CLIP is in a interval of transition.
“Actually, I’m not so good with change,” the 23-year-old New York artist reveals over video name. In current months, she’s packed up her issues and moved throughout the nation to Los Angeles – a typical path of journey for musicians who need to make a reputation for themselves. “It took a minute as I like being snug, however I’m settling in now.” CLIP’s cat, Boots, is her grounding drive; a reminder of house who sometimes barges into view throughout our name.
CLIP’s rise to fame has been swift, her nearly in a single day success powered by 2020’s brash, Crime Mob-referencing single, Unhappy B!tch. Launched throughout the preliminary throes of the pandemic, the monitor’s brilliant and combative angle match the temper, after which some. “‘Trigger I’m a tragic bitch however I really like being dangerous/ Hopped up out my emotions/ And I hopped in my bag,” she whisper-raps over soothing, undulating synths and a skittering lure beat. The monitor’s delicate bravado, paired with the lyrics’ candid vulnerability, resonated with a younger technology that embraces life in all its contours.
Notion, her not too long ago launched debut EP, serves as an enlargement pack to the world set out by Unhappy B!tch, and is much more assertive and audacious. There are parts of the present hyperpop zeitgeist in her futuristic sounds, nevertheless it’s not all set to fast-forward. Fall Again, with its nods to footwork and Houston’s chopped and screwed, funnels its reference factors by means of Flo Milli ranges of braggadocio.
Rising up in a Jamaican household, CLIP spent her early years immersed in reggae and gospel, with a noughties indie section placing when she was in her teenagers. “I used to be truly huge into music just like the 1975 and Arctic Monkeys,” she says, matter-of-factly. However like with many individuals her age, it was the rise of cloud rap that proved to be a watershed second for CLIP, and she or he nonetheless cites “Carti” and “Lean” as early inspirations.
These influences are evident within the unfiltered, confessional and subtly darkish nature of her music. “I simply pour my feelings out and no matter I’m feeling in sure conditions, like love, or feeling unhappy,” she says with a sigh of resignation. Take Villian, a standout monitor on Notion, during which she sings with a touch of detachment, “I don’t need to speak about my emotions/ I simply smoke away my ache.”
Not too long ago, she’s discovered herself struggling to come back to phrases with the popularity her new-found fame has introduced. “I’ve handled quite a bit all through my life, and even when good issues are taking place, I can dwell on the negatives and dismiss the positives. I used to be huge on pity events,” she admits, “however now I’m coaching my mind to not resort to this.”
Fortunately, the positives are getting too quite a few to dismiss. The rapper was not too long ago invited by Marc Jacobs to mannequin within the Heaven marketing campaign, an expertise that sparked a renewed curiosity in style. “I actually need to categorical myself fashion-wise and tie that in with my music.” And like her songs, her model leans into the daring and vibrant – it calls for consideration. “[Though] I don’t actually know the way to outline myself, I actually need to develop who CLIP is, whereas remaining versatile,” she smiles. “I by no means anticipated this [career], however I’m grateful and happy with myself!”
Feels like: Hyperpop meets footwork
Soundtrack for: Flexing by means of the tears
Our favorite music: Gotham
File subsequent to: Shygirl, Grove
The place to seek out her: @bloodyclip
