CLPPNG may be one of the most exciting and electrifying rap albums of the year, but their extension of the Bomb Squad aesthetic is also definitely not for the faint of heart.
There isn’t really anything on CLPPNG as grating and challenging as “Get Up,” but that song is a clear enough indicator that producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes are not making music for the faint of heart or tender of ear.
Instead of becoming rap pariahs with topsy-turvy beats and art-school interpretations, they’re involving themselves in the traditional, helping push the frontier of a bustling genre.
It is replete with sheet-metal distortion, 808s that bang like helicarriers under missile fire, and ferociously-spit double-time lyrics.
CLPPNG makes a sterling argument for the intersection of noise and hip-hop tropes.
Shattered remnants of familiar sounds surface far more frequently on this follow-up, but this isn't about dumbing down. 'CLPPNG' is anything but subtle, but it’s a lot more settled than Midcity.
Clipping's nightmare is riveting, particularly during its sweat-inducing peak 'Get Up', which uses an alarm clock as a beat underneath breakneck verses.
On CLPPNG, the songs that come between these bookends are more diverse, fully-realized, and at times accessible than those found on Midcity.
CLPPNG is all about the warped sounds coming from the trio’s twisted minds, not outside influences.
Even when the songs sound coherent and have some interesting moments, the jarring beats still come on as incessantly aggressive with no actual power, inspiration, or deeper statement driving the noise.
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