One of the benefits of a long hiatus is more time to think over my reviews than usual. That has been especially useful with today’s release–an album I initially found mediocre but have come to adore. clipping.–always written in lowercase with a period–is a hip-hop trio made up of producers William Huston and Jonathan Snipes, and rapper Daveed Diggs. Yes, the same Daveed Diggs who played Thomas Jefferson in “Hamilton.” Despite Diggs’s repertoire in popular plays, shows, and movies, clipping. is anything but accessible, filled with off-kilter industrial hip-hop beats and blasts of harsh noise, that’s exactly what makes the group great.
“Dead Channel Sky” is clipping.’s first album in about five years, off the heels of the band’s two phenomenal, horror-centric Halloween albums, “There Existed An Addiction To Blood” and “Visions Of Bodies Being Burned.” Both focused exclusively on abstract and harsh horrorcore sounds and ideas, rarely sticking to a consistent sound. In contrast, “Dead Channel Sky” has a very consistent sound palette, sticking with a deep, clubby electronic sound reminiscent of music you’d hear in a dingy nightclub in a cyberpunk city.
Tracks like the “Keep Pushing” or the earwormy “Mirrorshades pt. 2 (ft. Cartel Madras)” are full-on head-bobbing club tracks with some of the slickest instrumentals of the band’s career as well as some of their catchiest hooks. Despite this cleaner instrumental palette, the record rarely loses the band’s experimental edge. Tracks like “Dodger” and “Ask What Happened” slip even deeper into an electronic sound, with the latter track turning into a straight-up drum-and-bass song by the end.
To understand how the album sounds, start with its first two real tracks, skipping the short opener, “Intro (DCS).” “Dominator” has a skeletal, repetitive instrumental, acting as a simple synth line throughout the song. The repetition is only spiced up with the Human Resource Sample with Lorenzo Nash repeating, “I’m the one and only dominator.”. Explosive drums fire off near the end. It’s followed by “Change The Channel,” which goes full digital hardcore with its speedy and volatile beat. It’s filled with blast-beat drums and harsh synths that cut out at random intervals to make room for Diggs’s impeccable flow and melody.
Along with instrumental choices, the album’s lyrics have shifted too. Instead of the standard, if intense, horrorcore from “Addiction To Blood” and “Bodies Being Burned”, “Dead Channel Sky” leans into direct lyrics, anxious about the rise of tech and corporation–though still delivered in clipping.’s idiosyncratic style, always in third or second person. This style shows up clearly on the track “Welcome Home Warrior,” an early single for the album. It’s probably the most straight-up, standard rap track here. The song spins a yarn about the dangers of technology addiction, along with the insidious methods modern mainstream games use to keep people hooked and paying.
The first verse kicks off as a typical power fantasy, almost advertising the idea to you. But as the track goes on, it gets stripped away to something more sinister.
Another lyrically compelling track is “Mirrorshades Pt. 2 (ft. Cartel Madras).” While ostensibly referencing the clothing item of Mirrorshades as a metaphor for blocking out normalcy in life, the song plays off that sense of rebellion in a strange way. It aggressively markets Mirrorshades to you like an “as seen on TV” ad, creating a disconcerting dichotomy that benefits how the tracks feel.
Finally, I’d like to highlight the closing track, “Ask What Happened.” It ends the album with a bang. It starts slow and quiet, with Diggs rapping over a bare instrumental. As the track slowly builds into a breakbeat-centric instrumental, Daveed gets more intense and passionate. Diggs spins vivid imagery of a dystopian future before cutting himself off and allowing for a truly transcendent drum and bass finale.
While I may have been skeptical of the new direction at first, “Dead Channel Sky” proves itself at every turn. With impeccable production, rapping, and writing all throughout, it’s a highlight of not only clipping.’s discography but of the year overall. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you’re a “Hamilton” fan curious to hear Thomas Jefferson tell you to kill yourself.
Author
Hello there stranger, this is Kate Megathlin, writer for weekly music reviews for the Seattle Collegian, here to assert how much more important her opinions are than yours. She is a Seattle Central student with a major love of music and music culture, and every week she’ll try to deliver reviews of new albums coming out, if you want to recommend albums for her to review, email her at Kate.Megathlin@seattlecollegian.com.
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