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A few months later, "Zen" fell from the sky (onto their website) and the divide was drawn. Tracks like "Studin' Y'all" and "Pussy (Remix)" made them seem relevant again, too. But it's also far stronger than most releases like it, featuring a reinvigorated crew and one killer freestyle ("Coast to Coast"). It's anti-populist and too short on the MCs in demand, Malice and Pusha, who appear on about half the songs. Volume 1, which hit back in January, is too long, and it's overrun with suspect beat selection and too many references to HBO's "The Wire". Otherwise, Clipse could just move West and write for scripts for Michael Mann. Some may struggle with the joy these boys get from moving weight it's an indefensible stance- we all have our faults, and we all have to eat- but the revelry is also what makes it enjoyable. Unflinching and unforgiving, Re-Up re-imagine hustler as hero with lyrical ingenuity and deft wordplay. It sounds simplistic, but Clipse have been the premier drug-dealing soliloquists for some time. Have we talked drugs yet? That's what they do here talk the art of the deal and their mastery of such. "How can I make this better?" "This beat would sound hotter if we rapped on it," etc. Mixing, scratching, beat choice, reconfiguring choruses- all come into play, elevating typical songwriting into philosophical, deconstructionist terms. Bigger than just that new shit you cop from Canal St., these demonstrate that mixtapes, like albums, can be an art form. Subtle choices like these make We Got It 4 Cheap's two volumes- and chiefly Volume 2- the best examples of what a mixtape can be. All vocals are mixed way upfront by DJ/entrepreneur Clinton Sparks, easier to hear over instrumentals you already know. Ab-Liva and Sandman are the stylistic opposite of Clipse, burly in voice and muddy in inflection, intensifying most tracks, but usually just acting as foils. The result is the Re-Up Gang, a supergroup in the most undistinguished sense. And when forced to pick up the pieces and carry on, talkin' and sellin' shit, Malice and Pusha recruited two baritone toughs from Philly, Ab-Liva and Sandman, to round out their new incarnation. So, of course, in an attempt to stonewall Jive into voiding their contract, they recorded the year's most astonishing mixtape series, We Got It 4 Cheap. But lacking the backing of den mother Pharrell Williams, who launched their careers with "Grindin'" and produced their entire debut with partner Chad Hugo, Clipse were toast. For a brief moment, the Brothers Thornton sat idly, intermittently whining about their still-forthcoming album Hell Hath No Fury, and plotting their return. After their label, Arista, messily merged with J Records, the duo was shuffled to Jive/Zomba, an imprint historically unable to market gritty hip-hop. This is not what's supposed to happen to these guys. Left for dead more than two years ago, Malice and Pusha T- aka Clipse, two-hit wonders if there ever were some- had no damn right doing this.