Clipse Step Into the Surreal With New ‘Chains and Whips’ Music Video

Clipse have dropped a mesmerizing and unsettling new video for “Chains & Whips,” the standout track with Kendrick Lamar from the hip-hop duo’s long-awaited new album, Let God Sort Em Out.

Directed by Gabriel Moses, the visual is largely filled with somewhat ordinary scenes that are rendered with strange, stretched-out effects. The uncanny feeling these images conjure is complemented by much more direct shots of daily life, beauty pageants, and church services, as well as men running from cops and navigating life in prison. 

While both Pusha T and Malice appear in the clip, Lamar does not. The video also boasts a great post script, in which two women stand on a porch and deliver an a cappella rendition of Clipse’s breakthrough 2022 classic, “Grindin’.”

Clipse released Let God Sort Em Out last week, with the album marking the duo’s first in since 2009’s Til the Casket Drops. The new LP was produced by longtime collaborator Pharrell Williams, and along with Lamar it features contributions from John Legend, Tyler, the Creator, Nas, and more. 

“Chains & Whips” notably sparked some behind-the-scenes controversy before Let God Sort Em Out was released. While Lamar’s verse does not directly mention Drake, the lyric review department at Universal Music Group worried that one line might be “controversial” in relation to Drake’s lawsuit against UMG. (He claims they improperly inflated the popularity of Lamar’s hit diss, “Not Like Us.”) Rather than ask Lamar to change the verse or line, Clipse negotiated a release from Def Jam Recordings (a UMG subsidiary) and released the album themselves. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation handled the distribution. 

Clipse will embark on a North American tour in support of Let God Sort Em Out next month. The trek kicks off Aug. 3 in Boston and wraps Sept. 10 in Detroit. 

From Rolling Stone US.