Steve 'Flash' JuonIf you’re gen alpha and you don’t understand why “Let God Sort Em Out” had so many people old enough to be your parents excited, I get it. It’s been a long time since the first Clipse album debuted. 2002. An entire generation has come and gone (millennials) since Pharrell Williams gave them the sound that had everybody “Grindin'” like crazy once the beat dropped. If you remember those days and you weren’t already feeling old this fact won’t help — a full SIXTEEN YEARS passed between “Til the Casket Drops” and now. That’s what I want our younger readers to understand. The idea of Pusha T and Malice reuniting for another joint together seemed nigh impossible.
It’s not as though Gene Elliott Thornton Jr. and Terrence LeVarr Thornton had beef. They’re brothers. They’re family. Things changed after the third album failed to achieve their personal and professional goals. They explored recording solo albums, then Malice decided to follow a path of spirituality and change his name to “No Malice,” embracing religion and eschewing the sinfulness he saw in rap generally and his own life specifically. That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of another Clipse album. No matter how much the fans wanted it the brothers had amicably gone in different directions. With continued success as a solo act and his strong reputation as a guest star and freestyle battle rapper, what motivation did Pusha T even have to reunite with his big bro? Maybe it was up to Malice to make the first move and bring Clipse back together.
“I was the only one to walk away and really be free
As far as I’m concerned, I do really be he […]
Came back for the money, that’s the devil in me
Had to HYDE it from the church, that’s the Jekyll in me” – Malice
The strength of his bars on “P.O.V.” shows why Malice felt it was time. He can still talk his game and cash that check, so long as he can be honest with his brother and the listening audience about his internal conflicts. That’s so fundamental to “Let God Sort Em Out” that it can’t possibly be overstated. Clipse are not here to simply rehash their old glory, even when they tease it by having children perform the chorus of their most signature hit. These figurative and literal brothers have changed a lot since the early 2000’s, and for them to reunite with each other let alone their sonic architect Pharrell meant the music had to reflect who they ARE and not just who they WERE.
“Now I’m ten times the E.B.I.T.D.A
If you let the money talk, who speaking up
I’m sleepwalking, y’all don’t dream enough
My third passport, I ain’t seen enough” – Pusha T
On one level songs like “E.B.I.T.D.A.” feel like a throwback to their raw street dealer raps, but hidden in both the acronym and the lyrics are players who went from rookies to veterans. They didn’t just spend what they got like there was no tomorrow. They invested in themselves and their future and the evidence is found in “Let God Sort Em Out” being self-released. Hell getting Pharrell to produce an entire album in 2025 is a flex given how in demand he is and what he can afford to charge for a single beat. I’m sure since they are old friends everybody negotiated a favorable rate and may even share percentage points on album sales and streaming revenue. It’s none of my business how it works as long as the MUSIC works. Hearing Nas on the title track/”Chandeliers” I have no doubt it does.
“The pantheon is a family, we some upstanding G’s
The difference between regular spitters and bosses
My principles’ high
You need a glimpse of me from satellites in orbit”
It wasn’t enough for Clipse to reunite after 16 years. The brothers still did things together here and there even if it wasn’t whole albums. There wasn’t animosity keeping them apart — it was down to whether or not they could gel and recreate the spark that first took them to stardom. It’s there but like a whiskey aged in oak barrels it has matured over time. Pusha is still boisterous and Malice is still underrated, but even the title of “Let God Sort Em Out” shows us the truth. It’s an old saying that tends to be attributed to the wickedness of inquisitions in the middle ages — “kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out.” The Lord would know who deserved to go to heaven or hell and thus the murderer was absolved because he was simply an instrument of God.
Besides the fact that idea is a moral fallacy on its face its not what the brothers mean here. Whether you believe in faith as much as Malice or not, what’s been “sorted” here is their ability to work together, and if you listen closely each has taken cues from the other. Pusha is more thoughtful and Malice is more cocksure. Through the alchemy of Pharrell Williams the result is their finest work to date. I wouldn’t call this a Christian album, but I would call it a spiritual one. As impressive as the guest list is (Kendrick, Tyler, Nas, Stove God Cooks, The-Dream, et cetera) the most impressive thing here is that Clipse came back when rap needed them the most and didn’t half ass a single part of it just to cash a check.