This Juneteenth LA noise and hip-hop artists clipping. have released their single
Chapter 319 via Bandcamp. It is one of the most immediate pieces of media that I have heard this year. The single addresses the circumstances of America’s intransigent issues of police brutality and racial violence, the fight against which has recently overflowed into mass street actions catalyzed by the senseless death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Since the protests of these needless and evil slayings became the subject of national news, many similar killings have occurred at the hands of law enforcement, further illustrating the dramatic need for systemic change to the dynamic between black people, property, and enforcement of the law by the state. These slayings include the murder of Rayshard Brooks for the crime of sleeping in his car, and the shooting of David McAtee, a beloved Louisville business owner, for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There are others too. Literally too many to name. Which brings us back to clipping.’s single. If you don’t know what’s happening at this point, if you don't comprehend how disparate treatment of communities based on the color of their skin can have life or death consequences for average Americans attempting to live their lives, then it is not merely a lack of education, but an act of willful neglect which informs your world view. The clipping. says as much at one point in the single and further identifies the fact that voting for Donald Trump in November is an overt act aimed at perpetuating white supremacy. There isn’t any other way to interpret such an action in the group's mind, and there isn't in mine either. With characteristically back-breaking, blown-out bass, territory-claiming electronic chatter, and a rolling, pull-no-punches flow, clipping. make their intentions clear. They are not here to threaten anyone. They are not here to plead for recognition or respect. The dignity of one is not a detriment to another in a free society, and black people do not require concessions or permission to do what needs to be done in order to grasp the unburdened mantel freedom and respect for their lives which should be the inheritance of every citizen of the United States. "Chapter 319" is packaged with “Knees on the Ground” a disorienting, psychological play that unfolds through air-stealing electronics and rattling piston-clapping beats, depicting a fatal encounter by a young black man with a police officer. It was previously released on Soundcloud, and it is extremely difficult to listen to. Not because of its harsh aesthetic qualities but due to the directness with which it portrays someone’s death and the grim, daily reality that it reflect. Of all the music made in this moment, there are few examples that I can think of more prescient than what clipping. has released here.
Today (June 19, 2020) clipping. will split its portion of all Bandcamp sales of their Chapter 319 single between the GoFundMe for George Floyd’s daughter (the Official Gianna Floyd Fund), People’s Breakfast Oakland, The Okra Project, and Afrorack. For its part Bancamp will be donating all of its proceeds from today to the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. On all days thereafter, sales of these two tracks will be periodically collected and donated to organizations dedicated to racial justice.
Buy this single via Bandcamp
here.
