Culturally Inappropriate: The Clipse Masterclass in Album Rollouts
This is Culturally Inappropriate.
One of the most anticipated releases this year is from the Thornton brothers, also known as The Clipse.
Their new album, “Let God Sort Em Out,” will be the first full-length LP from Malice and Pusha T in 15 years, and the marketing rollout has been nothing short of stellar.
The campaign is reminiscent of a time when Hip-hop artists cared about every aspect of their work, partnering with DJs to break records and discussing the art with journalists to help create a world around the music.
Moreover, with two stellar songs from the album already out in the world, The Clipse have even managed to get Gen Z to do their homework on them, which is no easy feat.
While the album is still about two weeks away, let’s talk about the different components of the campaign so far and why it’s dope.
SOCIAL-FIRST STORYTELLING
While much of the rollout has been true to the roots of music marketing many of us have known and loved growing up, The Clipse are keeping with the times by making this a social-first rollout.
For instance, many are noticing how effective this is in the sneaker community, with brands like Adidas, New Balance, and Nike now pivoting much of their storytelling for the feed before heading into TVC.
The good folks at Roc Nation are taking cues from that, and the primary vehicle for promoting the new Clipse album has been social content, including trailers and teasers, across social media.
Before we even heard a single record, we were given the album trailer below, teasing the release of the first single, “Ace Trumpets,” on May 30th.
It also gave us a consistent theme via a vocal sample that rings out in each trailer and in both records so far, which says, “This is Culturally Inappropriate.”
Below is another trailer, this time for the first single, Ace Trumpets, which added even more context to the world that the music was living in from a visual aspect, so even though fans don’t see an official video for the song, they can still have a reference point for what they’re about to indulge in.
The Clipse also just released their next tent pole piece of content: An appearance on Colors x Studios featuring a live performance of “Ace Trumpets”.
This is culturally inappropriate!
BRINGING BACK EXCLUSIVES
In an era where everyone is rushing to upload their songs to streaming services without giving them proper runway to build anticipation, The Clipse (and The Roc Nation marketing team) did something really cool: They kept it Hip-hop by giving the song to DJs first.
A few weeks after The Clipse released “Ace Trumpets,” Legendary New York DJ Funk Flex posted on Instagram that he had a new Clipse record and that he’d be premiering it at 8 pm on his radio station.
For those who aren’t familiar with Hip-hop, this is how records were broken before the streaming era, and having Flex drop bombs over your record was an honor.
By the end of the night, other DJs, like DJ Hed, were playing the exclusive on their pages, and X/IG was on fire, with people begging for the CDQ (just like the Blog era days!).
I. EXCLUSIVES W/ HIP-HOP JOURNALISTS TO CREATE ANTICIPATION
Another dope part of The Clipse's rollout has been their interviews with Journalists.
On the one hand, various tastemakers and writers have been attending the exclusive listening sessions for the new album, helping to create hype by telling fans what to expect and alluding to surprises that are yet to be revealed.
Again, it's an effective piece of worldbuilding that many artists no longer rely on these days, and it’s serving The Clipse very well.
II. EXCLUSIVES WITH POP JOURNALIST TO AMPLIFY THE NARRATIVE
Hip-hop media has gotten to a point where there’s too much posturing.
Everybody is family, and no one has an issue with each other. Everybody can be the best, and no one wants to get in the booth and f*cking rap **Gina Views’ voice**
Part of the reason there's so much hype around The Clipse album is that we’ve already heard Pusha air some of his grievances on the records, and he’s never been coy about addressing the subjects of his disdain in interviews.
While many Gen Z’ers consider any act of directly naming their peers in the press as “aura farming” and fan appreciation as “glazing,” naming names and being direct is often the most authentic thing an artist can do.
It pays dividends because it’s so rare. These moments from Pusha are a perfect example.
The Clipse aren’t just doing video interviews, like the NY Times’ Popcast above, either; they also sat with GQ and Rolling Stone for exclusive interviews that dropped right after the singles, helping to give listeners context for where the records were taking them.
In an era of quick-bite news that gets shared instantly, it’s the perfect way to activate a flywheel effect that ultimately leads people to want to hear the music.
III. EXCLUSIVES ON PLATFORMS TO CREATE HUBS
An unexpected move for the second single “So Be It” is that the song is only available on YouTube (on top of it initially being a DJ exclusive).
This is another bold move in the streaming era, allowing fans to indulge in the record from only one place, and that place is only.
It also shows how committed The Clipse are to ensuring that you see the visuals that accompany the music. Moreover, YouTube now gains a coveted piece of content to own and hopefully use to drive subscriptions to YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. It’s a win-win.
A DIVERSIFIED MERCH OFFERING
For this album, The Clipse even created pieces that show the process of the limited edition vinyl to build hype. And, if that’s not enough, the limited-edition vinyls are signed and offered at a reasonable price, especially given the current economic climate.
Much like everything they do, the pieces demonstrate a commitment to design and the high-fashion, artsy aesthetic for which they’ve become known.
Here are a few of the highlights.
I. BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB
It was only right that The Clipse brought it back to the early days when they were helping to usher in the streetwear trend in Hip-hop, wearing lines like the Pharrell-created BBC.
What’s dope about this collab is that on top of the exclusives, the merch is hosted on a dedicated blog on the BBC site, presumably allowing for updates as we get closer to the album’s release date.
II. KAWS
KAWS is one of the most prominent artists in pop culture, and he has been a frequent collaborator of The Clipse, having done the artwork for “Til The Casket Drops” back in 2009.
Continuing right where they left off, the VA duo had KAWS create the album artwork, tour artwork, and the first wave of merchandise that accompanied the album announcement.
The album cover is below:
III. DENIM TEARS
The Clipse also tapped Tremaine Emory’s Denim Tears for a collection (the hoodie is already sold out, smh). Many of the pieces are an interpolation of Coca-Cola, playing off of the font and the duo’s subject matter in a clever way.
IV. VERDY
The latest wave of merch (and limited-edition album cover) was announced a little over a week ago, and Verdy created it.
For those who don’t know him, Verdy is a Japanese artist and designer residing in Tokyo. He’s also a creative partner in Human Made, the brand by Pharrell’s frequent collaborator Nigo — the mind behind BAPE.
THE KEY TAKEAWAY: ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Not only is this album culturally insensitive, but it also lacks a genuine appreciation for the details that make a record and its marketing campaign a holistic experience for consumers.
The Clipse managed to hit each touchpoint from PR to print just like in the old days, and it’s also giving Gen Z a true glimpse into what a proper album release is supposed to look like.
Moreover, the duo is demonstrating a commitment to the tenets of great rap records of old — three verses, a solid hook, enunciated words, double entendres, and so on.
For any Hip-hop fan who really loves this shit, this album and this rollout has been a treat to watch.
We’re still a few weeks away from the album. Still, everyone across the culture is in unison with the belief that this has been an incredibly well put-together album rollout.
As of now, a handful of songs and features are known about, but if what we’ve heard so far is an indication of what’s to come, then we’re likely in for another classic album, much like Hell Hath No Fury.
That said, whatever they end up doing, I’m sure it’ll be culturally inappropriate.
One.