Album Review: Let God Sort Em Out, Clipse

Let God Sort Em Out Album Cover

The iconic rap duo brothers from Virginia reunites for their first album together in 16 years, with executive production from longtime collaborator Pharrell Williams, crafting one of the best rap albums in years

In 2009, Rappers Pusha T and Malice, known together as Clipse, dropped their album “Till the Casket Drops”. This would be the last album they dropped for 16 years. A couple collaborations here and there would take place between the two, but they had remained separated for a long time.

Malice himself spent a lot of the past decade choosing a path of christianity and essentially quitting rap. This all would change in 2024, when the duo would announce they would be reuniting for a new album, titled “Let God Sort ‘Em Out”. It was originally planned to release before that year ended, but record label issues would result in it being delayed. This would lead to both Pusha T(individually) as well as Clipse(the group), parting ways with their longtime label “Def Jam Recordings”. They would then meet with friend Shawn Carter, better known as Jay Z before agreeing to distribute the album through Jay Z’s label, “Roc Nation”. They would not sign to the label directly, making the new album an independent release. We would get our first single on May 30th, titled “Ace Trumpets”. A second single would be released on June 17th, titled “So Be It”. The album then finally dropped on July 11th, 2025.

This album is truly a rarity in today’s day and age for rap music. An album released independently, with a very old school rollout with interviews and singles that release at their intended time. As someone who has grown up with the genre, this album was built up and promoted perfectly. And for it to be followed up by an album, 13 tracks, Only 40 minutes in length, it’s precisely created. Little to no error. It is a masterpiece. Music is truly art when crafted correctly. Which is ironic because the album cover is made by Artist and Designer “KAWS”. Primarily, the duo would rap about having to deal drugs to make money in their life but on this album, there is so much more than that. It almost feels wrong to still have that subject matter within such a beautifully produced album, but it fits beautifully. Perhaps that explains the recurring adlib “This is Culturally Inappropriate”.

We start with the most powerful song on the album, “The Birds Don’t Sing”. A very raw and emotional tribute to the brothers’ deceased parents, who they had lost within 4 months of each other. There is a lot to unpack with this one. In this track, Pusha T describes how he felt about his mother passing. He says, “Lost in emotion, mama's youngest, Tryna navigate life without my compass. Some experience death and feel numbness, But not me, I felt it all and couldn't function”.

He then recounts the choices his mom made leading up to her passing, realizing that his mom was actively making certain decisions, almost as if she knew she didn’t have much time left. “You said you told Gene that Bup needed forgiveness. I see you went to DD's and stuffed both her fridges, You even told Dad you wished y'all never splitted. See, you were checkin' boxes, I was checkin' my mentions. Sayin' you was tired but not ready to go, Basically was dying without letting me know”. The track’s chorus is sung by choir “Voices of Fire” and singer John Legend, the chorus being how we get the song’s title “The Birds don’t sing, They screech in pain”. A very fitting line for how emotional this song is. Malice would first also explain his way he processed his fathers’ passing. He says in this verse, “Your car was in the driveway, I knew you were home, By the third knock, a chill ran through my bones. The way you missed Mama, I guess I should've known, Chivalry ain't dead, you ain't let her go alone.”

Similarly to the duo’s mother, it appeared he too was preparing for his passing with the decisions he made in his last moments. Malice takes this time to reminisce on how great his father was, talking about his work ethic and all the things he did for his family. He would close the verse with the lines “Birds don't sing if the words don't sting. Your last few words in my ear still ring. You told me that you loved me, it was all in your tone, "I love my two sons" was the code to your phone, now you're gone.” Malice has since confirmed that whilst finding the passwords to various things his father would own, all of the passwords were some form of “Ilovemytwosons!” or “Iluvmy2son$” etc.

Aside from the opening track, the rest of this album is a lot less personal, but maintaining the same high level of quality whilst still keeping the rawness they started with. Tracks like “Chains and Whips” and “POV” feature Music superstars Kendrick Lamar and Tyler The Creator respectively. Both of them give outstanding verses. Kendrick raps about how he views the industry and how he feels it views him. Tyler would more so flex his possessions, while also stating he’s not someone to mess with despite his demeanor; “You ****** is bums, I'm not a tough guy, I'm a Flower Boy, them bees get you stung”.

Throughout a lot of this album there are double meanings to the drugs they dealt in their past. There is at least one line, within every song that pays reference to that. Although I don’t endorse or want to glorify the use or sale of drugs at any point, the writing is very clever. A song like “M.T.B.T.T.F.” or “Mike Tyson Blow To The Face” is genius with that in mind. Stating somebody wanted a “Mike Tyson blow to the face” not just referring to the boxer’s punch strength but usage of substances.

The closing track, with Pharrell doing the chorus titled “By The Grace of God” is a perfect cherry on top to this album. With the duo both looking back on their lives and how they narrowly escaped major consequences within the decisions they made, as if it was a miracle from Jesus himself. Pusha T gives a Pre-Chorus saying “Went from mason jars to crepe tartare's, Escape the odds by the Grace of God”. Pharrell on the Chorus would sing about how he’s seen people fail and also, doubling down on the aforementioned “miracle”. I seen killers and kingpins sing behind the wall, I watched many men die cause no one would make the call. I've seen entire empires crumble and fall. Yes, I've seen it all, They missed this wall, By the Grace of God.”

In my honest opinion, this rap album is a 10/10. High Quality Rapping, Story Telling, Creative Metaphors, Great Beats. Everything you want from a rap album, is what this album is. I recommend it to anyone who likes rap and anyone who likes music with both clever and deep writing.