Clipse is back, and the duo’s return is shaping up to be a glorious one.
Friday, Pusha T and Malice gave fans a taste of what they’ve packed up for the forthcoming Let God Sort Em Out, their first new album together in over 15 years. The album, including the just-released new single “Ace Trumpets,” is produced by Pharrell Williams. KAWS, meanwhile, has been enlisted to handle artwork and design for the Roc Nation-distributed release.
After a sampled voice tells us “This is culturally inappropriate,” King Push launches into the new track’s ballerinas-nodding chorus, followed by a first verse in which Yeezy gets a mention.
After comparing himself to Luigi (“White glove service with the brick”) and Houdini (“Sold ecstasy and disappeared”), Push, former G.O.O.D. Music president, seemingly mocks those who are “still waitin’ on Yeezy.” Early speculation is that this is a playful nod to the routinely long shipping times related to the artist formerly known as Kanye West’s recent run of YZY releases, with Push’s follow-up lines also interpreted as potential Ye digs in their own right.
Namely, Push mentions “interviews,” perhaps a reference to Ye’s recent remarks about Push and others, as well as appears to allude to Ye taking issue with the romantic target of Drake’s 2018 hit “In My Feelings.”
“Look at them, him and him, still waitin’ on Yeezy
I hope you got your squeegees
At your interviews, I just ki-ki
Life’s peachy, ASAP with RiRi
You rappers all beneath me, beloved like the Bee Gees
International flights connect me to the Wi-Fi
The only way you reach me”
Though it wasn’t immediately clear whether this was a response to the song itself, or just merely a well-timed social media update, Ye wrote on X on Friday that he missed his and Push’s “friendship.”
In the new Clipse track’s second verse, Malice takes the reins, tucking in expectedly clever mentions of Nirvana (“Drugs killed my teen spirit) and Lady Gaga. The latter, of course, is used as a euphemism for something that has remained a persistent lyrical presence as a driving narrative force across the Clipse catalog: cocaine. Here, Malice also nods to Gaga’s turn as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci.
Listen to “Ace Trumpets,” also featuring mentions of Big Meech and Lil Meech in the first verse (“Sins of the father so I call you little Meechies”), here and/or below.
Let God Sort Em Out is out July 11 and is currently available in a variety of formats on Complex Shop.
