Jobie's Bite-Sized Music Reviews #52: Splendor & Misery (album) by clipping.

Recommended

Disclaimer: this review is not sponsored; the links to the album at the bottom of this review are simply there for the convenience of the reader.

Splendor & Misery is the second studio album by experimental hip hop group clipping., released in 2016. It is a afrofuturist-science-fiction concept album that follows the story of an AI and Cargo #2331, an enslaved person on a ship who ends up being the last person remaining on the ship.

The album masterfully uses a mix of traditional instrumentation and ambient, experimental instrumentation in order to craft an immersive sonic atmosphere; from the abrasive sound effects featured in many parts of the album to the drum n' bass -esque instrumentation featured on the track “Wake Up”, clipping. utilize a variety of sound textures that make the listener feel like they're really on board this ship. In fact, many of the tracks on the album are completely devoid of rapping or traditional instrumentation, with tracks like “Interlude 02 (Numbers)” serving the sole purpose of enriching the atmosphere that clipping. establish throughout the album. The instrumental of the track “Baby Don't Sleep”, is actually quite startling, even on a secondary listen. This is due to the fact that instrumental actually drops out completely at multiple points during the track, leaving the listener expecting some sort of instrumental jumpscare. At several points, it seems like the track's audio is about to rise to worryingly-loud levels, which thankfully never happens. The flow of lead and backing vocalist Daveed Diggs is absolutely impeccable, with tracks like “The Breach” showcasing this the best; I have not counted, but it seems that Diggs spits roughly 200 words in about 56 seconds on this track, which is quite impressive. There is one track on this album which does not have anything to do with the AI and Cargo #2331's story, “Story 5”. According to my research, the track is supposed to accompany “Story” and “Story 2” from clipping.'s earlier album, midcity, giving an alternative perspective of the story told in “Story”. Since this track has nothing to do with the overarching narrative of this album, I won't delve into the details of it here. My favorite tracks from this album are “All Black”, “Wake Up”, “True Believer”, and “Air 'Em Out”. Overall, clipping.'s Splendor & Misery expertly uses sonically diverse, atmospheric instrumentation to craft an immersive atmosphere, convincing the listener that they're present in the album's story. Coupled with the great flow from Diggs and the fairly interesting story, Splendor & Misery is an album you should definitely listen to.