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This EP was released on June 14th this year. I’ve only heard one song by clipping., and it was called Alarm Clock. I think. Maybe it was just called Alarm. It had “alarm” in the title. I don’t know for sure. Oh, I just looked it up. The song is called Get Up. Anyway, as you can already tell, I’m not really familiar with clipping. at all. I don’t really listen to that much experimental Hip Hop, but I find it incredibly interesting. The only experimental Hip Hop that I really listen to is Death Grips. I don’t even really listen to Death Grips that much tho. There are only a handful of Death Grips songs that I can enjoy. Oh, I guess I should tell y’all who clipping. actually is. clipping. is an L.A. Hip Hop group consisting of three members: Daveed Diggs—he actually starred in the Broadway musical, Hamilton—William Hutson, and Jonathon Snipes. I’ve never heard any music from any of them, aside from that Get Up song I mentioned earlier. I know Daveed Diggs is an MC. I don’t know what the other two guys do tho. I really don’t know what to expect. You’re not really supposed to know what to expect before listening to experimental Hip Hop tho. I’m pretty excited for this. I might not be able to enjoy the music, but I know that whatever I’m about to hear is gonna be really interesting. This won’t be a boring project. There weren’t any outside producers featured on this project. I think Jonathon Snipes & William Hutson are producers. So yeah. That’s why you don’t see any production credits.

Track 1: Intro

Would Because The Internet be considered experimental Hip Hop? I love that album. I guess people consider Yeezus to be an experimental Hip Hop album too. So I guess I do have a LITTLE experience with experimental Hip Hop. Not nearly as much as I should tho. Anyway, this track is starting now. Alright, Daveed Diggs is goin’ in right away. It’s an acapella track. Well, there IS background noise. It sounds like he recorded this on a street corner. His flow is fucking bananas. Oh shit. The verse just ended. The song ends with a LOUD ass noise. I don’t know what that was. “Noise” is really the only word I can use to describe it. This track is honestly amazing. Just in terms of his technical ability, Daveed Diggs is a top tier MC. He fuckin’ killed this shit. Not only was his flow fucking incredible, but the shit he was saying was actually really dope too. I don’t see how you could listen to this track, and then argue that he’s a talentless MC. He ripped this shit to shreds. I guess this is basically a Spoken Word track. I feel like I should still rate it. This is one of the few times that I feel like I’d wanna listen to a Spoken Word track more than once. “The bulb in the street light flickerin’ a little bit / I hope the bitch don’t burn out / It’s the last beatin’ heart in this city in the dark / And that’s something you don’t wanna know about.” I probably shouldn’t rate this shit since it isn’t a full song, but, for what it’s worth, this shit is dope af.

Track 2: Shooter

This beat is dope af. I love how they used guns cocking and firing as the percussion. This shit is so fuckin’ gangsta. The first verse was great. The hook is pretty simplistic, but it works. This is awesome. I don’t even know what to say. It’s not like Death Grips. Death Grips is so fucking weird that you don’t even know what the fuck you’re listening to. I feel like even people who listen to really trendy club music could get into this. The production isn’t inaccessible. The average producer wouldn’t make a beat like this, but I don’t think it’s so different that the average listener couldn’t enjoy it. Nothing about this song is jarring. It’s not even as weird as I thought it was gonna be. It has a simple structure. There are still three verses with a recital of the hook in between each one. The shit he’s rapping about isn’t even super hard to understand. It’s definitely experimental, but I don’t think it would do poorly with a mainstream audience. I don’t know tho. He’s not singing on the hook with autotune, so maybe I’m wrong. I think this song is more accessible than anything on Yeezus tho. At least everything on this song fits together musically. I don’t have anything negative to say about this track. The production was fantastic, and the verses from Daveed Diggs were gangsta as shit. I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 3: Back Up Feat. ANTWON & Signor Benedick The Moor

Oh, Shabazz Palaces is experimental too. Huh. I guess I’ve heard more experimental Hip Hop than I thought. I still haven’t heard enough tho. This song is starting now. ANTWON is on the first verse. Okay, this is more of what I was originally expecting to hear. The production is very harsh sounding. I’m not completely sure what the first verse from ANTWON is about. “Yellin’ in a telephone under the covers / Slipped in the shower now the light’ll take me under.” This track is nowhere near as accessible as the previous track. The hook from Daveed is pretty cool. This… What the fuck? What… WHAT THE FUCK? That verse from Signor Benedick was weird as hell. It’s not bad… I like it… I think… It’s just really weird. Lemme see. His verse was definitely easier to understand. It’s just that his delivery was really weird. It actually reminded me a lot of Pink Guy’s verse on Cal Chuchesta’s Cocoa remix. I’m tryin’ to figure out what the fuck this song is about. It sounds like Signor Benedick’s rappin’ about some parties… These guys are smokin’ crack… Or snorting coke… Or both. This… Okay, there are a lot of drugs at this party. This amateur porn star who’s about to lose her job is meeting some guy at a club. She’s getting fucked by the guy… I can’t really tell if it’s consensual or not… She pulled out a sword and stabbed the guy. That’s Signor Benedick’s verse. His verse ends after the guy gets stabbed. What the fuck is happening in this song? I mean, I think I understood Signor Benedick’s verse, but it was really random. What does that have to do with what ANTWON was talkin’ about? Maybe I’ll understand after Daveed’s verse ends. I’ve been sitting in this wooden chair at Barnes & Noble for like three hours, and now my ass is starting to hurt. I think I’ll try to find another seat after I finish this review. Okay, Daveed’s goin’ in now. Ummm… Okay, his verse just ended. He mentioned another girl who was on bath salts. I really don’t know what to make of this song. It’s just a bunch of crazy drug addicts harming each other. Maybe that’s all it’s supposed to be about. I really don’t know. Even though I have no idea what this song’s purpose is, I really enjoyed it. The harsh percussion actually fits really well with the druggy theme of the song. The verses were difficult to understand, but it’s fun to try and interpret what the lyrics mean. That definitely helps to increase the replay value for me. I actually fuck with this song. Again, this song is nowhere near as accessible as the previous track, but I enjoyed it personally. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 4: Wriggle

