clipping. is a genre-bending hip hop trio from Southern California who will undoubtedly challenge your aural senses and very idea of what rap music is capable of sounding like. Their Sub Pop debut album, CLPPNG, has been stirring a fair amount of online buzz since its release on June 10th. The group’s sound, courtesy of producers Jonathan Snipes and William Hutson, falls somewhere between a stripped-down version of Hank Shocklee’s Bomb Squad histrionics and the Neptunes, circa Hell Hath No Fury. And lead rapper Daveed Diggs sounds like a street-seasoned spoken word poet channeling Ice-T. clipping. may not be everyone’s cup of coffee, but by listening you are guaranteed to feel some sort of way, and that alone means something in a rap landscape otherwise roamed by clowns and clones.

206UP has two pairs of tickets to see clipping. on Thursday, July 3, at the Columbia City Theater (21+ only). Joining them in support will be Seattle’s very own OC Notes and Sneak Guapo, two artists that this blog rides for consistently. Enter to win a pair of tickets by filling out the form below (one entry per person) or by shooting us a tweet (@206upBlog) with the words “CLIPPING RINGS THE ALARM!” in the body of the text. Two names will be drawn at random and notified by email on Wednesday, July 2 no later than 5 pm PST.

Stream a few of clipping.’s tracks below and check out the lyric video for “Work Work” (featuring Cocc Pistol Cree) from CLPPNG.