balogun's Full Review: The Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang by Re-Up Gang
There really isn’t much difference between the Clipse and the Re-Up Gang. In fact, the latter is simply the Clipse—plus two members.
Not that it was meant to be, anyway. Embroiled in a litigation quagmire with their record label Jive that only lengthened the period between their first and second albums, the Clipse recruited Philadelphia natives Ab-Liva and Sandman (the former appeared in “Cot Damn” off Clipse’s 2002 debut Lord Willin’) and activated the Re-Up Gang. With the famed We Got it 4 Cheap mixtape series that followed, showcasing more of their trademark pyrex tales, the Clipse succeeded in keeping themselves imprinted in the minds of hardcore rap fans.
And that tactic has been extended for the period between the Clipse’s second and third albums. Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang does feel like an extension of We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 3, which was released earlier this year. In fact, three of the tracks—“Re-Up Gang Intro”, “Emotionless”, and “Show You How to Hustle”—are entries from this particular mixtape.
But hey, it doesn’t matter much if the music is good, right? For the most part, it is. Sure, you’ve heard it all before: These guys make it all seem like drug trafficking is the most glorious and profitable activity in the world (“Million Dollar Corner” is particularly named shamelessly). And for the most part, you can forget about the captivating conflict of their highly acclaimed sophomore effort, Hell Hath No Fury; only “Been Thru So Much” shows even a modicum of remorse, and even that song is followed by…“Still Got It 4 Cheap”. Yep, the late great Rick James said it best: Cocaine is one hell of a drug.
However, Malice and Pusha T have never been average lyricists, and when one combines that with more-than-competent boardwork, the album shines. Karl Maceo & J. Storm hook the crew up with the brittle melody of “Street Money”; Scott Storch provides the bouncy clap of “Fast Life”; Illfonics comes through with the foreboding confluence of strings and piano notes of “My Life’s the S**t”; and Sleepwalkers, responsible for half the beats here, shows up for the simmering horn assortment and quivering synths of “We Know”. Moreover, “Money” is an interesting remake of the beat for 50 Cent’s “I Get Money.” There are a few songs that fall short, though, like the slower numbers—“Bring It Back” and “Emotionless”—which suffer from corny, badly sung hooks and plodding instrumentals.
And one has to wonder how much longer the Clipse can keep this up, considering that the calls for a diversification of their subject matter has been around for a while now. Yes, notice that I omit the other members of the Re-Up Gang. Really, Ab-Liva and Sandman are afterthoughts in this album. They are merely okay: no more, no less. In fact, conspicuously enough, they are absent from the song billed as the first single, the Scott Storch-produced “Fast Life”, thus making this yet another album crafted more as a Clipse appetizer before the grand feast, rather than as a big break of a debut for the other crew members. Back to the Clipse: Despite the banging jingling beat and gritty hook of “Show You How to Hustle”, I can’t but help listening to portions of the chorus—“How you think I got it: the Benz, the hoes, the home?/[…]/B***h, I sell ‘caine!”—and think to myself, Hmm, I could have sworn their “riches” were gotten from, I dunno, their musical endeavors?
Clipse Presents: Re-Up Gang will undoubtedly—and momentarily—quench the hunger of the hardcore faithful waiting for the Clipse’s third album. Moreover, it is a nice straddle between mixtape grit and full-length polish. But in an era where like-minded rappers like Young Jeezy and Rick Ross, taking ample advantage of their long hiatuses between albums, have stolen most of their thunder by filling the voids and proving to be more commercially successful, the Clipse might want to look for untapped dimensions in their coke tales or expand their topical range. Unfortunately, at this point in their careers, that sounds like a very tall order.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Re-Up Gang Intro 2. Million Dollar Corner 3. Street Money 4. Fast Life 5. My Life’s the S**t 6. Bring It Back 7. Emotionless 8. We Know 9. Money 10. Been Thru So Much 11. Still Got It 4 Cheap 12. Show You How to Hustle
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