Clipse / Pusha T / No Malice: “Ace Trumpets” Track Review – Warungku Terkini

Someone dear to me who lives across the country once described our friendship as “Monday-Tuesday.” It’s a simple and beautiful concept: It’s Monday when we see each other, and the next time, no matter how much time has passed, it’s Tuesday. It’s been 16 years since Clipse, the Virginia Beach duo of brothers Pusha T and No Malice, gave us something to step to, and “Ace Trumpets” sounds like no time has passed at all. In the intervening years, Pusha picked up where Clipse left off, developing a fascinating (if, at times, frustrating) solo career while Malice left rap for the ministry, dropped a couple of OK solo albums under the name No Malice, and eventually got the itch to rejoin his brother. Their reunion on “Use This Gospel,” the most interesting song on Kanye West’s 2019 album, Jesus Is King, sparked conjecture about a possible reunion. Now, the sun has risen on a glorious Tuesday.

“Ace Trumpets” is breathless, a menacing return to form for the coke rap auteurs. Pharrell Williams’ beat, with its rimshot snare, chest-caving bass, and synth drone that sounds like a screwed-down tornado siren, conveys the same creeping tension he supplied Pusha with for 2022’s It’s Almost Dry. The MCs’ subject matter hasn’t changed, but Pusha sounds particularly revitalized by his brother’s presence, issuing deliciously wicked lines like “White glove service with brick, I am Luigi.” It’s Malice who steals the show, though, keeping the same rhyme scheme intact for his entire 16 bars. He hasn’t lost a step. He raps, “Never leaving home without my piece like I’m Mahatma,” with his trademark steely gaze, and sneeringly brags about being “Dressed in House of Gucci/Made from selling Lady Gaga.” It’s going to be a cold, snowy summer.