I“Virginia
is for lovers” may be the slogan of the state just
below the Mason-Dixon line, but according to Lord Willin’,
the debut album from the Virginia Beach-based duo Clipse
(which consists of siblings Malice and Pusha T), there’s
more than just hearts pumping down in ol’ Virginny.
Malice’s rhyme on “Virginia”—“Virginia
is for lovers / But trust there’s hate here, for out-of-towners
/ Who thinkin’ they gonna push weight here,”—reminds
listeners of Virginia’s longtime status as a weigh
station on the East Coast’s illegal pharmaceutical
superhighway. And while Clipse’s lurid tales of moving
large amounts of “soft white” permeate the majority
of Lord Willin’, impressive lyricism and superb production
courtesy of The Neptunes on tracks like the Superfly-esque
“Gangsta Lean” and the feel-good club jam “When
the Last Time” more than make up for the limited subject
matter. Jadakiss and Styles P of the Lox show up to help
Clipse chop more hot cook up on “I’m Not You.”
“The Clipse, as a whole, didn’t
set out to put a message in the music,” explains Malice.
“We just did what we had to do and felt like doing,
[which is] talk about issues that we wanted to talk about
from the VA perspective. Maybe next album we might try and
save the world and be a little more positive, but this album
we just had shit on our chest. We’ve been actively
pursuing a deal since ’94, so we had a lot to prove.”
Consider it proven.—Mark Allwood
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DVDs
Blade II New Line
Unlike most sequels, Blade II more than holds
its own with the original. And the same can be said for
this DVD. Besides presenting the energetic film in anamorphic
widescreen with your choice of DTS ES 6.1 or Dolby Digital
EX 5.1 surround sound, this double-disc set boasts two equally
entertaining commentary tracks: one with star Wesley Snipes
and producer Peter Frankfurt, the other with director Guillermo
del Toro and writer David Goyer. The disc also geeks out
on the 16 extended/deleted scenes their own commentary tracks,
but also by including a making-of special that’s almost
as long as the film.—Greg Edwards
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GAMES
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BOOKS
Pimpnosis ATracy Funches / Rob Marriott
Harper Collins
For years, the pimp has been immortalized
in mainstream America, with the recent documentaries successfully
portraying the lifestyle while making celebrities out of
those involved—i.e., Bishop Don Magic Juan. Now author
Rob Marriott and photographer Tracy Funches, who produced
the 1999 film Pimps Up, Ho’s Down, pay further homage
with Pimpnosis. Marriott turns two years of research in
various cities to uncover the main character of Pimpnosis,
Twilight—who, as Marriott states, “is a composite
of three or four pimps that I brought together. All the
stories are true, but in order to conceal each person’s
identity I put all their stories together.”
Funches’ vivid photography of
pimps of all ages, genders and colors speaks as many words
as Marriott’s story—thus adding to the greatness
of this book. Pimpnosis is an excellent read not only for
those who respect the game, but also for those who think
“pimping” is what they hear in Jay-Z’s
raps but are ignorant to how the game really is.—Sean
A. Malcolm
See all the photos and read the complete story in KING Magazine, on sale now!
