Lord Willin'

After forming the duo in 1992, Clipse had trouble securing a record label contract. Childhood friend and producer Pharrell Williams helped them secure a deal with Elektra Records in 1996. With help from Williams' production duo The Neptunes, Clipse began recording material for their debut studio album Exclusive Audio Footage. They released their first single "The Funeral", which helped gain fan interest but failed to make a significant commercial or chart impact. With "The Funeral" being considered a commercial failure, Elektra Records shelved the album and the duo was dropped from the label.[5]

In early 2001, Williams signed the duo to Arista Records through his recently established Star Trak imprint. With the backing of The Neptunes and the record label, Clipse proceeded to begin recording material for Lord Willin'.[5]

Two singles were released prior to the album. The lead single, "Grindin'", was released on May 14, 2002. The song became a summer Top 40 hit, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It has since been regarded by numerous publications as one of the best songs of the 2000s.[6][7] It was ranked at number 23 on BBC's Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time list.[8] The second single, "When the Last Time", was released on July 30. It is the duo's highest and longest charting song to date, peaking on number 19 on the Hot 100, and staying on the chart for 21 weeks.[9]

After the release of the album, two more singles were released off the album. "Ma, I Don't Love Her" was released on December 3, 2002 and was a modest hit, peaking at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100. The fourth and final single from the album, "Hot Damn", was released on April 29, 2003. It is titled as "Cot Damn" on the album, and was also released as a promotional single for The Neptunes' compilation album Clones. It peaked at number 58 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[10]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Blender	[12]
The Boston Phoenix	[13]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[14]
Los Angeles Times	[15]
HipHopDX	[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[18]
Sputnikmusic	[19]
USA Today	[20]

Lord Willin' was met with positive reviews from music critics. M.F. DiBella of AllMusic, who gave it a 4 star rating out of 5 said "While the two MCs' presence is invariably formidable on virtually all of the tracks, the Neptunes' pop-ish turn in their beatwork doesn't always do justice to the depths that the Clipse MCs wish to plunder".[21] Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly stated " On Lord Willin’, brothers Malice and Pusha T seize the moment with hustlers’ tales culled from Virginia's mean streets, a raw complement to the music's artsy, unrepentant grime."[22] Los Angeles Times Gave the album a 3 star out of 4 rating, stating that "The results are blissful, as the body-rocking, futuristic beats mesh magically with the clever, straightforward rapping of the two MCs, who inject sly humor and hard-core boasting into nearly every lyric." USA Today also had a similar approach, awarding the album a 3.5 star rating out of 4.

In its first week of release, Lord Willin' sold 122,000 units, debuting on Number 4 on the Billboard 200 and Number 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart.[1] It was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 1, 2002. The album continued to gradually sell after that, and as of December 2009, it has sold 959,000 copies according to Nielsen Soundscan.[26]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[27]
All tracks produced by The Neptunes.