Please Perceive Me: CLIP’s Debut EP
By Zoe Elerby
The fast rising new NYC “It” girl, CLIP is taking the music industry by storm. With over 44.8 million followers on social media, 4 million listens to her viral song SAD B!TCH, and a consistent audience of over 100,000 listeners on Spotify alone, CLIP is a sensation.
Releasing her new EP on September 15th, CLIP has already made a name for herself. She’s been featured in Marc Jacobs “Heaven” ads, co-headlined for the Boiler Room festival in 2021 and performed with Lancey Foux, Father and Coco and Clair Clair. From her alternative aesthetic to her humble beginnings with her found family, CLIP’s debut EP PERCEPTION shows exactly what CLIP’s music is all about.
CLIP is defined by a stunning voice and head turning instrumentals. Paired with her own natural talent, CLIP uses heavy synthesizer and simple beats to paint a picture with sound. With an aesthetic and sound similar to WILLOW, CLIP is climbing the ladder of alternative hip hop and helping the genre gain more respect.
In PERCEPTION, CLIP shares a sense of exhausted nihilism through what feels like a dream. The first two tracks Happy and Gotham are the perfect introduction to what CLIP is capable of. She utilizes the synthesizer and autotune to write a very specific narrative in each song, from singing longingly to a lover that she just wants to be happy.
“I don’t wanna be bad, I don’t wanna be sad, I just wanna be happy. I know I treat you bad, I know that I make you sad but I just wanna see you happy.”
To the complex emotions that a lot of young people, especially young artists can relate to in Gotham.
“Smiling through the pain, take this shit away. Man, I really hate feeling this way. It’s okay to cry, they say but how can I cry when I’m in my brain?”
CLIP uses the popularity of the sound in this genre to share personal moments, something that is and always has been a staple of the alternative music genre. Hence the solid foundation of this pattern, the alternative genre has given young people of color the chance to tell their personal stories.
I already mentioned WILLOW as an example and CLIP is another. Both of these artists have versatility in their music, they can slide into any genre with their alternative presence. Taking PERCEPTION’s third track, FALL BACK as an example of CLIP’s versatility, the song is a not so sudden shift into the world of rap that focuses on hustle culture. She goes from “Man, I really hate feeling this way” to
“He blowin’ up my phone, he said he want me back but I’d rather be alone, I’m married to this cash.”
CLIP doesn’t want the audience to think she’s a hashtag sad girl all the time. She is strong-headed and has a very powerful presence, FALL BACK is the track that lets the listener know that fact. The tracks that follow Road Trip and Can’t Help It gets the listeners back on the path to CLIP’s personal stories. From tilted love to struggling with mental health and viral fame, CLIP’s EP is exactly what her fans want.
She has consistently over 50,000 listens for very good reason. Although her sound isn’t new, it’s another stepping stone for the alternative hip hop genre. And it seems that CLIP is leading it in NYC and to all the followers she reaches over her prevalent social media presence.
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Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imnotclip
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bloodyclip/