About

clipping. is an experimental hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California consisting of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. The group, formed in 2009, would garner notoriety with their debut mixtape midcity before seeing further success with a record deal with independent label Sub Pop, where they would release two studio albums with an upcoming third album to be released later in 2019.

History

clipping. was initially formed by Hutson and Snipes in 2009 as a project where they would put rap acapellas and remix them into power electronics and noise music. Diggs would later join in 2010, who would also contribute original lyrics and writing to the group. The three made their debut as clipping. with a untitled EP released on independent label Deathbomb Arc (later known as dba118 due to its catalogue number and re-released as Face in 2018) in June 2012, before following it up with the release of their debut mixtape midcity on February 5th, 2013.

The mixtape received generally positive coverage and the group would eventually sign onto independent label Sub Pop five months later. On June 10th, 2014, they released their debut studio album CLPPNG featuring collaborations with Cocc Pistol Cree, King T, and Gangsta Boo, later followed up by the EP Wriggle 2 years later on June 14th, 2016. Both received generally positive reviews.

On September 9th, 2016, the group released their second studio album Splendor & Misery. Influenced by science fiction and afrofuturism, it is a concept album told mainly from the perspective of a spaceship's artificial intelligence about Cargo #2331, a slave who is the sole survivor of a deadly uprising between the ship staff and the other slaves. Stranded in space, the AI documents his descent into cabin fever and attempts at finding a way back to society, including Cargo #2331 trying to reach out to the AI. A short film inspired by the album was also uploaded on December 13th, 2016. The album was also received positively upon release and was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form in 2017.

In 2018, the group released the single "The Deep" as part of an episode of the radio show This American Life that explored the concept of afrofuturism. The song was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form that year and was also adapted into a novel in collaboration with author Rivers Solomon that was released on June 4th, 2019. An EP would later be released to accompany the release of the novel and expanding on the lore.

Inspired by the lore of electronic and techno group Drexciya, the song tells the story of an underwater race of people born from the drowned mothers of the Transatlantic slave trade and their retaliation against the humans on the surface after their idyllic life is disturbed.

There Existed an Addiction to Blood

On August 11th, 2019, a video was uploaded to the band's social media accounts of a burning piano and an announcement of forthcoming music. Three days later, on August 14th, the group released the song "Nothing is Safe" as the lead single from their third studio album There Existed an Addiction to Blood. Described as taking influence from the horrorcore subgenre of hip-hop, the album is set to be released on October 18th, 2019.

Reputation

clipping. garnered notoriety for their unorthodox musicianship taking influences from places such as noise music and power electronics and story-driven lyrics inspired by subjects such as harsh street life. Their music has also been compared to that of Death Grips as a result.

Separately, each member has also had success with their own projects and endeavors, both prior and after the creation of the group, with Snipes having achieved mild success with his band Captain Ahab and collaborating with Hutson on the soundtrack to the documentary film Room 237 and Diggs having achieved notable success as a rapper and an actor in both theater and in movies and television, most notably playing the role of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical Hamilton, for which he won a Tony award for.