‘Let God Sort Em Out’ is a lot of things — the first Clipse record since 2009, a reunion of brothers, even side quest in the Kendrick Lamar-Drake saga — but chiefly it is a thunderous reaffirmation of their signature sound: coke rap.
The Virginia duo of Pusha T and his brother Malice, here resurrected from Christian hiatus as No Malice, have had to dig their heels in to get this long-awaited comeback out there. ‘Let God Sort Em Out’ has been subject to label wrangling, with Kendrick’s appearance on the bruising Chains and Whips reportedly rattling execs at Universal, still bobbing in the roiling wake of Pusha’s searing 2018 Drake diss track The Story of Adidon and Kendrick’s own Not Like Us, to the extent that Clipse walked from their deal.
That backdrop might threaten to overshadow the record itself but it doesn’t — this is rhythmically deft and sonically unpredictable work.
Pharrell, who helped elevate Clipse’s sound two decades ago, returns with a score that warps gospel, mangles brass, and toys with dissonance. Tracks like E.B.I.T.D.A churn with retro shuffling, while Inglorious Bastards hurls horn motifs into kaleidoscopic chaos.
A few tracks into the album, No Malice appears to shed the ‘No’ and get back on the good stuff, but he’s conflicted. His rhymes balance moral ambiguity and poetic lucidity while Pusha T, as per, sculpts menace into elegance. On Ace Trumpets, he snarls, “You rappers all beneath me,” with the conviction of a man who means it.
But this track is representative of one of the record’s few bum notes. It is formed around a sample of a woman with what sounds like an AI-generated English accent saying, ‘This is culturally inappropriate’. It sounds like it was created for the record, and this somehow seems to devalue the whole thing.
This might sound like a minor detail but the use of a sample in this context is meant to set up a rapper as anti- to something: a defiant satirist or an off-grid outlaw or both. If it sounds like you’ve created it yourself, you risk looking a bit silly. Hip hop is littered with such confections, but you need to cover your tracks better.
Still, it’s still a terrific return from the duo. Clipse once fused street grit with Neptunes polish, but they now add experience, perspective and a bit more emotional texture to their palette.
Clipse Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Sun November 09 2025 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Mon November 10 2025 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy
Wed November 12 2025 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
Thu November 13 2025 - LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
