It’s been nearly 15 years since Pusha T and his brother No Malice released an album together as Clipse. But lately all signs point to a full-blown reunion project being on the way. On June 17, the brothers headlined Chicago’s Hyde Park Summer Fest, a triumphant reunion show that saw the Thornton duo share the stage and rip through beloved tracks from 2002’s Lord Willin’ and 2006’s critically acclaimed Hell Hath No Fury, the latter being one of the great rap LPs of the 21st century. Clipse previously performed together in June 2022 at Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water festival and again at ComplexCon that November, playing a handful of tracks including “Mr. Me Too” and “Grindin.’” This, of course, following their grand reunion on wax via the closing track on Pusha T’s 2022 solo album It’s Almost Dry—in which Malice delivered a Verse of the Year contender—as well as “Punch Bowl,” a loosie for Nigo’s album.
Rap fans have been eagerly awaiting a Clipse reunion for years. Speaking to Rolling Stone in October 2022, Pusha said he “push[es] the button every so often” to get the pair back together. “I’m like, ‘Yo, listen to what I just made! We can really do this’–and he brushes me off,” Pusha said. “If I had it my way, it would be the Clipse. It’s really up to my brother.” But it’s clear that something changed in the ensuing months, with No Malice, 49, and Pusha, 46, in a new phase of their lives and creative relationship.
Following the Chicago show, the brothers jetted to Paris, where they walked in their longtime friend and collaborator Pharrell’s highly anticipated Louis Vuitton’s Spring-Summer 2024 show. During the show, a new Clipse track was played, marking the duo’s first official track in over a decade. Atop searing guitars and syncopated drums, the MCs sound razor sharp, even making an impression on Beyoncé and Jay-Z, the latter making his trademark screwface at Pusha’s bars. Based off of the lyrics in the chorus, the song would appear to be “Chains ‘n Whips,” which Pharrell teased during a New York Times story about his new Louis Vuitton role. “That was made in this room,” Pharrell said of the track, referencing a room at LV headquarters overlooking the Seine. “We just start walking around and looking out this window and you just see all of this. I mean, we beating this system, bro.”
New Clipse produced by Pharrell would be an event unto itself, but Pusha’s verse in particular is turning heads for lines that definitely seem to be responding to his fellow aughts rap veteran Jim Jones, who made headlines earlier this year for vehemently arguing that Pusha is overrated in several interviews.
It started with a widely circulated clip from the Rap Caviar podcast where, debating Billboard’s top 50 rappers of all time list, Jones said Pusha didn’t deserve a slot. Then on The Breakfast Club, Jones doubled down challenging the show’s hosts to “sing along to five Pusha T records right now.” (Jones did offer something of an olive branch, saying that Pusha “could rap his ass off,” though the context was still negative.)
Jones’ comments came, somewhat conspicuously, not long after Drake brought Jones and other members of Dipset on stage during his shows in Harlem, which culminated in Jones crowning the Canadian superstar the “official [fifth] member of Dipset” in an Instagram post. The two have been spotted hanging out here and there since, and in a March interview with Complex, Jones said he believes Drake is the greatest rapper of all time. Given the well-documented bad blood between Pusha and Drake, it’s clear which side Jones is taking.
Pusha doesn’t leave much room for ambiguity about who he’s talking to, rapping “Misery’s fueling your aggression / Jealousy’s turned into obsession… Beware of my name, that there’s delicate / You know I know where you’re delicate.”
He doesn’t stop there, twisting the knife with “You think it’d be valor amongst veterans / I’m watching your fame escape relevance / We all in a room, but he’s the elephant / You’re chasing a feature out of your element” and maybe even a reference to Jones’ house foreclosure. Beef has often inspired some of Pusha’s best music, from “The Story of Adidon” to “Mr. Me Too,” and it’s thrilling to think about how spite could fuel his writing on a potential Clipse reunion record. He infamously has a highly entertaining flair for the dramatic, from revealing Drake’s child to now debuting his response on the runway for the most anticipated fashion show of the summer.
Jones, for his part, is one of rap’s great agitators, relishing in beef and conflict especially in his heyday, even famously trading bars with Jay-Z. When Jay recorded a scathing diss to Jones, over Jones’ own hit song, Jones simply responded by adding the verse and his own reply to it to a new version he dubbed “the BeefMix.” (They’ve since peaced it up with Jones even being signed to Jay’s Roc Nation, but still, watching Jay nod along to a rap song dissing Jim Jones is still very funny.) In the early hours of June 21, Jones posted a video of himself laughing atop a snippet of new music, referencing Pusha’s debut album My Name is My Name in the caption.
A Clipse album hasn’t formally been announced—Pusha has been alluding to having several projects in the works including a solo tape with DJ Drama– but the Thornton brothers are clearly performing and recording together with consistency at long last. Here’s hoping Jim Jones keeps poking the (cocaine) bear, and we get the longform Pusha and Malice reunion we’ve waited 13 years to hear.