8.) Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
Scheduled Release Date: 2004
Clipse‘s debut, Lord Willin’ earned a gold plaque from the hit single “Grindin,” but their follow-up Hell Hath No Fury suffered from a series of delays. Once the group’s home of Arista Records dissolved into Jive Records—a successful pop and R&B spot, but a label infamous for mishandling of rap acts like Mystikal and Mobb Deep—then Clipse was S.O.L. for the next couple of years. While Clipse’s We Got It 4 Cheap mixtape series with Re-Up Gang helped hold fans over, Hell Hath No Fury took so long that the duo sued Jive for the numerous delays. On HHNF’s single “Mr. Me Too,” Pusha T famously says, “These are the days of our lives, and I’m sorry to the fans, but them crackas wasn’t playin’ fair at Jive.”
Official Release Date: November 28, 2006
As far as sales and Billboard success go, Hell Hath No Fury didn’t reinvent the wheel: it topped out at 14 in the US Billboard 200, 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and it didn’t meet any RIAA gold or platinum certifications. But the combo of The Neptunes‘ minimalistic backdrops and Pusha T and Malice‘s sharp, cold-hearted rhymes fueled the album to receive their most critical acclaim to date, garnering a classic rating in XXL magazine and not much lower scores in other publications.