Song Exploder - Clipping - Work Work

Episode Date: February 18, 2016

Clipping is a trio made up of producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, and rapper Daveed Diggs. You might be familiar with Daveed’s voice from his roles as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. But in Clipping, the whole band takes on different roles, playing with different tropes and genres within hip-hop, but setting up these strict overarching rules for how they make their music. In this episode, the three of them break down how they made their song "Work Work," featuring guest vocals from rapper Cocc Pistol Cree. This episode is sponsored by Slack and MeUndies.

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirwe. This episode contains explicit language. Clipping is a trio made up of producers William Hudson and Jonathan Snipes and rapper David Diggs. You might be familiar with David's voice from his roles as Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. But in clipping, the whole band takes on different roles, playing with different tropes and genres within hip-hop. but setting up these strict, overarching rules for how they make their music. In this episode, the three of them break down how they made their song Work Work,

which features guest vocals from rapper Cockpistol Cree. Y'up, line dance like a hole down, pimps up, daytime, whole block of ghost town, ghost ride, ghost, face, geez, get ghosts in a moment, pour a little for the ghost of the dead homies. My name's David Diggs. We were listening to this DJ Mustard compilation, and there was this Cockpistol Cree song, lady killers on there and we'd love that song. We were really like, man, we should do a song with her. And that sort of started the conversation about this song, about Work Work, was actually specifically to get her on a track. I'm William Hudson. We were like, who is going to be

really amazing to everyone but nobody knows yet? Who can we put on our album that everyone's like, who is that? That person's amazing. I was just on the lookout for stuff like that. And then that song was on that mixtape. And I was certain that was just the standard. out by far I thought. So we made a song that we thought she would sound good on and then Treadfinder. My name is Jonathan Snipes with William Hudson and I Make the Beats. The idea was trying to do what is a clipping version of a kind of DJ Mustard style beat. What I think is really sort of interesting and unique about DJ Mustard's sound is how incredibly limited his palette is and how many songs he can generate out of a handful of sounds. And this really great sense of this

sort of bouncy, propulsive rhythm with it. We're never just going to recreate or try to fit perfectly into the style that we're referencing. How do we make it without presets using field recordings? How do we make it harsher, broken? How would clipping as an entity misunderstand this genre and then try to participate in it? We started clipping with the rules that we weren't allowed to use any drum sounds. We figure out how to make field recordings stand in for drums. So I'm using a bunch of different sounds made by sampling, tapping on this metal thermos.

We recorded probably 128 different taps and sampled them and stuck them in a sampler instrument so that they could be played on a keyboard and sort of painstakingly added little stutter effects. Then I added other layers. And then there's a sort of swell sound that happens every four bars, which is just a can of compressed air like you would use to clean the inside of your computer. We found a bunch of cinder blocks and broke them and recorded it,

and we play it backwards and forwards. That's kind of our snare drum sound. Then the other element in the drum part of the beat is me like just mangling a beer can very, very close to microphones, which ends up making all these really harsh pops. And then with delay on them, they kind of become the hi-hat.

So those are all of those sort of field recording elements of the percussion. We've made such, like, clear sort of aesthetic rules for ourselves, just where sounds can come from, what kinds of sounds are appropriate. And David wasn't allowed to say I. Yeah, it wasn't allowed to

rap in first person. No first person, no true stories. We sort of came to the conclusion that clipping is certainly not any of the three of us, and in fact it's nobody. It's more of like a hive mind of things that exist in the world of rap music.

So those are the perspectives I try to write from, or the kind of one shattered perspective of every rap song that's ever existed. Hollie out your city if you ride for it. Let them know why you die for it. Same reason all these riders get high, so it's all medicinal. Now what you won't buy, homie. So it's all second person, you know, a lot of like command form stuff. And a lot of third person or environmental description.

It actually is really fun and has actually opened things up for me quite a bit as a writer. There's such a tendency as a rapper to write these first person narratives and that's pretty limiting no matter who you are that's limiting because you've only lived so much. And it also lends itself to a particular kind of storytelling. Whereas with clipping, we get to do things that feel a little more like a film or like a novel or something in that we get to sort of explore multiple perspectives and jump time really easily and all of these things that writing styles that aren't as concerned with the first person have a much easier time doing. Red lights in a distance.

You never been to that district they reference. Trunk full of hash east your messkling your mind is a mess and this bitch is undressing you. Mash on the throttle like a G put a bottle to your teeth say fuck it, you're free man. Pull over to the side of the street. Keep your hand on the shoddy sitting up under the seat or let the cop pull you over say something slick on some JZ 99 problems. type shit, all of the above in your head, but it really doesn't matter because you're already dead. The song has all the tropes of drug rap and like of gun rap because, yeah, I wanted to, you know, just be able to talk about hustling in a pretty vague way, actually. We have the 99 problems

reference in there and then also referencing Digital Underground at the same time with the A, B, C, D, listing off the things that you can do, which I just stole from freaks of the industry. Should you A, take the time to find a condom, B, you walk right over and you pound them. C, tell her that you want her love, well, the answer is B. D, all of the above's with the freaks of the industry. I was super proud of reverencing Jay-Z and Digital Underground in the same line. It made me very happy. And the song features Cockpistol Cree.

