Clipping - Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X)

Splendor & Misery (Anniversary X) is the tenth-anniversary edition of experimental rap trio Clipping’s Hugo Award-nominated sci-fi opus. This deluxe edition features revised art, the original album, plus eight previously unreleased songs and alternate takes.

Splendor & Misery is an Afrofuturist, dystopian concept album that follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising on an interstellar cargo ship, and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. Thinking he is alone and lost in space, the character discovers music in the ship’s shuddering hull and chirping instrument panels.

Clipping’s music draws an imaginary sonic map of the ship’s decks, hallways, and quarters, while Daveed Diggs’ lyrics ride the rhythms produced by its engines and machinery.