On Friday, Clipse unleashed their first album in over 15 years, Let God Sort Em Out. The eagerly anticipated project boasts various impressive features from the likes of Nas, Tyler The Creator, John Legend, and more. Kendrick Lamar also serves up one of the most applauded verses of the project on "Chains & Whips."
Clipse dropped a music video today to accompany the powerful track, directed by Gabriel Moses. Kendrick doesn't appear in the newly-released visual, but both Pusha T and Malice do.
So far, Let God Sort Em Out has been received well, but creating it didn't come without its challenges. During an interview with GQ in June, for instance, Pusha T shared that their old label Def Jam took issue with Kendrick's verse. Ultimately, he said this led to Clipse's decision to leave the label and sign a deal with Roc Nation instead.
Clipse Let God Sort Em Out
When asked exactly what about the verse Def Jam had a problem with, Pusha T revealed that it had nothing to do with Drake. Instead, it was a reference to President Donald Trump.
"They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing," he explained. "And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, 'We'll just drop the Clipse.' But that can't work because I'm still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go..."
"They pinpointed a line where the phrase 'trump card' was used," he continued. "So stupid. The phrase 'trump card' was used and they said that they didn't want any problems with [Donald] Trump or something like that." Pusha T even told The Joe Budden Podcast this month that Kendrick wanted to be on a second track from the album, "So Be It." He sent in his verse for "Chains & Whips" first, explaining why it made the cut.