She wraps the second verse. I get it, I whip it, I flip it, I pocket the profit. Don't know when to stop it. They calling me Griselda to halle it. My blonics, sorrotic. Can't walk, the hill is enormous, the arm in the armrests, click, clap, these dames is dormit. One of my favorite things about her is that she doesn't take a typical female position. You know, women in rap music are so complicated and underrepresented right now,

so I was one of the reasons we really wanted to work with her. She has, like, such a strong voice, but it's not traditionally feminine voice, I guess, if that makes sense. You know, we definitely sort of made the song and just hoped that we'd be able to track her down and figured we'd find someone else if not, but. It looked like it might not work out for a while. And we ended up sitting on the song for a long time because I just could not hear anybody else on there. It just made no sense to put it out if she wasn't going to be on it.

So, yeah, we waited until she made it through. We just sent her the track with the hook. And I think my verse is on there, or at least one of the verses. And yeah, she did it all. I mean, she's great and fiercely talented and terribly underappreciated, I feel like. No bit you ayes for the most part. Nobody cares. You're not even a co-star. Just an extra. They read about it as a number. Names got money in their wallet.

They read about it as a number. Names got money in their wallet. You know, we are just racking up statistics of dead black men, particularly right now. I mean, particularly always. Depending on where you're from, which is also why it starts out with hollied at your city. You are more likely to end up as one of those statistics. So I liked coming back to that at the end and just saying you will most likely be remembered as a number.

Only if you have a certain amount of dollars in your wallet are you going to earn the right to be remembered by your actual name. Here's Workwork by clipping, featuring Cockpistol Cree in its entirety. Holl out your city if you ride for it. Let them know why you die for it. Same reason all these riders get high,

so it's all medicinal. Now what you won't buy, homie? Buy bitch. Bibb bitch. Mob shit. Boss talk. Game rich. Game rich. Name game. Gang signs. Work on the phone, call it baseline. Y' up. Line dance like a hold down. Pimp's up. Daytime. Whole block of ghost town. Ghost ride, ghost face. G's get ghost in a moment.

Pour a little for the ghosts of the dead homies. Deadpan voice singing Tin Pan Alley songs panhandling in front of tours with their camera phones. Get it how you live or live till you get it. Get it in. When it's sash low and it's no can. Get it in. And you're riding O'Hells, no tag. Get it in. And she's looking like you ain't gonna smash. Get it in.

But she got her legs up on a dash. All these tailors outta. Get that work, make that work, work. Get that work, make that work, work. Get that work, make that work, work. Cive that work, make that work. See, I get it, I whip it, I flip it, I pocket the profit. Don't know when to stop it.

They calling me Griselda, the harlot, my blonick, serotic. I can't walk. The hill is enormous. The arm in the armrest. These names is dormant. Uh, I came up from boosted my goal. Boosting my garments, switching my handbags, switching my polish, never catch me in the same blouse.

Unless I'm running a target, never catch me in a large crowd. Last I'm the life for the party, uh, I been heating from September to August, ahead of my time like little old ladies and bonnets. All I need is a sickle, I'm gonna reap me a harvest. The hardest thing I had to do was to make a broke promise. I been counting money since elementary. That's why these broke boys ain't getting into me. And when a stash low and it ain't no cash flow, shit, I go to work, moving by the polo.

When it's stash low and it's no cash. Get it in and you're riding no hells, no tags. Get it in. And she's looking like you ain't gonna smash. Get her legs up on a dash, so these haters how to get that work, make that work, work. Get that work, make that work, work, work. Get that work, make that work, work.

Get that work, make that work. Stop. Red lights in a distance. You never been to that district they reference. Trunk full of hash, she's your meskling, your mind is a mess and this bitch is undressing you. Hey. like a G put a bottle to your teeth say fuck it you're free man be pull over to the side of

the street keep your hand on the shattie sitting up under the seat or let the cop pull you over say something slick on some j z 99 problems type shit all of the above in your head but it really doesn't matter because you're already dead no bituaries for the most part nobody cares you're not even a co-star just an extra they read about it as a number names got money and they wallet well stash low and it's no care And you're riding old hell's no tag. Get it in. And she's looking like you ain't gonna smash.

Get her legs up on a dad. Tony's ain't a tout. Get that work, make that work, work, work. Get that work, make that work, work. Get that work, make that work, work. Get that work, make that work. Visit songexploader.net for more info on clipping. You can watch the video for this song and find links to more of their music.

I have a new album of my own coming out on April 24th. It's been about 15 years since I last put out a full length, and this is the first one that'll be out under my own name, Rishikesh Her Way. I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career. And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations about the process of making music, talking to other artists, and it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs. And this album is the product of all of that.

It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby, Vagabon, Fenlily, and the producer Phil Wine Rope. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April, and I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city, like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzukas, Josh Malina,

Minjin Lee, Ken Jennings, John Roderick, Austin, Clion, and more. They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage, and then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, rishi-kash.co. Or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploder.net slash live. Thanks. You can find Song Exploder on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at SongExploder. And you can find all the past and future episodes of the show at songexploder.net or wherever you download podcasts.

My name is Rishi Kesh Hereway. Thanks for listening. Radiotopia.