In their highly anticipated return to the stage, No Malice and Pusha T — higher referred to as Clipse — are making waves with their first recent album in 15 years, but their reunion doesn’t end there. The duo can even take the stage at Pepsi Dig In Day in Chicago, which is a vacation dedicated to supporting black-owned restaurants across the country.

“It’s always great to perform with my brother,” Pusha (born Terrence Thornton) tells ESSENCE. “I feel like I’ve been doing my solo career for so long and I’ve always felt like I have a new-age fan base, but I can always tell the fans who know me from Clipse what they’re missing when I’m onstage by myself. So it’s always great to get in front of those people with my brother and see their excitement and just enjoy the discography. It’s amazing.”

The reunion of the Clipse marks a big moment in hip-hop history. After releasing their last album, , in 2009, the duo took a hiatus when Malice (whose real name is Gene Thornton) left the group to concentrate on his religious commitments. Now, with a brand new project on the horizon, the Clipse are reuniting to bring their distinct sound back to the forefront of the music industry. Their upcoming record, featuring Pharrell Williams’ signature production, guarantees to deliver a fresh yet nostalgic experience for fans.

Pepsi Dig In Day is back for its fourth 12 months and is the right backdrop for the return of Clipse. The initiative goals to support Black-owned restaurants and is expanding its reach to more cities and venues. The August 24 event encourages food lovers to dine at Black-owned establishments across the country with a special buy-one-get-one deal on a $100,000 meal at over 30 participating restaurants. This 12 months’s event is not going to only feature an exclusive performance by the duo, but can even feature products from local streetwear designer Don C and quite a lot of local food vendors.

As Pusha T and No Malice prepare to take to the stage once more, they’re ready to reignite their musical legacy and have a good time the community-focused spirit of Pepsi Dig In Day. Their reunion is ready to be the highlight of the event, marking a triumphant return to the music scene and an unforgettable day in hip-hop history.

ESSENCE: How did you begin working with Pepsi on the Dig In Day concert?

Pusher T: Well, I actually did Pepsi Dig In Day DC to promote my solo project last 12 months and it was good. Really great. DC, there’s all the time a celebration there and just the considered the food and the community and the music and everybody coming together in the town, it was really good, so I assume with this recent project, the brand new Clipse project, it made sense. Everything happened around the identical time so that they were like, “Oh man, new music.” And Chicago is an incredible market for us, so I believe they reached out to us about it.

Now Malice, I used to be at Something within the Water two years ago once you performed there and it was an incredible show. How does it feel to be performing together with your brother in Chicago?

Malice: Oh man, I just think it’s amazing. I believe it’s the appropriate time. I believe especially with where Hip Hop is right away, I believe our project definitely fills a void and just the energy and having the ability to reconnect with the fans which have been there because the starting of Clipse and see that our music is timeless and still stands the test of time, and I feel like we could compare it to anything that is occurring right away, and it just feels really good to be back.

The recent Clipse album shall be your first since 2009. Why did you are feeling this was the appropriate time to release recent work?

NM: I just feel prefer it all got here together organically. I’ve really enjoyed watching my brother through the years and just seeing the extent that he’s taken it from where I left off with him to where he’s taken it, and the last 15 years have been a variety of reflection for me. And then I believe all of it got here together after we worked on the album together. Then I did the “Punch Bowl” record on Nigo’s album, after which I used to be on my brother’s album on a song called “Pray,” and it just began organically taking shape. It just felt right and we felt prefer it was the appropriate time.

PT: I believe it’s the appropriate time. Just speaking to the fans, man, I feel like as soon as they saw us together, as soon as they heard “Punch Bowl,” as soon as they heard “Pray” on the album, I could feel their excitement. The web is talking, and it’s an instantaneous response, and I feel like that excitement was loud and really spoke to each of us.

Malice, there was some extent where you stepped away from rap for some time, I wanted to ask you the way you’re thinking that that affected your music in the way in which you create it, if in any respect?

NM: I believe it opened up quite a bit more content for me. I believe people know me as someone who really digs deep into my lyrics and form of paints either side of the image, and I do not know, just takes the time to think, reflect on my life, take inventory of things. I believe I even have quite a bit more to say and still deliver the identical energy and the identical themes that Clipse fans love.

Clipse is typically stigmatized as promoting “cocaine rap.” I wanted to ask you — what can listeners expect from this recent album?

PT: Well, I believe the largest goal, our biggest goal with this album is just to show that we’re timeless and to show that hip-hop that is lyrical and grounded doesn’t exit of favor. I believe you have a look at it, you have a look at the sport and also you have a look at the vibe of the sport, and I feel like we definitely bring something that is missing because I do not think there are any duos within the rap game right away. Definitely not with the content and the material and the extent of flavor that I believe we have now. I mean, you continue to hear the road talk, you continue to hear the voice of reason, you continue to hear all sides, all perspectives, and I believe that is what hip-hop is all about, especially street hip-hop. And I do not know if it’s something recent, but I just know that it’s something that folks don’t understand nowadays, and we bring it.

NM: Yes, I see Clipse as a novelty. I see us as an actual novelty that does not come around fairly often. It’s like a couple of mistakes where you’ll be able to get that form of uniqueness. I feel like what we bring is exclusive. What you get from Clipse is real-time evolution, real-time experience, real-time things that we have been through in our lives and put it together. We never chase a trend, we never try to sustain with what’s so-called fashion. I just think it’s timeless and unique.

Pharrell will produce all the album, right?

NM: Normal.

PT: Surely.

So I comprehend it’s probably very different from once you began. You’ve all evolved a lot since your first album, so I wanted to ask — is the recording process more arduous when you may have so many things occurring?

PT: Yeah, man, I might definitely say it’s tedious. It’s hard. We definitely put our time into it, and sometimes we go in there and we do not get anything. Sometimes we get a vibe and it is perhaps two or three songs. Sometimes we argue about what’s needed sonically and what’s not. It’s a process, but I mean what comes with it. I believe that is what comes with creating as a collective. You have a variety of different energies and opinions, and everyone knows that is what it’s about, everyone knows after we figure it out, everyone knows that is it, and it’s definitely a process to get to that time, but we get there each time and we all the time have.

NM: I agree. Like Push said, we work on it, we get there, and we all know exactly what it’s supposed to be. There’s all the time an ordinary that we’ll all the time hold ourselves to, and we do not all the time say we never make a bunch of songs or have leftovers. We don’t just throw stuff on the wall and see if it sticks. We know when it’s going to stick and we just nail it.