The Clipse & Re-Up Gang Records Present We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3: The Mixtape : Clipse : Review : Rolling Stone

Leave it to the Clipse to perk up what's so far been a dreary year for hip-hop. This mixtape is the third in a series that began when the Virginia duo's second studio album — 2006's killer Neptunes-produced Hell Hath No Fury — was held up by record-label wrangling. With the Clipse angry over the lengthy delays and determined to show their brilliance, the first two volumes were stellar. Now that Fury's out, Pusha's rehashing its disappointing returns: "I guess I caught a brick according to SoundScan. . . . Prepare for the worst, that blood's on Jive's hands." Volume 3 is less consistent than its predecessors, but the flubbery flows and dense details still make for an absorbing mix. Joined by Ab-Liva and Sandman, who flesh out the Re-Up Gang, the Clipse dispense cocaine-dealing memoirs and disses against labels and rival rappers, laid over jacked beats (Kanye West's "Good Morning," Obie Trice's "Cry Now") and original music. Little thrills are plenty, like Malice's clever summation of his drug-dealing M.O. over Jay-Z's "Roc Boys" beat: "Sonny Bono the slopes until the reaper call/Connect kept me with snow like I was meetin' Claus/Merry Christmas to coke, here goes the reefer, y'all."