I know the Clipse's "What Happened to That Boy" boy isn't your usual "throwback", but at its core this series is meant to remind you of dope tracks you might have forgotten about, and that's exactly what happened this week when I randomly came across "What Happened" and remembered just how ill it was. And yes, I know it's technically a Birdman track, but I prefer to pretend otherwise.
The Refined Take:
1) According to the Clipse themselves, the had to shoot this video twice because after they wrapped the first time the director messed up and destroyed all the film. Oops. If you want to hear Pusha T and Malice say "fucking director" one hundred times, this video's for you.
2) I know I'm in denial and pretending like this is a Clipse track, but truth be told Birdie's really not that bad here, and for some reason his ridiculous bird cooing ad-lib thing (you know what I'm talking about). Birdman's made an entire career out of not being so terrible he runs tracks featuring ill beats and better rappers.
3) As part of my ongoing obsession with rappers rocking appropriate sports gear, even though this is set in New Orleans and everyone in it is presumably from N.O., or in the case of the Clipse VA, we get gear from the Tigers, Phillies, Raiders, Hawks, Rams, Chargers and, thankfully, at least a couple Saints jerseys. What happened to repping your city?
4) Let's take a minute, and I'm completely serious here, to appreciate how incredibly well shot this video it. The shots of the Magnolia Projects are gorgeous at times. If you were to take some screenshots and hang em on your wall, everyone would assume they're art.
5) Really no reason to do the usual "what happened to..." Throwback Thursday thing here. Clipse just put out a new album, which is good but not as good as "Hell Hath No Fury", and Birdman's busy getting his head tattooed and doing, well, whatever the hell it is he does.