The Clipse

Clipse
Clipse at The Middle East in February 2007
Background information
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1992–Present
Labels	Star Trak, Arista
Associated acts	Re-Up Gang, Faith Evans, The Neptunes, Fam-Lay, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Kelis,
Past members	Pusha T Malice

Clipse is an American hip hop duo, formed by brothers Gene "Malice" Thornton & Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. The group was affiliated with the production team The Neptunes, and in 2001 signed to their imprint Star Trak Entertainment.

The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx and moved to Virginia Beach. They formed the group Jarvis and were introduced to 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 1996. Under Elektra, and with The Neptunes handling its production, Clipse recorded its debut album, Exclusive Audio Footage. The group's first single, "The Funeral", helped to generate fan interest in the album, but failed to make a significant commercial impact. With "The Funeral" deemed a failure, Exclusive Audio Footage itself was shelved indefinitely. Clipse was released from Elektra shortly thereafter but promotional CDs of the album still exist.

In early 2001, Williams signed the duo to Arista Records through his recently established Star Trak Entertainment imprint. Clipse released its commercial debut 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 the first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at #30 and #19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. Third single "Ma, I Don't Love Her" (featuring Faith Evans) was a modest hit, reaching #86 on the Hot 100. On October 1, 2002—only a month after its release—Lord Willin' was certified gold by the RIAA. Clipse made another dent in the rap music world that year by providing rhymes for Justin Timberlake's first solo single, "Like I Love You," another Neptunes-produced crossover radio hit, as well as "What Happened to That Boy" with Birdman. Pusha T featured in singer Nivea's 2nd single Run Away (I Wanna Be with U) which peaked at #47 in Australia.