The Best of 2006: #18

Clipse
Hell Hath No Fury

As was made clear by Robert Pollard's inclusion yesterday, album art doesn't factor into the Factual Opinion's opinion of an album.  Still, the sheer-hideousness of Hell Hath No Fury, an album so long delayed that somebody, at some point, knew better, is something that can't go un-remarked upon.  Beyond the ugliness of the cash money wallpaper or the so-lame-they're-skip-past-funny-back-to-lame crowns, any self-respecting human above the age of 6 knows better than to sit on the door to the oven.  It's dangerous, and you will break it, and oven's are expensive.  Regardless of a rapper's skill at wordsmithery or beat selection, how is one supposed to trust their intelligence if they're this foolhardy with their mothers things?  This is not a question to be glossed over, but as we've received nothing but an (imagined) "No comment" from the Clipse camp, we won't be able to continue the discussion any longer.  We do after all, have some beats to talk about: some of the best hip-hop beats in a long time, courtesy of the Neptunes who, after the last N.E.R.D. album, were wrongly imagined to have lost complete control over their faculties in favor of basing their life around that Jay-Z video from Rush Hour.  While the lyrics, courtesy of Malice and Pusha-T aren't that far removed from what seemed so groundbreaking on the We Got It For Cheap series, Clipse still sound great; and there's a certain grudging "If it ain't broke..." attitude that's well-exemplified here.  Still, with this level of production, and tracks like "Keys Open Doors" jumping out (one of the few tracks where the duo match the Neptunes toe-to-toe on an experimental playing field); Clipse doesn't seem that willing to do much beyond the normal with the beats they've received.  Unlike We Got It For Cheap, where it was Pusha-T and Malice who built mountains out of cheap casio sounds, they're overwhelmed by the Neptunes minimalist dub-sound.  If this were XXL magazine (it's not, in case you're confused) than this would be the album of the year: but when it came down to it, Hell Hath No Fury didn't sound like the kind of album that hip-hop's been dying for right now, and in a field where ambition and arrogance aren't just commonplace, but required, Hell is just awesome--and awesome ain't enough. 

-Tucker Stone, 2006

After you get finished sputtering in a rage that Clipse didn't end up in the top five, relax and listen to Jay-Z's Kingdom Come and J Dilla's (Shining and Donuts)--another couple of items where the hype (and the hate) was totally out of proportion to the actual album.

Comments

[Squidhelmet]

This album ain't awesome enough for what? To make it in the top five? Ain't awesome enough for hip hop right now?

[andre]

this position of this album is exactly why "ranking art" is pointless...marty brown, your name rhymes with thumbs down!

[Roxy]

This is the WORST HIP HOP ALBUM I've listened to this year. Fucking awful.