clipping. is an experimental hip-hop trio from Los Angeles, composed of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. Their work is an eclectic form of musical storytelling, combining rapid-fire flow with soundscapes built from field recordings, musique concrète, industrial, and noise. From their debut midcity (2013) to their latest album Dead Channel Sky (2025), the group has been exploring the boundaries of genre, treating music as a literary form, often drawing from science fiction and cyberpunk.

Albums like Splendor & Misery (nominated for a Hugo Award) or There Existed an Addiction to Blood reveal not only formal mastery but also a consistent aesthetic vision. Their latest release, Dead Channel Sky (2025), abandons the cohesive narrative structures of their previous records in favor of a collage-like format, where each track is a standalone experiment. On this album, clipping. draws on the history of hip-hop and electronic music, citing influences such as Egyptian Lover, Cybotron, and Mantronix. The record serves both as a tribute to 1980s and 1990s club culture and an attempt to situate it within contemporary electronic subgenres.

clipping. has performed at major experimental festivals such as Le Guess Who? and Roadburn, where in 2024 they presented two distinct sets: one focused on danceable tracks, the other on darker, more abstract material. They have also played in Poland, where their performances attracted fans of musical avant-garde.

“We’re not anti-rap. We’re part of that tradition – we’re just testing its limits,” said William Hutson in an interview. The music of clipping. can be overwhelming in its intensity. Their catalogue is a dense network of sounds and narratives best discovered layer by layer — or experienced all at once in one of their mesmerizing live performances.