MVRemix: First thing people think of when they mention the Clipse is that for the last three years people have been waiting for the follow up - there's been label issues, all that kind of stuff... Without getting into super detailed kinds of stuff - what has basically been going on?

Malice: Well basically what's been going on is we just got caught in the middle of when Arista and Jive merged and just a little drama between Star Trak and Jive, and the Clipse just kind of got pigeon holed in the middle of everything. Meanwhile we was just basically puttin' out these mixtapes; "We Got It For Cheap" volume 1 and volume 2 and just tryin' to stay creative man, and stay hot while all this mess blew over.

MVRemix: Yeah, both those tapes were critically acclaimed - how important was it for you to get those tapes out there, to the fans and to the people by going the mixtape route?

Malice: Crucial man, it was crucial man. It was detrimental to our survival, I believe.

MVRemix: Were you surprised that even though they were tapes they've gotten this really high level of praise - I think Blender listed "We Got It For Cheap" part 2 in the top five albums of the year...

Pusha T: Nah, I wasn't really surprised at all. With everything going out there in the industry, musically, we knew that when we were puttin' out them tapes that we were definitely raising the bar for lyricism. So if that's what you were tryin' to hear, that's what you were gettin'. We knew you were gonna be happy with it - we knew you were gonna be bumpin' this joint every day in your ride. For real, mixtapes have a life span of probably like a week... Maybe two weeks in your car - maybe. Not these two though.

MVRemix: It helped that you were on fire pickin' the beats - beat after beat was just classic. The older one's were classic and the newer ones were the hottest joints of the moment. Definitely a good look on that. So what's the current status of the upcoming album? Is it still called "Hell Hath No Fury"?

Malice: It's more fitting of a title now, given everything we've been through now. But "Hell Hath No Fury," due out late August. First single right now, "Mr. Me Too" is the one we runnin' with.

Pusha T: The hottest single in the streets - "Mr. Me Too."

Malice: It's gonna be the hottest album of the year.

Pusha T: By far!

MVRemix: What prompted you to write "Mr. Me Too" and then what prompted you to make it the single?

Malice: I guess for one, just in our absence to show the fans that it's still great chemistry between The Clipse and The Neptunes and it's where we left off so we just wanted to bring it back. Basically during our hiatus, its been a lot of "Mr. Me Too"s, its been a lot of cats basically picking off of our style and bitin' our names and takin' from our mixtapes. You do somethin', somebody just wanna do it one better so it's just "Mr. Me Too"s everywhere.

Pusha T: For real.

MVRemix: You've got Pharrell rhymin' on the joint and I assume the Re-Up Gang, Sandman and Liva are gonna be on the album as well... Are there any other guest appearances or guest producers from outside the camp?

Pusha T: No other guest producers - we kept it sort of in-house on the album. We got Roscoe P Coldchain on the album, definitely... We got Bilal.

MVRemix: Word, how'd you guys hook up with Bilal?

Pusha T: Sandman and Liva suggested him.

MVRemix: So does this album sort of continue where "Lord Willin" picked up or left off? Or is it kind of a different direction?

Pusha T: I think the album is a lot darker than what "Lord Willin" was. We was just talkin' about this the other day, a lot of joints on part 1 of "Hell Hath No Fury" that would've come right after the first album didn't make the cut at all. A lot of them joints were happier.

Malice: Whatever was happy on the album was removed because we ain't been too happy. [Pusha T chuckles] So we revised the album and kept it current, so you know when the public gets it, it's fresh man. 'Cause everybody waited too long to get any kind of material that's just been sittin' around so it's a really fresh album.

MVRemix: So are those joints that you guys removed ever gonna be released - ever gonna see the light of day?

Pusha T: Probably not.

Malice: You might catch them on a soundtrack or somethin' - they're not gonna go to total waste I'm sure.

Pusha T: Don't let us get happy again.

Malice: Yeah, at least let us get happy.

Pusha T: When we get happy we'll rap about girls, we'll party - feel ya butt... Freak on ya... Grind on you.

Malice: But right now it's about gettin' it back and "Hell Hath No Fury."

Pusha T: We been through the fire!

MVRemix: So a lot of that stuff you guys have rapped about previously, a lot of the "street" raps - a lot of people been doing that since Hip Hop started. How do you guys do it in a way that's different and new, that keeps people interested? I know the first album some people were like, "It's kind of one dimensional - they're talking about crack the whole time." "But dude, it was fire the whole time!" So how do you guys bring something new to the table and not regurgitate what people have put on mixtapes and whatever?

Malice: I think that one of the things is you gotta definitely be genuine. It's not a magic trick man. We don't sit here and prepare and think about what we're gonna say - we just do what we do. We're basically just unleashin' on the pen and paper man and just talk about life and the things we know about. Now if it all seems to go in one direction; I think if you look into it you'll see it's a lot of gems within these verses and it's not one dimensional. Matter of fact, it has many sites.

Pusha T: As well, we stick to the fundamentals of Hip Hop

Malice: [interrupting] It's gotta make sense!

Pusha T: It gotta make sense, "A" and then "B," it gotta be colourful and creative. I think that's where a lot of people get it messed up. There's a million different ways to say one thing. Right now a lot of rappers are keepin' it pretty basic, plain and simple. Whereas we keep it colourful, we make you really use your mind.

Malice: Which is good, we're not complainin' - we want them to stay sleep.

Pusha T: Keep it that way, stupids. [chuckles]

MVRemix: Is it ever kind of hard coming from a state - representing Virginia at least, kind of stuck inbetween the East Coast and the South. In terms of where the South is kind of running commercial Hip Hop, but you're making music with more of a distinct East Coast feel. Are there ever any weird boundaries that you feel you might be crossing? Or kind of riding the edge of something...

Malice: First, you've got to know Virginia isn't deep, deep south. I mean it gets deep in there and it gets dirty in there, but I think the music we put out pretty much co-incides directly with where we're from.

MVRemix: How did you guys hook up with the Re-Up gang?

Pusha T: We met Liva in '99 - him and Gillie The Kid came down to work with The Neptunes. We just clicked as writers or whatever and so we had a record on the album called "Hot Damn," on the first album. We were like "Yo, we should put Liva on it" and we bumped into him at a club in Philly. Just bumped into him - went up to Philly and just ran into him. "Yo, I got this record for you - it's crazy!" Sand[man]; we was on tour - Liva, myself and my brother... We was on tour and we was watchin' DVD, and I was like "Yo, Sand is hot." I was like, "You know him?" And Liva was like, "Yeah, I know him he is hot." So after that we went to Miami and Clark Kent was on Rap City probably a week before sayin' "I got this artist by the name of Sandman." I went up to Clark Kent and went "Yo, what's up with this dude Sandman? Hey, I need to link up." So...

Malice: He stole him. [chuckles]

Pusha T: Yeah, I tried to go for the thief game and nah, he just came down to Virginia and we did a remix to one of our records and he hopped on the new album, on "Hell Hath No Fury" on a joint called "Ain't Ya"

MVRemix: You guys also have a Re-Up gang album droppin', I assume it's gonna be after "Hell Hath No Fury"?

Pusha T: Fa' sho.

MVRemix: You gonna try and get that out at the end of this year or kind of the beginning of next year?

Pusha T: As quick as possible.

MVRemix: Besides no-one else puts anything out in the first quarter...

Pusha T: In the fourth quarter.

MVRemix: So we're talkin' late August for "Hell Hath No Fury"?

Pusha T: Yeah.

MVRemix: Hopefully?

Malice: Definitely. For real this time.

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