Clipse
Masonic Jack White Theatre
Detroit
Sept. 10, 2025
This was one of the best rap shows I’ve ever seen.
And it’s not even close.
Iit only took an hour for Clipse to prove their dominance as a leading touring rap acts, closing out their lengthy U.S. tour at Detroit’s Masonic Jack White Theatre. It was a sold-out affair with close to 1,600 fans packed in and amped up.
Clipse is the duo of Pusha T and No Malice, two brothers from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who have built one of the most infallible reputations in the rap game even with extended breaks between their albums.
This tour was a bit of a comeback victory tour for them after releasing “Let God Sort Em Out,” their first project in 16 years and after very few folks thought they’d actually reunite and hit the road.
Part of the success of the comeback album was teaming up with Kendrick Lamar for a feature on “Chains and Whips,” which Clipse opened their set with to an energetic explosion from the audience (Lamar came out for a cameo during their Los Angeles show, but no special guests for the Detroit show).
“Chains and Whips” takes a sample of a bluesy organ lick by Cherry Wainer and turns it into a dark, bass-thumping anthem that acts as a dastardly backdrop for the raspy wordplay of Clipse.
There’s nostalgia being tapped into here, too, with Clipse going back to their 2002 breakout track “Grindin’” to turn the venue into pandemonium.
With this track, Clipse show off how much they resist aging poorly with their audience, even with an extended time away from the spotlight.
“Grindin” is produced by the Neptunes (Pharrell and Chad Hugo), who were constantly thinking about the future of what rap would sound like versus trying to emulate what was currently happening in the scene. “Grindin” feels like a tribal, pure celebration of drums – drums that sound like someone turning garbage cans in an alley into a full soundsystem. There’s a floating woodblock echoing over the chorus … and that’s about it. At the time of its release 23 years ago, the idea of something so stripped down and percussive wasn’t really on the radio. But it still sounds so current today that it has aged like fine wine and ahead of the curve.
Hearing it in Detroit, I couldn’t help thinking about the influence of sparse Detroit techno somehow making its way into the world of the Neptunes when this track was being put together.
On top of the beats, Clipse performed like old school b-boys, going back and forth on their bars and clearly articulating their rhymes into the mic. It’s not like they were high energy by any means, but there was some minor choreography that went into the show. In the world of rap shows, a strong delivery and a little fanfare and stage design goes a long way.
The stage design was also minimal but felt more democratic and street-level than images of flashy cars, cash and expensive jewelry that some might associate with the era of rap that Clipse first emerged from.
Images of girls in front of project developments playing jump rope. A simple shot of a camera attached to the front of a car speeding through the streets of Paris in black-and-white. Old footage of Mike Tyson being an absolute monster in the boxing ring.
It felt like flipping through channels at hyperspeed, or absorbing a blitz of content while doomscrolling through your phone. It proved effective and entertaining, adding a visual rhythm that matched the beats of their tracks.
At one point, Clipse tapped into an emotional moment, performing a tribute to their parents called “The Birds Don’t Sing,” which features John Legend and a simple earworm of a repeating piano refrain. The screen behind them played home videos and photos of their parents as it was performed as a closer before their encore.
Clipse is back. And next time they hit the road, you don’t want to miss it.
