Listen/Watch: clipping. “Body and Blood” & “Work Work”

Put LA back up on the Rap score board, as the cities’ trio clipping. continue to make intriguing inroads with their genre-bluring sonics and luridly electric storytelling. Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson began the group in 2009 as a remix project, building beats and audio for gangsta’ rap acapellas, and while Snipes composes music for film, and Hutson has been part of the Noise scene, clipping. remained fairly private in it’s efforts. However, after adding rapper Daveed Diggs the trio really dug in, and while their self-recorded 2013 LP debut Midcity was also self-released via the band’s website, their challenging approach and genre defying vision quickly garnered attention. Within months the trio signed with Sub Pop, and they recorded their newest effort, CLPPNG, between February and October of last year. The upcoming LP is due out June 10th, and our first two previews of the new effort, “Work Work (Feat. Cocc Pistol Cree)“, and today’s track release “Body and Blood“, find the trio working at an elevated level. While clipping. likes to play things off as far as their intent and approach, claiming they just wanna make rap music, one senses pretty immediately that these guys are playing the game at a meta- level. Lyrically, “Body and Blood” is an eviscerating critique of LA culture, and though eminently seductive in it’s approach, it’s critique and satire are evidence that a rapier-sharp wit is at work here. In addition, from an audio perspective, Snipes and Hutson have culled their sound from a wide swath of challenging electronic music, crafting tense, cinematic ambience from bomb-blasting beats and cryptic acoustics. We’ve also included clipping.’s disturbingly entertaining video for “Work Work”, directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, and it’s creative, if not brutal use of a continuous, unbroken tracking shot, will not be soon forgotten!