Exclusive Audio Footage (1993–1999)
Clipse began their career in music in 1993 when they met Pharrell Williams, one half of the production team The Neptunes. Impressed with their lyrical talents, Williams formed a working relationship with the duo. He eventually helped them secure a recording contract with Elektra Records in 1997. Under Elektra and with The Neptunes handling its production, Clipse recorded their debut album, Exclusive Audio Footage. Its first single, titled "The Funeral," helped generate interest in the album from fans, but failed to make a significant commercial impact due to poor promotion from Elektra. With "The Funeral" deemed a failure, Exclusive Audio Footage itself was shelved indefinitely. Clipse were released from their record contract shortly afterward.
[edit] Lord Willin' (2001–2002)
In early 2001, Williams signed the duo to Arista Records through his recently established Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Clipse released their commercial debut, titled Lord Willin' on August 20, 2002. The album opened at #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-hop Album chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 200, fueled by the strength of its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at #34 and #19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. "Ma, I Don't Love Her" with Faith Evans was released as a third single and was a modest hit, though it did not achieve the same success of the two previous singles: it never reached higher than #86 on the Hot 100. Despite this, on October 1, 2002—only a month after its release—Lord Willin' was certified gold by the RIAA.[1] Clipse made another dent in the pop music world that year when they provided rhymes for Justin Timberlake's first solo single, "Like I Love You," yet-another Neptunes-produced crossover radio hit.
[edit] Hell Hath No Fury (2003–present)
In late 2003, Clipse began recording material for their second album, titled Hell Hath No Fury. However, further work on the album ground to a halt in 2004, when Arista Records was dissolved into its sister label Jive Records, as part of a larger merger between Sony Music Entertainment and BMG. Due to contractual ambiguities, Clipse were forced to stay on Jive, while Star Trak and the rest of its roster moved to a new home at Interscope Records.
While Clipse resumed work on the album, and eventually finished its recording, they became increasingly frustrated with Jive, as the label overlooked them in favour of the more "pop" oriented acts on its roster, causing Hell Hath No Fury to suffer numerous delays in its release. As the delays continued, they asked for a formal release from their contract. Jive refused to grant their request, and in turn, the duo sued the label. While the litigation took place, Clipse released new material through their critically well-received We Got It 4 Cheap mixtape series. The mixtapes included Clipse and two Philadelphia rappers: long-time friend Ab-Liva (of Major Figgas) and newcomer Sandman, known collectively as "The Re-Up Gang."
On May 9, 2006, Clipse finally reached an agreement with Jive Records to release the album through their own label, Re-Up Records, along with Jive.[2] Despite two more changes in its release date (originally August 29 and then October 31) Hell Hath No Fury was finally released on November 28, 2006. It has spawned two singles thus far: "Mr. Me Too" with Pharrell Williams and "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)" with Slim Thug. While the album has received a great deal of critical acclaim, its sales were modest at 78,000 in the first week, due mainly to being out of the public eye for over four years, as well the lack of radio play of their first two singles, and a shift in the hip hop landscape.
In a recent May 19, 2007 interview with Eye Weekly, Clipse revealed that they have been officially released from their recording contract with Jive.[3] According to Malice, they are in talks with several record labels looking to sign the duo, but he did not mention any specific label.
