Pusha T and Malice of Clipse are set to put out their long-awaited reunion album Let God Sort Em Out later this year, and the impending release is causing them to look backwards — including at one notable moment involving Kanye West.
In a Rolling Stone article released on Wednesday (September 4), King Push recalled the first time he’d worked with his brother in almost ten years: when they went to Wyoming to work with Kanye on the Jesus Is King album.
Push recalled the time as frustrating, saying that Ye would “nix” his ideas. But during that trip, the Thornton brothers recorded over the beat that would eventually become Jesus Is King‘s “Follow God.”
“He gave us the beat,” Pusha says of Kanye in the piece. “Forgot about the beat. We working on the records.”
“We laid [vocals] to it,” Malice recalls.
Then, Pusha remembers: “Kanye was like, ‘I need that back.’”
Despite that obstacle, Clipse did manage to get one song of the Wyoming sessions: “Use This Gospel,” a collaboration with Yeezy and smooth jazz titan Kenny G that is the penultimate track on Jesus Is King.
The new Clipse record is nearly complete, but the duo is still waiting on one unnamed person.
Appearing on the Ghetto Runways podcast in an episode published last Wednesday (August 28), Push confirmed the project is locked and loaded. They’re just missing a single feature.
“I’m so excited about this new Clipse album,” he said. “That’s what I’m on right now. It’s absolutely finished. Just waiting on a feature. Just waiting on a feature, bro. Just one feature.”
Pharrell Teases Unreleased Clipse Music
Back in June, Pusha T and No Malice corroborated the rumors about a new Clipse project and revealed that it’s produced entirely by longtime collaborator Pharrell.
Talking to Vulture, the siblings went into detail about what will be their first album since 2009’s Til the Casket Drops.
“I think the album shows the supreme maturation of a rap duo,” Push began. “I think this is where you get the difference between taste and filler. This music is curated. This is a high taste-level piece of work. You can only have that level of taste when you have the fundamentals down to a science. I think it’s been definitely missing. Then there’s the competitive aspect.”
His brother added: “This is smart basketball. It’s fundamentals. And not only that, it’s authenticity. It’s what rap should look like if you’re real about your craft, real about your experience, real about your storytelling. It’s bringing the fans along to see the growth, not trying to fit in or fabricate.”