Trust me when I tell you that as an independent artist, the grind is intense. However, it can be easy to forget that having a major label deal doesn't necessarily make things easier. Just ask The Clipse. Fierce negotiations between their current label, Jive, and The Neptune's Interscope-based Star Trak label has kept their career on ice for the last four years. The Clipse recently emerged from the rubble with the highly regarded "We Got it 4 Cheap" mixtape series and their new album, Hell Hath No Fury, which XXL Magazine has already hailed as a classic. Not too shabby considering many artists never recover from that kind of hiatus in today's fast-paced and ever-changing hip hop landscape. But the dust still hasn't completely settled. The Clipse are staying on their grind to make sure that when Hell Hath No Fury hits shelves on November 28th, it gets the marketing push it deserves. I caught up with Malice to discuss the current state of hip hop, the label drama, and hip hop's seeming obsession with cocaine.

Soulstice: First of all, Hell Hath No Fury recently got a classic rating in XXL, congrats on that.

Malice: ‘Preciate it.

Soulstice: No doubt. So what does this album and this rating mean to you given the current state of hip hop?

Malice: It means that there's still listeners out there, you know what I'm sayin'? People still checkin' for lyric-driven hip hop, still appreciatin' lyric-driven hip hop, which is what we are.

Soulstice: What influence would you like it to have on hip hop as whole?

Malice: Just getting back to the basics and the fundamentals, you know what's I'm sayin'? It's a totally different climate from when we let out Lord Willin' which wasn't that long ago. And it just turned into something else. And, you know, basically we just putting the fundamentals back in hip hop and when you've got the producer that does the whole album, when you've got lyric-driven hip hop…it's just a little less gimmicky.

Soulstice: I feel you. Aight man so...2006 – good or bad year for hip hop?

Malice: It depends on who you ask. You could ask the elementary school kids and they'll tell you it was a great year….you know what I'm sayin? It was good for somebody…

Soulstice: One of the things that always catches me about a Clipse project is the unique sound and feel of the music…like you said, it's a consistent sound with one producer. What's the creative process like working with the Neptunes to craft that sound?

Malice: Just trying to be innovative, trying to do something different. You know what I'm sayin', don't just hop on the bandwagon with everything they got out there. You gotta switch up the sound and just, you know, be original…like "Grindin'" was.

Soulstice: What's your current relationship with Star Trak?

Malice: Cool, everything is good.

Soulstice: That's good to hear. Getting' further in to that, it must have been difficult making Hell Hath No Fury with the Neptunes on Interscope and The Clipse on Jive…

Malice: Yes, it caused us to sit out the game for four years!

Soultice: Exactly…tell me about that.

Malice: You know, we just had to take a chill for a minute, you know what I'm sayin', while Star Trak and the label tried to work out their differences or whatever and you know we just basically got caught in the middle of all of those shenanigans. And uh…you know, just had to wait ‘till it all got ironed out.

Soulstice: And yall came out of it with an imprint deal for Re-Up Records. How did that change your situation with Jive and make things more favorable?

Malice: I mean, somethin' had to give man, you know what I'm sayin'? Man, somethin' had to give. We weren't just going to take the brunt…the short end of the stick. Like I said, we really didn't have anything to do with it, we just got caught up in it. It's good, I guess you could look at that as the silver lining.

Soulstice: Through that whole process, you came out with the "We Got it 4 Cheap" mixtape series. How did that impact the negotiations with Jive? Did that make them take a step back and realize what they had on their hands?

Malice: Yeah, I think the fans pretty much let it be known that there was a demand for The Clipse. And those mixtapes got a lot of acclaim in the magazines. Rated as a Top 100 album and it wasn't even and album, you know what I'm sayin'? That and Mixtape of the Year for "We Got it 4 Cheap" Volume 2. So I think it did open a lot of eyes and it showed us how important the fans are. I mean, we already knew it, but you know, we got to see it in action.

Soulstice: No doubt. So, what's it like working with your brother? A lot of groups split up and go their separate ways and eventually do solo projects. Any aspirations like that?

Malice: Naw, not all. What it is is…it's The Clipse man. And, you know, workin' with my brother is like, we just have an unspoken rule like everything's already understood, you know what I'm sayin'? Like we pretty much come from the same school and have a lot of the same thoughts or views on just life period. So I think it's made it easier.

Soulstice: What about the other artists on Re-Up, what's up with them?

Malice: Sandman's crazy and, you know, Ab-Liva's good.

Soulstice: Are they branching out and getting their careers together?

Malice: Yeah, definitely. You know, we're going to put out this mixtape at the top of the year: "We Got it 4 Cheap: Spirit of Competition." We just think we better [Laughs], you know what I'm sayin? They on they solo projects right now. You know, but right now we're just trying to get Hell Hath No Fury out there to the fans.

Soulstice: It's obvious listening to the music, that you maintain creative control on that side. But how involved do you have to get on the day to day with the label to make sure your album gets the right kinda push?

Malice: Well, I hear Pusha cussin' somebody out daily! And I mean daily. Not some days or every other day. Daily. So, you know, that's how that goes.

Soulstice: I know one thing you were having difficulty with was the choice of a second single. Where's that at?

Malice: Third single actually…

Soulstice: Third single, my bad.

Malice: But see, you didn't even know. There you go. It's fucked up in the game.

Soulstice: Yeah, for real man.

Malice: [Laughs] You right cuz. But uh, streets is talkin' and it's soundin' like "Keys Open Doors" might be the next single.

Soulstice: Aight, so yall got three albums on the bill with Jive after this one. What's up with that? What's your plan for the future?

Malice: I don't think we even take it that far, you know what I'm sayin'? We'll just cross that bridge when we get there.

Soulstice: With the Dipset artists successfully moving units independently, looking forward beyond your situation with Jive, is that something yall would consider?

Malice: Yeah, definitely. Seems to be a lot of money in that.

Soulstice: To paraphrase a recent article in XXL, hip hop is addicted to cocaine. I know yall have a lot to say on that topic. In your opinion, when did we hit that turning point? How did we get from "Fight the Power" to "Cook-coke-crack?"

Malice: How did we get from "Fight the Power" to "Cook-coke-crack?" Flava Flav started smokin' outright. That's a direct connection.

Soulstice: Aight, let's wrap it up with this. You've mentioned several times that there no "philosophy" in a lot of the hip hop coming out. Can you elaborate a little bit on that? Furthermore, what's the philosophy that The Clipse want to leave us with when we're listening to your music?

Malice: I mean, I just think that a lot of the rap that's out now is one-dimensional, one-sided. You know, they only talk about the obvious. You know, and The Clipse, we tell the full spectrum. You know what I'm sayin', we tell all sides, not just the glory of everything. And that's just how it is out there.