"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
While William Congreve did not become a household name with his 1697 play The Mourning Bride, this quote from the play became a legend in the English language. We have since transformed it into "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." What we know for sure is that it is indeed true. Hell cannot match up to the fury of a woman's bitching, whining, pestering, and refusal to cooperate.
Just kidding. That is a topic for another day.
Malice and Pusha T (Gene and Terrence Thornton), the duo hailing from Virginia and collectively known as Tha Clipse, have been spittin' the pyrex bars for a pretty minute. From my review of their 2002 major debut Lord Willin’, I'm sure you remember the story of their journey through the industry. Coming up through the game with the help of the then-unknown production team known as The Neptunes, Clipse signed a deal with Elektra Records in '97 and everything seemed promising; but what's this? Their album was shelved and that was that.
Exclusive Audio Footage never saw the light of day and has become a lost gem in the record industry. As the Neptunes crawled their way up into fame, this allowed the Thornton brothers to be in a better position to finally get some exposure.
Lord Willin' hit in the summer of 2002, backed by two strong singles, "Grindin'" and "When The Last Time." Finally, it seemed things were looking up and that their troubles were behind them - Doh! Their home at Arista Records was no longer secure as there were some complications within a company merger, which prompted Arista to warp into its sister label, Jive Records. Since 2003, Malice and Pusha were hard at work on their sophomore offering. Only then, in late 2006, were they able to put it out. Was it worth the wait?
Yes it fuckin' was. Tha Clipse struck back and they did it with a fury (no pun intended). Yes, you could say they still haven't changed their choice of subject matter, but why do that when you are the one who does it best? There is nobody touching the Clipse right now on the pyrex bars. Listening to them is a guilty pleasure, as I find myself nodding my head to the glorification of cocaine sales, but you know why I do it? Pusha T and Malice are talented rappers, simple as that. Young Jeezy can try to be "The Snowman" and rap about pushin' weight, or he can rap about whatever he wants - he'll still sounds like trash. Hip Hop is a new battlefield.
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