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The trio’s unique approach to storytelling and character development in their music sets them apart from mainstream hip-hop artists. By avoiding the use of the first person in his lyrics, Diggs allows fans to project themselves onto the characters he portrays, creating a more immersive and engaging listening experience. This departure from the traditional constraints of rap music has allowed Clipping to explore new possibilities and push the boundaries of the genre.
Dead Channel Sky is a concept album that delves into a dystopian cyberpunk world filled with war, capitalism, and social commentary. Through their music, Clipping explores themes of colonialism, technology, and the relentless pursuit of power. The album draws inspiration from classic sci-fi literature, such as William Gibson’s Neuromancer, as well as Afrofuturist works like The Last Angel of History. By blending these influences with their own unique storytelling style, Clipping creates a rich and immersive musical experience.
With their innovative approach to music and storytelling, Clipping has garnered recognition in the sci-fi community, earning multiple Hugo award nominations for their work. Their ability to blend elements of hip-hop, science fiction, and social commentary sets them apart as a truly original and groundbreaking musical act. As they continue to push the boundaries of the genre, Clipping remains a creative force to be reckoned with in both the music and sci-fi worlds.
“You could rap over fast stuff, slow stuff, laser sounds – all this other silliness.”
As well as hip-hop, cyberpunk is closely allied with rave music – think of the club scene in the Matrix, or Underworld, Orbital and the Prodigy on the Hackers soundtrack – and so Dead Channel Sky hops between dance sub-genres, including big-beat (Change the Channel), acid-house (Keep Pushing) and drum’n’bass (Dodger). But Hutson sees “a weird contradiction” here. “A rave is the most corporeal, embodied sense of joy,” he says. “It’s not about the connectivity of the internet – it’s about being in a warehouse with a bunch of people.”
This unsteady, contradictory relationship between the digital and the physical lies at the heart of Dead Channel Sky, where imagined realities prompt questions about our own: whether virtual realms of “pixelated wind” are any flimsier than ours. Diggs suggests: “If we are currently living in the apocalypse that the cyberpunk fiction of the 80s and 90s predicted, this is the music.”
Dead Channel Sky is released via Sub Pop on 14 March