No Malice

I grew up in Northern Virginia. My favorite music duo is the The Clipse, who are two brothers also from Virginia. They are really the forefathers of “coke rap” No Malice & Pusha T. This is an appreciation letter for the elder brother and that’s why his name is the title.

I have been a Clipse fan from day 1 and as such I could tell their music wasn’t only “coke rap”. There was always both sides of life represented and that other side mostly came from No Malice. What I mean by both sides of life is that here they were talking about selling drugs but also struggling with the morality of serving poison to their community and on top of it making music about it to glorify it.

I was caught up in the hype! I was young and Clipse & Re-Up Gang music was the soundtrack to my dealings. I write this letter as a convicted cocaine dealer who did 5 years in prison, not because of Push & Mal, that would be ridiculous, but because I was making bad choices in my life already and the music compounded it. Man, I would weigh out my bags to Ab-Liva, I was sad when Sandman left, I felt flashy when Pusha spoke, but I always felt introspective when I listened to No Malice.

Here was a man telling me about all the “winnings” of the fast life but also lamenting his battle of the mind and morals by allowing his family to follow in his footsteps and then taking part in the glorification. I always understood it, its just with the way I was living at the time, I only focused on the coke part. As I grew in understanding, as a man intellectually, I began to see the hidden gems inside of a No Malice verse. It almost felt like a musician at odds with himself over saying, what will generate money vs. the truth that people need to hear and know.

When I was retired as a criminal by the state of Oregon lol, I still listened to Clipse music and I still love Pusha T, but I started noticing all the teachings and lessons from No Malice. I was shocked but not entirely surprised when he said he couldn’t go on speaking the things in music that he was and that he wanted to write a book. He wanted to glorify God instead.

Any fans lost weren’t real fans. I’m a music head. No Malice’s music is BETTER today than it was before! I got every album and they wanna label it “Christian Rap” the fans and the industry. They do that so that you won’t listen to it. Ultimately, it’s just music but its the truth! Life is about growth and as No Malice grew, so did his music and so did I as a fan. If I hadn’t grown, I would still be in and out of jails and prisons, using and selling drugs. I would have never traveled to 20+ countries while living in Ireland and Norway. Opportunities and Growth go hand in hand.

I just wanted to say Thank You. Oh! and “Use This Gospel” was amazing! I know we can get a whole Clipse album similar to that song! Even if you gotta write the whole thing for your little brother! lol but on “Fake News” when you said you’d just as soon set match to it and light it on fire and destroy it. Noooo, if you did that, nobody would be able to see your growth as a man and a musician and know about it. I know you take pride in your message to the world so let it be as it is… “You can change because I did too!” I mean, thats my message.

Thanks for it all Sir,

Robert Yarber