Clipping | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, United States [1] |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
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| Members |
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| Website | www |
Clipping (stylized as clipping.) is an American experimental hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group consists of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. [4]
Diggs and Hutson met in grade school, and Hutson and Snipes were college roommates. [5] The group began in 2009 as a remix project, with Hutson and Snipes taking a cappellas of mainstream rap artists and making power electronics and noise remixes of them to amuse themselves. Diggs joined in 2010 and began to write his own raps over their compositions. [6] They self-released their debut mixtape, midcity , on their website on February 5, 2013. [7] Though their expectations were low, and despite minimal promotion, the album was well-received, and five months later, they signed to Sub Pop. Their first album, CLPPNG , was released on June 10, 2014. [6]
The group does not see their abrasive sound as a rejection of mainstream hip hop or reaction against it, but as part of a hip hop tradition, including the likes of Dr. Dre and Public Enemy producers The Bomb Squad, who experimented with production and also used harsh, musique concrète-esque techniques in their music. Similarly, they think of themselves as a rap group rather than industrial-rap, noise-rap, or other mash-up genres. [6]
On June 14, 2016, they released an EP, Wriggle . [8] They then released their second studio album, Splendor & Misery , later on September 9. [9] A science fiction concept album, Splendor & Misery was nominated for the 2017 Hugo Awards in the category of "Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)" on April 4, 2017. [10]
In 2017, the group released a single, "The Deep". The song was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2018, their second consecutive nomination in the "Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)" category. [11]
On September 28, 2018, the group's song "Stab Him in the Throat" was released as part of The Rick and Morty Soundtrack. This album was released by Sub Pop and Adult Swim and featured songs from episodes of Rick and Morty .
On August 14, 2019, the group released a lyric video to YouTube for a new song titled "Nothing Is Safe", which borrowed heavily from the aesthetics of 1970s and '80s horror films like Halloween and the soundtrack works of John Carpenter. This was coupled with the announcement that their third full-length record, There Existed an Addiction to Blood , would be released on October 18 of the same year. [12]
On September 12, 2019, a second lyric video was released to YouTube to promote There Existed an Addiction to Blood. The track, titled "La Mala Ordina" featured guest appearances from rappers Elcamino and Benny the Butcher, with additional production from noise artist The Rita. [13]
On October 3, 2019, a music video for the track "Blood of the Fang" was released to YouTube to promote There Existed an Addiction to Blood.
On November 29, 2019, the band released a three-song EP further exploring the world of "The Deep". The EP was also further developed into a novel of the same name by writer Rivers Solomon; the members of Clipping are listed as co-authors. The Deep won the Lambda Literary Award for science fiction, and was nominated for Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards.
On June 19, 2020, they released the track "Chapter 319" on Bandcamp, along with a previously SoundCloud-only track "Knees on the Ground", with all proceeds from the sales donated to organizations dedicated to racial justice. "Chapter 319" was recorded during the protests after the murder of George Floyd, while "Knees on the Ground" was originally recorded after the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014.
On August 26, 2020, they announced the album Visions of Bodies Being Burned , a companion piece to There Existed an Addiction to Blood; they also released the single "Say the Name" on the same day. The album was released on October 23 through Sub Pop.
On November 1, 2020, on their YouTube channel, they livestreamed a performance of the first variation of the socialist anthem The People United Will Never Be Defeated! – playing on a tape recorder, under a small flame, on loop, with the picture slowly distorting – until the 2020 United States presidential election was called. The performance was for a movement called "#BeginWithTheBallot" by Alarm Will Sound. [14]
On December 4, 2020, Daveed Diggs released a video in partnership with the Disney Channel entitled "Puppy for Hanukkah". The track was produced by Clipping bandmates Hutson and Snipes. [15] On December 25, 2020, a music video for the track "Piano Burning" was released to YouTube to promote There Existed an Addiction to Blood.
On September 21, 2022, the band announced and released the first of a series of four remix EPs to be released every Wednesday through October 12 via Sub Pop. The first, Remxng 2.1, features remixing artists including Loraine James, Bogdan Raczynski, and Lauren Bousfield. [16]
On September 12, 2024, the group released the new single "Run It", with their Bandcamp page announcing it would be the first single from their new album that looks to combine hip-hop with Cyberpunk elements for an upcoming 2025 release. [17]
The group has drawn comparisons to the likes of Dälek, Death Grips, My Bloody Valentine, [4] Tim Hecker and Shabazz Palaces. [18] The Guardian described their sound as "the sort of shrill thrills you imagine could function as incidental soundtrack music for a documentary about abattoirs or might conceivably be the work of a young band intent on twisting industrial metal into brutal new shapes. With rapping on top." [4] Rolling Stone called them "[n]imble-tongued, beat-fractured L.A. hip-hop spilled over the abrasive crunches, squeals, clangs, slurps, and static of experimental musique concrète." [19]
As part of their experimental style, the band adhere to certain stylistic limitations. Their instrumentation is derived from real world samples (e.g. using recordings of bottles being hit or bricks breaking) instead of traditional instruments. Similarly, Diggs writes his rap in second or third person – all 'I, me' language is off limits. [20] This restriction is not extended to guests and collaborators. [21]
Horrorcore, also called horror hip hop, horror rap, death hip hop, death rap, or murder rap is a subgenre of hip hop music based on horror-themed and often darkly transgressive lyrical content and imagery. Its origins derived from certain hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap artists, such as the Geto Boys, Gravediggaz, and Three 6 Mafia, which began to incorporate supernatural, occult, and psychological horror themes into their lyrics. Horrorcore is mostly designed to evoke fear and panic out of a listener rather than disgust. Unlike most hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap artists, horrorcore artists often push the violent content and imagery in their lyrics beyond the realm of realistic urban violence, to the point where the violent lyrics become gruesome, ghoulish, unsettling, inspired by slasher films or splatter films. While exaggerated violence and the supernatural are common in horrorcore, the genre also frequently presents more realistic yet still disturbing portrayals of mental illness and drug abuse. Some horrorcore artists eschew supernatural themes or exaggerated violence in favor of more subtle and dark psychological horror imagery and lyrics.
