Lyrically, clipping.’s music attempts to reshuffle and repeat accepted rap scenarios, while eliminating a traditional single-point perspective. Diggs’s writing is heavily citational, like a rough-edged collage, gluing together half-glimpsed images and misremembered references, many of which might feel familiar, and some of which assuredly do not. But even while he consumes and regurgitates established styles, his self-erasure is incomplete; Diggs’s dense, often motormouthed flow remains wholly his own.
Individually, the members are known outside of the group for their extra-curricular artistic projects. Diggs is a stage actor, while Snipes composes music for film, and Hutson is an established noise music artist. Snipes and Hutson have collaborated on many projects, including the score to the documentary Room 237, which was released by IFC in 2013.
In February 2013, clipping. released their debut album, Midcity, on their website. The project was created entirely in-house, with the trio writing, producing, engineering, mixing and mastering all of the material themselves. There was no budget, no outside promotion, no hype-machine, no blog or label interest. In fact, clipping. had no expectation that anyone would bother listening to the album, let alone enjoy it. Nevertheless, reactions were largely positive— despite the uncompromising nature of the production, and its obfuscatory lyrical content— and within five month’s of Midcity’s release, clipping. signed a deal with Sub Pop Records.
CLPPNG, the band’s label debut, was written and recorded between February and October of 2013. Highly well-received, CLPPNG is an album that demonstrates the variety of sounds available when the ‘rules’ of a genre are willfully questioned.
http://www.itsclippingbitch.com
Haunting
clipping. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I awoke with hands around my throat
This went on for one week
My radio played when not plugged in
I heard someone run across my attic floor
I saw my tufted rug—my tufted rug appear like someone was walking on it
I had foul odors in the apartment in the wintertime
I awoke one night to a cat meowing and I had no cat, nor did the tenant below me
One night a bat, or bird, flew against my head
I am not sure which, it happened so fast
I saw chimpanzees appear in my bedroom
I heard my name being called, and when I turned to look, I saw my broth—
So who was really trying to kill me?
Not my friend, but Satan
Why, I didn't know
The lyrics to clipping.'s song Haunting paint a vivid picture of a terrifying haunted house experience. The singer describes a series of eerie events that unfold after moving into their apartment. The first experience is waking up with hands around their throat, which continues for a week followed by a series of other bizarre events like the radio playing even when not plugged in, foul odors in the apartment, knocks from inside the attic door, and seeing chimpanzees appear in their bedroom.
The climax comes when the singer hears their name being called and turns to look but only sees their brother before being cut off mid-sentence. The final lines indicate that the singer believes that it was not their friend trying to kill them, but Satan, though they're unsure of why this was happening.
The song is an intense exploration of fear and the unknown, depicting a series of chilling experiences that leave the listener feeling unsettled. With the use of vivid imagery and eerie soundscapes, the lyrics create a haunting atmosphere that lingers long after the song has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
After I had moved into my apartment two weeks
Since the time I moved into my new apartment, two weeks have passed
I awoke with hands around my throat
I woke up to the feeling of hands choking me
This went on for one week
This experience of being choked lasted for a week
My radio played when not plugged in
I heard my radio play even though it wasn't connected to any power source
I heard someone run across my attic floor
I heard the sound of someone running across my attic floor
I saw my tufted rug—my tufted rug appear like someone was walking on it
I visualized my tufted rug to be moving as if someone was walking on it
I had foul odors in the apartment in the wintertime
There was a bad smell in my apartment during winters
I awoke one night to a cat meowing and I had no cat, nor did the tenant below me
I woke up to the sound of a cat meowing, even though there was no cat present in my apartment or the tenant below me
Knocks came from inside my attic door
I heard knocking sounds coming from my attic door
One night a bat, or bird, flew against my head
One night, I was hit by either a bat or bird on my head, but I couldn't determine which it was because it happened too fast
I saw chimpanzees appear in my bedroom
I observed chimpanzees appearing in my bedroom
I heard my name being called, and when I turned to look, I saw my broth—
I heard someone calling my name, but when I turned to look, I couldn't see anything because the line was abruptly cut off
So who was really trying to kill me?
I'm wondering who was behind these incidents that threatened my life
Not my friend, but Satan
I can conclude that it was not one of my friends, but Satan who was trying to harm me
Why, I didn't know
I had no idea about the motive behind Satan’s intent to kill me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Snipes, William Hutson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind