No one has had a music musical comeback quite like rap duo Clipse. With their recent album, “Let God Sort Em Out,” the hip-hop group — made up of brothers Malice and Pusha T — have been dominating the rap world…even recently performing at Vatican City. Now, the release of their anticipated music video for the project’s most personal song is making major headlines.
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“The Birds Don’t Sing,” featuring John Legend, is a sentimental track exploring the brothers’ final interactions with their parents over a gospel-inspired rhythm. The music video for the record dropped on Sept. 30, and while the nearly six-minute visual is stunning, the symbolism behind it all will give you goosebumps. Now, let’s dive in.
Opening Shot
It begins with Pusha T lifting his son, Nigel, up to put flowers at his grandparents’ grave site. The song itself is a tribute to the rappers’ late parents, using the bird metaphor to express the troubling emotions that come with managing grief and the loss of a loved one.
Childhood Home
Malice and Pusha take it back to where everything started: Their childhood home in Virginia Beach, Va. Family is clearly an important piece of the Clipse puzzle and they make several references to their loved ones through home videos and pictures hanging on the walls of their home.
The final scene of the video shows both brothers standing directly in front of their house dressed in Louis Vuitton. Not only is this a reference to Pharrell Williams– the album’s executive producer and the Men’s Creative Director for the brand– but it also shows how far the brothers have come from dealing drugs in their parents’ house to being one of the greatest acts in hip-hop history.
Religion in Times of Grief
Clipse explores themes of religion throughout the video. The song also features the gospel choir Voices of Fire, adding to the overall themes about death and the importance of Faith.
One of the most compelling visuals is the representation of an empty alter inside a church, which is notably in black and white. Later on, a choir is pictured singing at the same church.
Motherhood
The first part of the video depicts the beauty and trauma of motherhood. From clips of a pregnant woman’s belly to shots of young children playing and holding their mother’s hands, these visuals act as the perfect backdrop to Pusha’s verse, which deals with his late mother.
“Lost in emotion, mama’s youngest / Tryna navigate life without my compass,” Pusha raps. While the son speaks candidly about his mother’s last days, the camera cuts to various pictures of matriarchs hanging up in the rappers’ childhood home.
Darling Stadium
The brothers stood inside Darling Stadium located in Hampton, Va. The facility was built in 1989 and has been an integral part of city for decades.
Although the brothers attended Salem High School, separate from Darling Stadium, the facility more than likely played a key role in their childhoods. Pusha T revealed in a 2012 interview that sports were a big part of his youth, especially tennis.
Fatherhood
Malice takes on the second verse of the song, detailing how he discovered his father’s death. For Malice, who was named after his father, Gene Elliott Thornton Sr., fatherhood is the epitome of being a man. The heartfelt rap is accompanied by clips of Black fathers playing with their children.
“The way you missed Mama, I guess I should’ve known / Chivalry ain’t dead, you ain’t let her go alone,” Malice raps, referencing their father’s death happening just months after their mother.
Straight From 
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