Aaron Embry is an American songwriter and record producer. A periodic studio musician and touring pianist with artists such as Elliott Smith and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, he has also helped write albums by Jane's Addiction and produced albums by artists such as Avi Buffalo. In 2012 he released his solo album Tiny Prayers on Vagrant Records.
Shearwater is an American indie rock band from Austin, Texas, led by multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Jonathan Meiburg, a singer-songwriter. The band's music is notable for its imagery based in nature, cerebral yet intimate melodic songs, as well as Meiburg's vocals.
Captain Ahab was an American electronic music duo based in Los Angeles, California. They referred to their DIY take on jumpstyle and electropop music as "ravesploitation". The band was made up of producer/vocalist Jonathan Snipes and hype man Jim Merson.
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, better known by his stage name Macklemore, is an American rapper. A native of Seattle, Washington, he started his career in 2000 as an independent artist releasing: Open Your Eyes (2000), The Language of My World (2005), and The Unplanned Mixtape (2009). He rose to international success collaborating with producer Ryan Lewis as the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (2009–2016).
Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro. Much of the Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Tendai "Baba" Maraire, son of mbira master Dumisani Maraire. Active since 2009, Shabazz Palaces has released five studio albums on Sub Pop after self-releasing two EPs.
Carlos López Estrada is a Mexican-American filmmaker, music video director, commercial director, theatre director, and actor. Born in Mexico, he moved to the United States when he was 12 and later enrolled at Chapman University.
Midcity is the official debut mixtape by experimental hip hop group Clipping. It was independently self-released on February 5, 2013.
CLPPNG is the debut studio album by American hip hop group clipping. It was released on June 10, 2014, through Sub Pop as the follow-up to their debut mixtape midcity. The album has guest appearances from Gangsta Boo, King T, Cocc Pistol Cree, Guce, Mariel Jacoda and Tom Erbe.
Algiers is an American-English post-punk band from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, formed in 2012. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan, Lee Tesche, and Matt Tong. Algiers pulls from a divergent number of musical influences; the most notable of which being post-punk, hip-hop, Southern Gothic literature, and the concept of the Other. Their sound has been described as dystopian soul due to its somber mood, afrofolk inspired vocal approach, and heavy emphasis on atonal textures.
Daveed Daniele Diggs is an American actor, rapper, and singer-songwriter. He is the vocalist of the experimental hip hop group Clipping, and in 2015, he originated the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical Hamilton, for which he won a 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. Along with the main cast of Hamilton, he was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in the same year.
Splendor & Misery is the second studio album by experimental hip hop group clipping., released on September 9, 2016. The music video for "Baby Don't Sleep" was released on July 26, 2016. The second single and music video "Air 'Em Out" was released on August 24, 2016.
Natalie Laura Mering, known professionally as Weyes Blood, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She was primarily raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She has been performing her own material under variations of the name Weyes Blood since 2003.
Wriggle is an EP by American experimental hip hop group clipping. Released on June 14, 2016, through Sub Pop record label, it features appearances from artists such as Antwon and Cakes da Killa. The EP consists of tracks that were originally recorded for the group's 2014 debut album CLPPNG but could not be finished in time for its release.
Cartel Madras is a Canadian hip hop duo from Calgary, Alberta, consisting of sisters Bhagya "Eboshi" Ramesh and Priya "Contra" Ramesh. They characterize their music as "Goonda Rap" and began their career uploading songs to SoundCloud.
Lee Tae-yong, known mononymously as Taeyong, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, and dancer. He is a member and leader of South Korean boy band NCT under SM Entertainment, having debuted in the group's first sub-unit, NCT U, in 2016 and becoming the leader of its second sub-unit, NCT 127, later that year. In 2019, he debuted as a member of the South Korean supergroup SuperM, a joint project under SM Entertainment and Capitol Records. As a songwriter, Taeyong has participated in writing over 40 songs in four languages, released mostly by NCT's various units and himself as a soloist. He made his official solo debut in June 2023 with his EP Shalala, making him the first soloist from NCT.
There Existed an Addiction to Blood is the third studio album by American hip hop group clipping. It was released on October 18, 2019 through Sub Pop. It received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Freestyle Love Supreme is an improvisational hip-hop comedy musical group started by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale in 2004 and directed by Thomas Kail. In 2022, the group completed a Broadway musical run at the Booth Theatre.
Visions of Bodies Being Burned is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group clipping. It was released on October 23, 2020 through Sub Pop. It received positive reviews from music critics.
The Deep is a 2019 fantasy book by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. It depicts an underwater society built by the water-breathing descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships. The book was developed from a song of the same name by Clipping, an experimental hip-hop trio. It won the Lambda Literary Award, and was nominated for Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.
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