After the struggle Malice and Pusha T went through so that 2006’s excellent Hell Hath No Fury would see the light of day, it’s understandable that for its followup, the pair would attempt something more traditionally palatable than that album’s hardcore crime rap and alienating, minimalist production. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t help Til the Casket Drops.
Casket is essentially divided into thirds, where the brothers are either taking a much-deserved victory lap, pushing for crossover hits or engaging in the band’s typical tales of cocaine and money. As nice as it is to see the two branch out, they’re clearly best off feasting on their bread and butter (“Door Man”) than they are nibbling on the massive, popular dishes (the lamentable, Kanye West-assisted “Kinda Like a Big Deal”) and sampling the flashy, sustenance-free desserts (“I’m Good”).
The Neptunes, who gave Fury much of its alienated feel, handle six of the tracks on Casket, but even its contributions are glossier than its usual collaborations with Clipse, as it’s clear everyone involved is aiming for more than just critical success this time around. Whether they succeed remains to be seen, but the effort has produced Clipse’s first non-essential album.
Comments: 1
Chris DeLine wrote:
Casket is something different, but it's not bad. A few listens in and even the sleepers on the record start to pop, leaving the record sounding far more cohesive. Rather than comparing it to the Clipse's past records, comparing it to releases put out by other established artists this year leaves it sounding like a gem.
Saw them earlier this year and they kill it live; another thing that even some of the game's most revered veterans fail to do.
on Dec 11th, 2009 at 3:10pm Report Abuse
Post comment: (Login or Register)