I submitted this for the first issue of Drum but, unbeknowst to me, did so after the deadline. Annoying. But here it is now in its glory. GLORY!

CLIPSE - LORD WILLIN'
Eclipsed?

No one needs to be reminded that 2002 was the Neptunes’ year, and that 2003 looks to be heading the same way. The King Midases (King Midi?) of hip-pop keep on churning out hits with an unremitting constancy and consistency that defies logic. Long-time associates Clipse are the latest lucky recipients of a dose of the good stuff from the ‘toons stud farm. Now how heavy is that…?*

*The preceding 68 words are almost certainly the kind of thing that Clipse are by now heartily sick of reading about themselves. Brothers Pusha-T and Malice face the prospect of being equally cursed and blessed by virtue of their connections. Featuring as credibility-candy on Justin Timberlake’s sumptuous solo hit ‘Like I Love You’ has certainly done their profile no harm. And having production ubermenschen Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo at the desk for the duration of their debut album is as close to a guarantee of quality as is possible. But….

But in order to keep their heads above water in such exalted company, we need Clipse to rap up a sonic storm, or risk being left floundering in the creative wake of their compadres. And, while on tracks such as ‘Grindin’ and ‘Ma, I Don’t Love Her’, they successfully punch the Neptunes’ weight, all too often the Virginia duo’s rhymes and delivery are simply too pedestrian to do justice to the beats.

Both brothers’ vocal styles are pitched somewhere between Q-Tip and the singularly unlamented Ma$e. Too flat to be funky, but too uptight to relax into. And though they flow nicely from time to time, their tired pre-occupation with re-hashing last millennium’s gangsta schtick – sell coke, tote guns, get money – is sorely disappointing (‘In Virginia them guns go bang-bang / Niggas / Bitches’).

As they did with their N.E.R.D project, the Neptunes showcase a harder sound on Lord Willin’, but without losing their glorious pop sensibility. While some have accused them of spreading themselves too thinly of late, they keep on finding fresh ways to deliver their itchy, irresistible payload.

All the same, a policy of less is more may be in order – on the basis of Lord Willin’, they would do well to apply the same quality control as they do to their beats to their choice of collaborators. It will be more telling for Pharrell and Chad than for Pusha and Malice, if this is remembered in a few years time as just another Neptunes album.