Review Summary: "The news called it crack, I called it diet coke."
While looking back at the trouble that Clipse had breaking into the mainstream and then staying in the limelight, it's no surprise that
Hell Hath No Fury is as jaded as it is. The success of singles "Grindin" and "When The Last Time" from
Lord Willin' should have had record companies salivating at the thought of releasing the follow-up album; instead, record company Jive opted to focus on more pop-oriented acts and after multiple delays Clipse were more than frustrated, they were
pissed. Gone were the easygoing party songs that occasionally popped up on their last album and replacing them were some of the most varied and original coke rap anthems. The stark honesty that presents itself on this album speaks of the two rappers doing what they have to do in order to support themselves while this release was put on hold. And if there was ever an album whose first track perfectly encapsulated what was to come for the listener, it would be
Hell Hath No Fury. "We Got It For Cheap (Intro)" mixes brothers Gene (Malice) and Terrence (
Pusha T) Thornton's brand of grimy picture-painting and
The Neptunes' signature off-kilter beats. Pusha T goes "from crack/to rap/to back to selling it raw" over a repeating synth-based beat. It shouldn't sound as good as it does, but time and time again the team of Chad Hugo and
Pharell effectively construct songs that elevate the duo's penchant for crime-drama storytelling.
But the honesty that the duo possesses pales in importance to the incredible lyricism that is present throughout all of
Hell Hath No Fury. Malice effectively transitions from unforgiving violent verses ("Ride Around Shining") to showing signs of remorse for the way that he has been living ("Momma I'm So Sorry"). Pusha T is the younger of the two and focuses more on the wordplay; unlike past releases, he matches the intensity of Malice throughout the release.
Hell Hath No Fury marks the beginning of Pusha slowly ascending his brother's lyrical greatness and points to the inevitability of the successful solo career that comes later for him. The dynamism in terms of lyrics, especially for the time that it was released, shows a duo that is unafraid to be introspective about the egotistical claims that they make at times. "Nightmares" provides a slow, smooth beat accompanied by the brothers rapping about where they came from while speculating about the possibility of an eventual demise. Nothing is forced on this album, with each featured artist giving contributions that range from solid to overwhelmingly strong. Frequent collaborator Ab-Liva's verse on "Ride Around Shining" is full of gems, culminating in "HRE's on it, Mommy see it glisten/When I make all of her twist like Dickens". The braggadocio present on the track is complemented perfectly by the shrill and memorable beat.
While hardly any criticism can be leveled at the duo on
Hell Hath No Fury, the one debilitating feature that comes up time and time again is the unfortunate hooks that some of the songs possess. "Ain't Cha" and "Trill" boast some of the strongest verses on the album, but the weak hooks present are absolutely
deplorable. The juxtaposition of hooks in general combined with the dark verses simply don't make sense most of the time, but "Chinese New Year" is the exception to that rule. Clipse and Roscoe P. Coldchain give chilling performances on this track, and their crime-riddled verses are simply too believable not to be real. This is essentially why
Hell Hath No Fury works so well as an album; Pusha T and Malice might be overplaying the truth of their words, but the deadpan and disaffected deliveries beg to differ. The minimalist beats help to provide a seemingly objective account of two men that turned to selling drugs because it was all that they knew, save for hip-hop. This album is a modern classic and moderately overlooked, yet critically praised; and that is strangely poetic given how hard Clipse had to work to get it released.
