After 20 years in the game, Clipse member No Malice has released his debut album, Hear Ye Him today (August 18).
In speaking with Hip Hop Since 1987, No Malice explained the meaning behind his album’s title. “Hear Ye Him is when we go to church, and my pastor is introducing a guest speaker, or another reverend to come and take over, he always says, ‘And the next voice you’re about to hear is Pastor so-and-so, hear ye him.’ And I thought that was so cold, just lettin’ you know, ‘Get ready to listen, and check out what’s going on.'”
No Malice continued, explaining that his music was now a full-blown pursuit of the truth. “You always want to ride on the coattails of the truth. It’s something that’s just so cold and so dope about the truth that you want to be a part of it, but then you want to mess it up by starting to add your little twists and stuff to it. So that’s what I feel like I did basically all of my career, but now I’m just going all in and just trying to represent the truth as best I can.”
During the interview, No Malice also explained that life’s experiences have steered him away from making street records. “I don’t cater to making a street record. A street record means nothing to me. I’ve given twelve years of street records. So much street records, my manager and entourage is in jail right now, so I know exactly how much the street means. Period, point-blank. I don’t have the luxury to keep going on with the same message.”
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Though No Malice and his brother, Pusha T, made hard-hitting street music for years, No Malice said that the music was at least always rooted in skill. “The reason why my content… from the Clipse catalogue is because that’s what we were into, that’s what we talk about, that’s what we knew. That’s why it was so second-nature. But you have to keep in mind that for us, it was also about those double-entendres, those analogies, those metaphors, the painting of those pictures. To us, that was Rap. That’s what we like to talk about… For us, that is Hip Hop. Now, I’m just bringing another side, another avenue, that isn’t really tapped into too much, and I owe it to my fans to give them the full spectrum of what it is that I do.”
No Malice also spoke about Kendrick Lamar’s controversial verse on Big Sean’s “Control,” where he called out a number of emcees, including Pusha T. “He did exactly what he was supposed to do. You know, he staked his claim,” opined No Malice. “That’s what Hip Hop is built on. That’s what it’s always been built on, and that’s what I’m talking about. You gotta still bust. I don’t care what you do; you could be talkin’ about foolishness. If you ain’t bustin’, what are you doin’ right now? I think we start to get away from that. …Maybe what he did is gonna get cats back on they game. I hope so, anyway.”
Watch the interview below:
RELATED:No Malice “Hear Ye Him” Release Date, Cover Art & Tracklist
