Clipse

by Bradley Torreano & Andy Kellman
Hailing from Virginia, Clipse -- brothers Pusha T and Malice -- were one of the rare first artists to associate with the Neptunes. The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams first met the duo in the early '90s, was very impressed by their talents, and decided to help them get a gig. Hooking them up with the Elektra label, an early single flopped and the group seemed done, even though an album's worth of material had been recorded. Williams was not discouraged and continued to hype the group until Arista finally intervened in 2001. Williams and partner Chad Hugo stepped behind the boards and produced Lord Willin', Clipse's 2002 full-length debut, released through Star Trak/Arista. On the strength of "Grindin'," the album hit the Top Ten of the R&B/Hip-Hop and Billboard 200 charts and eventually went gold. The Sony-BMG merger threw the follow-up into limbo and sparked a long bout of legal snags between Clipse and their new parent label, Jive. While the delay was going on, Clipse issued a series of mixtapes and set up their Re-Up label. The label disputes were eventually cleared up, and Hell Hath No Fury was finally released on November 28, 2006.