CLIP Is in Your Face

CLIP Is in Your Face

By Tobias HessMay 10, 2024

The world may have gotten acquainted with NYC artist and it girl CLIP as the proverbial “Sad B!tch,” but these days she’s feeling out of her “sad girl funk.” To launch this carefree moment, the moodboard mainstay is releasing a new single, “2 the Face,” alongside a karaoke-infused video. It’s a dancier vibe for an artist we’ve come to know as one of our most reliable purveyors of ambient, often melancholy rap. But after touring the world and taking in the sounds of global club culture, CLIP is here to get us moving in time for summer.

When we last spoke to CLIP, for her 2022 PAPER cover story, she was working on her boundaries. "I really have no boundaries and that's the main thing I'm working on right now," she told us, adding "I'm such a people-pleaser." Fast-forward to now and those boundaries are firmly set on "2 the Face."

“Blowin my phone/ I gotta block this hoe/ Stalking ass bitch/ Please leave me alone,” she sings on the song’s chorus, addressing an unsettlingly nagging lover. That mix of defiance and play is felt throughout the song and video, which is set in a colorful, neon Karaoke bar. Donning PAPER fav Anna Bolina’s signature tube dress while looking out knowingly, her gaze veiled by her red bangs, CLIP is emanating a joyous confidence that we could all use a dose of.

PAPER caught up with the NYC darling the day before her new release to chat karaoke, texting pet peeves and this brand new era.

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

My go-to karaoke song is "Say it Right" by Nelly Furtado.

This is probably your most club-ready song yet. What inspired you to lean into a dancier sound?

I went on a tour in Europe, and it just opened me up to people who actually like to have fun instead of just going out to look cool and please people. I also changed my environment and things that were holding me back, which helped to get me out of my sad girl funk. Now, I'm just trying to have fun and manifest good vibes.

You sing about cutting someone off who’s blowing up your phone. What’s your biggest texting pet peeve?

I don't really have a texting pet peeve, but I really don't like it when people call me, especially people I don't know. It's weird and scary [laughs].

You’re rocking PAPER fav Anna Bolina, who you also walked for. Tell me about your continued collaboration.

I'm Anna Bolina's strongest soldier until the day I die!

Photography: Ashely Thompson