeit a pretty weak song structure.

The track “Blood of the Fang” speaks on racism over an industrial beat while the song “Story 7” tells the tale of a woman named Cynthia over a glitchy instrumental. The penultimate track “Attunement” provides food for thought over a chaotic instrumental & then the closer “Piano Burning” is literally the sound of a piano being engulfed in flames for 18 minutes.

This is a damn near perfect album just in time for the Halloween season. The interludes are just ok but the storytelling is vivid, the instrumentals are a lot darker & the guests are very well incorporated into the concept. Their best work to date, in my opinion.

Score: 4.5/5