"They asked for a tiny desk concert. They got a tiny desk concert."

April 9, 2021 6:18 AM

Tiny Desk Meets SXSW: Clipping "Leave it to clipping. to innovate around the central notion of the Tiny Desk; to take the series' emphasis on close-up intimacy and transport it to new heights of, well, tininess. This is, after all, a band that contains multitudes. Producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes craft a bed of hip-hop, industrial music and noisy experimentalism, then set loose rapper Daveed Diggs, whose violent imagery summons '90s horrorcore and a thousand bloody movies."

SET LIST
"Something Underneath"
"Bout That"
"Check the Lock"
"Shooter"
"The Show"
"Nothing Is Safe"

posted by gladly (20 comments total)

Clipping. is such an interesting project to me. Diggs is such a good writer and performer it's amazing. One of the "rules" is that he doesn't write lyrics in the 1st person. Since that's so much of what conventional rap is their music seems so fresh.
posted by Horselover Fat at 7:20 AM on April 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

I loved There Existed an Addiction to Blood, but sometimes, "Nothing Is Safe" would strike me in just the right/wrong way, and it would be too scary to listen to it in the car alone, especially in the dark. A lot of that was Diggs' performance, the urgency of his delivery could spark panic in me just like a good horror movie would.

The remix of that song in this concert doesn't have the same atmosphere, but I still think his performance is exceptional.
posted by gladly at 7:40 AM on April 9, 2021

One of the "rules" is that he doesn't write lyrics in the 1st person.

Oh that's really interesting. I always think of that as one of the ironclad stylistic conventions of both rap and standup.
posted by little onion at 7:48 AM on April 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Splendor & Misery is one of my favorite albums of all time. Thank you for pointing this out.
posted by kokaku at 8:53 AM on April 9, 2021 [6 favorites]

well! I had not heard of Clipping. before. of course I made a bee line to the "nothing is safe" video. daaaaaaamn!!! that taps into a lot of really primal stuff. might be time for a rabbit hole...
posted by supermedusa at 8:56 AM on April 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Clipping is musically amazing, and I LOL'd at the tiny desks.
posted by feckless at 10:01 AM on April 9, 2021

clipping can just take my money please
posted by Kitteh at 10:27 AM on April 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

Thank you thank you. I needed this today!
posted by allthinky at 10:59 AM on April 9, 2021

One of the "rules" is that he doesn't write lyrics in the 1st person

With the possible -- okay, dubious -- exception of "Puppy for Hannukah," which was made with the rest of clipping but is officially credited as a Diggs track.
posted by Quasirandom at 11:23 AM on April 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Oh that's really interesting. I always think of that as one of the ironclad stylistic conventions of both rap and standup.

It's really not. Egotism is common in rap but it's not necessary. Maybe it's nice for personal stories but once they get money who wants to hear that?
posted by yonega at 11:35 AM on April 9, 2021

I've started falling down a Clipping rabbit hole. Dark/heavy/intense music (in my admittedly limited perspective) hasn't had a real spark of invention since Witch House blasted onto the scene and in less than 2 years became a rather sad parody of itself. Seriously good stuff, here, and it deserves to hit huge.
posted by tclark at 11:47 AM on April 9, 2021

I love clipping so I love this, but of course I'm dying to know whether the tiny gear does anything. My guess is no, that they are miming along to a performance that they made this way.
posted by anhedonic at 12:21 PM on April 9, 2021

Thanks for posting this. I love clipping. and Daveed Diggs. And the tiny tiny desks are absurdly awesome.
posted by gingerbeer at 2:37 PM on April 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

Holy cow. I can't even really process how good this is!
posted by TheCoug at 7:20 PM on April 9, 2021

Shout out to SOPHIE at 9:09. This is awesome!
posted by The Half Language Plant at 8:18 PM on April 9, 2021

This is the first time I've heard this group. "Nothing is Safe" has the best buildup. What a set. Thank you.
posted by Popular Ethics at 10:34 PM on April 9, 2021

Awesome, love their work and love this, thanks for posting.
posted by LooseFilter at 6:52 AM on April 10, 2021

If you're new to clipping., might I also recommend Chapter 319.
posted by miguelcervantes at 8:13 AM on April 10, 2021

I don’t have the vocabulary for thoughtful discussions of music so I’ll just say that this was quite a journey that got more and more compelling all the way through, and I loved it.

And Daveed Diggs seems to have a very minimal need for oxygen.
posted by obfuscation at 6:01 PM on April 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

This was great. clipping are great.
posted by OmieWise at 4:08 AM on April 13, 2021