YESSS. This beat is fucking incredible. I have no idea where this sample is from, but once you see how it’s chopped up, you’ll understand why I like it so much. I love how they always use random sounds like that instead of actual drums for the percussion. Oh my fucking God. This production is insane. It’s really fast paced, and Daveed’s flow is somehow keeping up perfectly. This is amazing. This is fucking crazy. I guess he’s telling this chick to “wriggle like an eel,” so he’s basically telling her to dance. His fucking flow is on another level tho. He’s rapping about having sex. Wow. It’s really fucked up. The production and his flow are so fucking good that I don’t even mind the weird ass, masochistic lyrics. In the wise words of Anthony Fantano, “if I was into BDSM, this would be the soundtrack.” This is one of those creepy ass songs where you aren’t really sure whether the MC is rapping about sex or fucking murdering someone. “Get slapped / Can’t run / Bring it back / Tighten up / Stay strapped / Make it red / Make it clap / Clamp that mouth shut / Bounce for your boy / Rip for your girl / Scream for your life.” This shit is weird as fuck. Every track on this EP just gets weirder and weirder. I fucking love this song tho. The lyrics made me a little uncomfortable, but the production was amazing. Same goes for his flow. He killed this shit. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 5: Hot Fuck No Love Feat. Cakes Da Killa & Maxi Wild

What the fuck… You know what? I’m not gonna think about that title too much. I’m just gonna start the song. This production is dope af. Oh God… I don’t know about this one, man. These lyrics… He’s just rapping about having really nasty sex. Not my kinda song. He’s talkin’ about rim jobs and stickin’ fingers up people’s booty holes. Nah. I can’t do that. I can’t listen to shit like that. This is the kinda shit I’d expect to hear from Tech N9ne. I’m so uncomfortable right now. Cakes Da Killa is rapping about some really fucked up shit. I guess he’s an LGBT artist, which is cool, but I personally can’t fuck with this shit. “Let me lick your sack while we’re listening to Cassie.” Don’t get it twisted; it’s not because he’s homosexual. I wouldn’t wanna hear this kinda shit if a woman was saying it either. I just really don’t like songs about sex. “Wooden paddle on bare cheeks.” Lmao. Nah. His flow was cool, but other than that I’m not feelin’ this. These interludes from Maxi Wild are just as disturbing. “You know, I do have really pretty feet, and maybe I can just rub them all over you.” I can’t take this shit. This song is musical masochism. “Masturbating; the dick is chafing / Where’s the lotion?” Alright, I’m done with this song man. I can’t fuck with this shit at all. What the fuck is this? This song is bad. Honestly, the only reason I’m not giving this song a 1 outta 5 is because the beat was dope, and their flows was crazy. This isn’t a good song tho. I can’t fuck with this shit at all. This is wack. 2/5

Track 6: Our Time Feat. Nailah Middleton

Woah. This beat is really weird. It doesn’t even really feel like a proper beat. It’s just a sonic backdrop. It doesn’t really have any cadence. Daveed sounds great over it tho. It’s super weird. He just sang like two bars, and it sounded so fucking awesome. This is weird as hell. Trying to describe this song is like trying to describe a nightmare that you barely remember. It sounds like he’s rapping about some guy who’s obsessed with a girl that doesn’t love him back. Or… Maybe not… I’m really having a hard time grasping this shit. It just ended. I actually really like this shit. I love the way Daveed was rhyming on this shit. It’s kinda like the third track. I don’t really understand what the song is supposed to be about, but the way he’s rapping is super intriguing. I just wanna keep listening to it until I know what he’s talking about. I can’t even explain why, but I really like this shit. Nailah Middleton did her thing on the hook. I don’t even know what to say. This shit is just super dope to me. I definitely fuck with this shit. This is dope af. 5/5

Final Thoughts:

This EP is great. I don’t even really listen to that much experimental Hip Hop, so that probably means that this shit is more accessible than most experimental Hip Hop projects. The production on this tape is fucking incredible. The rapping is fucking incredible too. I just had a problem with some of the subject matter. I really don’t like hearing songs about sex. This shit got really vulgar and fucked up. This EP is great for the most part tho. Daveed Diggs is a super talented MC. I feel bad for not listening to him before now. His flow is pristine, and his lyrics are super poetic. He’s a great songwriter. I feel like he could do that mainstream, trendy sound really well if he tried too. I’m glad he doesn’t go that route tho. This shit is too unique and too good for him to be doing that. So yeah. I highly recommend this shit. If you’ve never heard any experimental Hip Hop, I think you should at least give this shit a try. Just skim a few tracks, and see what you think. It’s dope to me. I fuck with this EP.

Favorite Song: Our Time

Least Favorite Song: Hot Fuck No Love

Verdict:

84%

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