Third and final album from Gene & Terrence Thornton as The Clipse, on vinyl for the first time! Til The Casket Drops is somewhat of a victory lap, lacking much of the gritty urgency that pervaded Clipse’s first two albums and We Got It 4 Cheap Volumes 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 Sean C & LV 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 further proof. Released on CD and digital formats dead in the middle of the Serato era, when hip-hop DJs abandoned the vinyl format in favor of the portability of a laptop overnight, this pressing marks the first time the album appears on wax. Gatefold sleeve with KAWS album cover and extensive liner notes on the inside.

• black vinyl pressing
• first time on vinyl
• KAWS-designed gatefold sleeve
• original release year: 2009
• music label: Get On Down 2017

reviewed by mayor of hounslow 08/2017