Does Clipse’s 2025 Comeback of the Year Run Set a New Standard for Veteran Hip-Hop Acts?
This podcast episode is part of the Billboard editorial staff’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list. Find all our essays and podcasts related to the list here.
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For all of the 2010s and most of the first half of the 2020s, a full-on Clipse reunion seemed improbable, if not downright impossible: Pusha T had moved on to solo stardom and the GOOD Music boardroom, while Malice had turned his back on the mainstream altogether, focusing on his faith and largely disavowing his rap-star past. But a steady trickle of collabs between the Brothers Thornton opened the door for a potential comeback, and in 2025, Push and Malice were once again in the building — proving not only that they hadn’t lost a step since their 2000s glory days, but that they were ready to reach for entirely new heights.
This 2025 Comeback of the Year spotlight episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast looks at how the Clipse re-entered the picture with a resounding force 99% of newer acts couldn’t manage in 2025. You can find Michael Saponara’s essay on Clipse’s immaculate comeback season here, and Mike also comes on Greatest Pop Stars to help relive the duo’s triumphant 2025 comeback campaign with host Andrew Unterberger. We detail their many 2025 accomplishments, and explain how they might’ve created a blueprint for other veteran artists in hip-hop and beyond to follow for their own later-career releases.
While doing so, we answer all the most pressing questions about the Clipse’s 2025: Do the Gallaghers give the Thorntons a run for their money as far as reunited brother duos go? Is Til the Casket Drops kinda underrated in retrospect? Was it a good move or a self-defeating one to leak Kendrick Lamar’s “Chains & Whips” verse ahead of time? Did Tyler, The Creator’s ultimate verse on “P.O.V.” merit him apparently re-writing it nearly 100 times? How did the New York Jets’ backup quarterback find his way to the “Birds Don’t Sing” music video? And perhaps most importantly: Will Push and Malice end their career-long Grammy shutout this February?
Check it out above, along with a YouTube playlist of some of the greatest moments of Clipse’s 2025 — all of which are discussed on the pod — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for complete podcast coverage of this year’s Greatest Pop Stars of 2025 list!
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