Third and final album as The Clipse by Virginia Beach’s Gene & Terrence Thornton, on vinyl for the first time! Til The Casket Drops is a victory lap, lacking much of the gritty urgency of The Clipse’s first two records and We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 1 & 2 (still the gold standard for street mixtapes). You can hear the seeds of Malice’s highly-publicized exit from the rap game and Pusha T’s illustrious solo career alongside Kanye West being sown. The album is notable for being the first time the duo chose to work with producers other than Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. The Neptunes still handle the bulk of the production, with Diddy & The Hitmen-affiliated beatsmiths Sean C & LV (fresh off their work on Jay-Z’s American Gangster LP) and DJ Khalil each turning in a handful of beats that conjure the tri-state boom bap magic of the We Got It 4 Cheap series (“Never Will It Stop,” “There Was A Murder”). But the album’s best moments come when Chad and Pharrell are behind the boards (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). Lead single “I’m Good” remains one of the duo’s finest productions (even if Push & Mal sound like they’re doing Young Jeezy by numbers over top of it); also check out “Champion” & “Life Change” for proof. Released on CD and digital formats dead in the middle of the Serato era, when hip-hop DJs abandoned the vinyl format overnight in favor of the portability of a laptop, this pressing marks the first time the album appears on wax. Gatefold sleeve with KAWS album cover and extensive liner notes on the inside.

• first time on vinyl
• KAWS-designed gatefold sleeve
• music label: Get On Down 2009 / 2017

reviewed by mayor of hounslow 08/2017