In 2006 when the Clipse released Hell Hath No Fury it was on the tip of every tongue that wanted to sound like it knew about hip-hop, and rightly so. The album was catchy, complex, smart and, most importantly, good. It made countless best-of lists and came to define coke rap. But for all of its brilliance, the Neptunes' icy, sparse beats on that record only gave the Clipse a few opportunities to really bang it out. Don't misunderstand, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams's tracks on that record were some of the best they'd done in years, but there weren't a lot of rapid-fire, bass-heavy moments.
Enter the Re-Up Gang. Composed of Clipse (brothers Malice and Pusha T) and Philadelphia MCs Ab-Liva and Sandman, Re-Up Gang bring the raw (yes, puns intended). The foursome's latest mixtape We Got It For Cheap, Vol. 3 came out earlier this week, and hasn't left heavy-rotation in my iPod since. I won't get into a heady description about its merits and meaning - others have done that better - but suffice to say it's awesome. Their take on Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" alone is worth giving it a chance. And guess what? You can check it out for free! (Duh.) The gang has put up two versions of the mixtape on their site. There's the regular one (download here) and one hosted by DJ Drama (download here). If you want to support someone who takes gruff from the RIAA, go with the Drama version. If not, well, you'll miss out on random shout-outs and echo effects, but not much else.
If you like it, here's hoping you like it a lot - it'll have to hold you over until the Re-Up Gang's official release this summer (Lord willin'). **
