Since their breakout in ’02, The Clipse have soldiered on as ambassadors of the neighborhood pushas, weaving their intricate rhymes with the synthy sounds of The Neptunes. With their third album Til The Casket Drops looming this year, The Clipse have decided to finally expand their sound outside the grasps of Pharrell and Chad Hugo, also collaborating with the likes of Sean C and LV and DJ Khalil.

“It’s just about growing a little bit,” said Malice backstage at the New York stop of the DIESEL tour last night at Webster Hall. “This is the first album The Neptunes didn’t produce solely, 100%, and plus, the fans been calling out to us. They wanna see us get down on other cats’ tracks so that’s what we did.”

Evident from the first few leaks off Casket Drops, the Thornton brothers have also lyrically moved away from the dark “coke rap” label, cemented in particular by their last album, Hell Hath No Fury, where they rode mostly solo, with the exceptions of collabos with their Re-Up Gang cohorts. With their new lead single “Kinda Like A Big Deal,” the duo has turned to Kanye for a guest spot, as well as Keri Hilson for the most recent leak from the upcoming album. No, they haven’t gone soft, but it seems that after grabbing the respect of the critics, the duo is now shooting for mainstream props.

“I think we pretty much already proved our point,” added the older Thornton brother, alluding to claims they’ve made of being the best rap duo out. “We were never one to mingle and have a whole bunch of different features and allow the features to make up a good percent of the album. So this time, it was good to reach out.”

Though The Roots closed out last night’s DIESEL show in signature livewire fashion (with the exception of their collaboration with the ambitious, yet offbeat Lykke Li), The Clipse provided the biggest moment of the evening by bringing out Kanye West for a performance of the single (view below).

(Spotted at The Urban Daily)

Yet even before West hit the stage, the duo held the crowd in rapture with grimey street cuts such as “What Happened To That Boy” and “Keys Open Doors,” despite the fact that earlier in the evening, those in attendance were vibin’ out to DJ sets including the disco-tinged “Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)” by Hercules and Love Affair and performances from electro-hop act Theophilus London and the aforementioned onstage oddball Li.

Pusha T of The Clipse explained the group’s bridging-the-gap nature. “We have a strong voice, a diverse fan base, and people aren’t afraid of The Clipse,” said the younger Thornton brother. “They hear the electro side, as well as all the labels that’s put on us. It’s no biggie. Everybody loves us.”

If the duo stay the course on their current trajectory, Soundscan (or zShare download counters) will provide Pusha the confirmation to support his claim. Last night surely made it seem valid.

Supergroups are a novel idea, just not a very realistic one.  If Nelly has his way though, an ‘09 Bell Biv Devoe will come to fruition, boasting membership from the rapper and hit-making amigos Akon, T-Pain, and Pharrell.  Success is definitely a toss-up, though.  The quartet could very well pump out a fair share of club bangers, but too many hooks (and a vocoder) could spoil the synthy broth.  Here are some dream lineups, though, whose chemistry would be undeniable:

Jay-Z x Kanye West x Scarface x Beanie Sigel

Kanye can just stay behind the boards for this one, flipping rare but timeless samples while the trio of emcees provide the same lyrical acrobatics that gave us classics such as “Guess Who’s Back” and “This Can’t Be Life.”

Diddy x DJ Khaled x Lil’ Jon

Seriously—an ad-lib match made in heaven.

“Take that.” “WE THE BEST!!!” “YEAH!!!” “Who?!? WE!!!!” “OK!!!”

Lil Wayne x Max B

The Martian meets Wavie Crockett.  Weezy’s stream-of-unconscience nonsense will flow smoothly with Max’s tidal wave of hooks (the man can harmonize anything).

Lupe Fiasco x Mickey Factz

If you can tell difference between them, then you need to stop using your Food & Liquor case as an ashtray… if you bought it, that is.

The Clipse x The Neptunes

We just need another album.  Speaking of which… !

-Devin Chanda

The superproducer and style icon shows how he kicks back in an intimate cover shoot for GIANT.

Super-paid beatmaker Pharrell Williams has created some of the most memorable hits in pop music. Now ready with his solo debut, In My Mind, the style icon wonders to Joan Morgan if he’s ready to expose his inner visions to the world.

There is an inherent transience to cities by the sea that makes them both sexy and susceptible to illusion. Not lies per se, or malicious deceptions, but a gentle massaging of the truth, the kind that facilitates the crap people want to believe about themselves—and obscures what they’d prefer others not know. This makes Hibiscus Island, Florida, with its heady infusion of private exclusivity and new money, the perfect background for a music video. Especially one whose treatment probably read a little something like this: Multi-millionaire playboy romances racially non-descript (but if you had to guess, Brazilian) beauty poolside at his mansion by the ocean. Joined later on his boat by his homeboy (Kanye West!) and two skinny-ass model chicks in barely-there bikinis. A Rolls Royce! Ferrari! Multiple designer wardrobe changes! Cut to: Sean “Diddy” Combs, special music fashion mogul friend! Lots and lots of bling! Boys, beats, boats and bitches meets Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous…this could quickly lapse into cliché. That is if the video in question wasn’t Pharrell’s “Number One.”

Clichés, you see, require precedent. The meteoric rise of Pharrell Williams’s career has none. The man has been leaving his indelible size nine sneaker print on the ass cheek of popular culture for more than a decade. As the more visible half of the ubiquitous Neptunes (the production team responsible for every other banger in your iPod—that is unless you don’t really mess with Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes or TLC), one-third of the critically-acclaimed rock band N.E.R.D. and CEO of Star Trak (musical home to Kelis, Clipse, Robin Thicke and Slim Thug), Williams’s eclectic kitchen sink approach to production has literally altered the musical landscape.

An unabashed fashionista, Williams’s emergence as a style icon has been equally impressive. Of the man who made skateboard gear sexy, MTV’s style guru Coltrane Curtis says this: “Pharrell is the yin and yang of fashion. He can give you something real grimy—gold teeth, tattoo on his neck—but he can also give you a white button-up that’s so crispy and so grown man. He’s fly.”

“Fashion for Pharrell is a lifestyle,” adds celebrity stylist June Ambrose. “Clothing for him is like second skin. It’s like the early days of hip-hop when artists didn’t need stylists. He knows how to translate fashion.”

And turn his passion for it into profit. Williams’s two luxe apparel lines, Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream (including tees, jeans, sneakers, hoodies, varsity jackets), can be found at high-end retailers like Barneys and Union with price points that range from $90 to $900. “No rapper, let alone a man of color,” continues Coltrane, “has been able to create a luxury product that can sell across the board. Rocawear, Marc Ecko Collections and Sean John Blue all caught bricks, but BBC sold over $100,000 in product at the Union store in Los Angeles in one day. A hoodie is $425—it’s a piece of shit hoodie,” he laughs. “Screen-printed all over. No detail. No embroidery. But the margins on them make you want to cry when you think of how much money Pharrell must be making.”

The coup d’etats continue. Later today Williams will take a break from our interview to sign a multi-million-dollar contract to be the first ever male (and black) face for French fashion house Louis Vuitton.