Clipse Return Home In Emotional “The Birds Don’t Sing” Music Video

Clipse takes it back to where it all began in the emotional video for “The Birds Don’t Song.” The opening track from their latest album, Let God Sort Em Out, explores the grief shared between the two brothers as they mourn their father and mother. In the Brendan O’Connor-directed clip, the acclaimed rappers visit their family home in Virginia Beach, VA.

The personal visual offers a glimpse into their past with imagery from their childhood, including home movies and family photos. Pusha T’s son opens the video, placing flowers at the gravesite of his grandparents. Although not featured in the video, the song features vocals from John Legend and Voices Of Fire with production from Pharrell Williams.

“Lost in emotion, mama’s youngest/ Tryna navigate life without my compass/ Some experience death and feel numbness/ But not me, I felt it all and couldn’t function,” raps Pusha T from the heart in the first verse dedicated to their mother.

“I can hear your voice now, I can feel your presence/ Askin’ ‘Should I rap again?’, you gave me your blessing/ The way you spelled it out, there’s an L in every lesson ‘Boy, you owe it to the world, let your mess become your message,’” added Malice in a lyrical tribute to their father.

In a conversation with Interview Magazine, the brothers shared the challenge in penning the aforementioned verses.

“Man, ‘Birds Don’t Sing’ had to be the hardest verse I’ve ever written. It took all of four days of gut-wrenching reminiscing, and trying to put it all on paper was such a heavy task. Like I said earlier, we did this in LV headquarters, so people were actually hearing and seeing the emotion in the room. It was definitely one of those verses that’s going to go down in history for me, just with really tapping into the emotion and being as honest and as vulnerable as I’ve ever been on a song,” explained Pusha T.

Malice added, “Yeah, I agree. It was hard for me too, from an emotional standpoint, coming up with verses. It’s our parents, and you want to do them justice in sharing with the world exactly who they were as people and what they meant to us. At the same time, with every line, you’re reminded of your own personal grief while trying to express that to the listener. I also believe that this is something that everybody goes through. Everyone is familiar with loss of some sort, and hopefully this can serve as healing for them as well.”

“The Birds Don’t Sing” music video is the third from the album, following visuals for “Chains & Whips,” which features Kendrick Lamar, as well as the declarative, “So Be It.” Watch the music video for “The Birds Don’t Sing” and listen to Let God Sort Em Out above.