Song Count: 13
Rating: 7.2/10
Description:
Another album that has been sitting in my "I'll get to it later" collection for just a bit too long now, I was made aware that Let God Sort Em Out was a far bigger deal than initially thought after hearing it get mentioned in content related to mainstream music and what were named to be some of the most culturally relevant works of the passed year. This marks the official return of the hip-hop duo Clipse consisting of two brothers and solo artists Pusha T and Malice as not only their fifth(ish) studio album in their discography as one unit, but their first full-length album since 2009. The album features some enormously big names as collaborators on its tracks, with the talents of Pharrell Williams, Stove God Cooks, Ab Liva, Nas, John Legend, Tyler the Creator and even Kendrick Lamar himself interwoven into this ultimate return for the brothers.
In spite of having all of this grandiosity around it, the record's actual tracks aren't even structured or produced in a necessarily complex or maximalistic manner - a lot of it is the rapping of Pusha T, Malice, and whichever other face decides to step up for the crucial occasion being amped up by the way the instrumentals are framed, which is usually just a lasting beat above a looping sample being respun at times. The rap flows are consistent in their tempo, approach and general structure regardless of who is on the microphone, containing a lot of wit and layered commentary whilst also being rhythmically stimulating and flowing along smoothly. It overall makes for a package of rap music very observantly made by clear experts with tons of presence in the scene, and though not every song is a full-on "banger", there's also very little to make a fuss about either. Maybe except maybe Pharrell Williams's singing seeming a bit out of place at times, but that's a nitpick.
This clear talent in rapping being displayed, alongside the choices in backing tracks striking gold enough times, combines together to leave the big picture with an overall quite positive impression. Also, merely a small detail, but the constant and - at least, at times - seemingly spontaneous use of the same voice clip of a computer-generated voice going "This is culturally inappropriate." throughout many of the songs did crack me up a couple of times. Highlight tracks include the opener "The Birds Don't Sing", the most popular one "Chains & Whips", "P.O.V.", the titular track "Let God Sort Em Out/Chandeliers", "Inglorious Bastards" and "M.T.B.T.T.F." - songs that either stand out due to their unique energy, enjoyable rhythm, excellent rapping, or a mixture of all of the previous.
Though hip-hop tends to be a big hit-or-miss genre for me at times, it's clear to say that Let God Sort Em Out, especially for a sizeable chunk of its output, belongs to the former category. The work put into the record by not only the brothers behind Clipse, but also everyone else involved in it, lets the end result simply radiate sheer confidence, charisma and a presence that feels like supercontinents colliding from how strong this force is. A very good rap album, and one that most certainly deserves the amount of recognition it has gotten.