Chains & Whips
"Chains & Whips" is a song by American hip-hop duo Clipse and American rapper Kendrick Lamar from Clipse's fourth studio album Let God Sort Em Out, released independently with distribution assisted by Roc Nation Distribution. Although not an official single in its own right, it was made available early on the album's Apple Music page in the late hours of July 10, 2025, the evening before the album's release. It was produced by Pharrell Williams.
Background
Producer Pharrell Williams first teased the song at the Louis Vuitton Men's Spring–Summer Show 2024 on June 20, 2023. Pusha T's verse was reported to be a response to rapper Jim Jones for siding with Drake in his feud with Pusha; earlier in the year, Drake brought Jones out as a guest at his concerts and Jones called Drake the "official 5th member of Dipset". Not long after, Jones criticized Billboard's inclusion of Pusha T in their "50 Greatest Rappers of All Time" list on the Rap Caviar podcast and later, during an interview with The Breakfast Club, challenged the hosts to "sing along to five Pusha T records right now". In the days following the song's preview, Jones responded by poking fun at Pusha's music and posting a video of him rapping over the beat of "Chains & Whips". In his lyrics, Jones references "What Happened to That Boy" by Baby featuring Clipse, says he will "go find you out in Paris" and alludes to Malice having a drug problem.Production
According to Pusha T, "Chains & Whips" was the first song from Let God Sort Em Out to be recorded. Like most of the album, it was recorded at the Louis Vuitton headquarters in Paris. During one of the recording sessions, Kendrick Lamar's publisher happened to be in the studio with Clipse. He listened and called Lamar, suggesting he should appear on the album. Clipse sent him "Chains & Whips" and "So Be It". Lamar wanted to rap on both tracks, but was in the middle of his feud with Drake and working on his album GNX, so he quickly sent a verse for only "Chains & Whips".On the first day of Louis Vuitton's Fashion Week in June 2025, Clipse and Pharrell previewed "Chains & Whips", including Lamar's verse. They played the album on the rooftop of the Paris headquarters for a crowd of people.
Controversy
The aforementioned feud resulted in Drake suing Universal Music Group for defamation over the promotion of Lamar's song "Not Like Us". When Clipse presented Let God Sort Em Out to Def Jam Recordings, a subsidiary of UMG, the label wanted them to censor Lamar's verse and when Clipse refused, asked them to remove "Chains & Whips" from the album. After months of dispute, Clipse left Def Jam, buying themselves out of the deal. Although Def Jam claimed they requested Lamar's verse to be removed because of concerns that it would cause conflict with President Donald Trump due its usage of the phrase "Trump card", Pusha T has suggested that the true reason was their discomfort with a collaboration between two bitter rivals of Drake. Pusha believes such fears were unreasonable, as Lamar does not diss Drake in his verse.Composition and lyrics
The song contains "organ-filled, bass-heavy" production with electric guitar played by Lenny Kravitz, drums and horns. Clipse raps about the pursuit of wealth and incorporates themes of death in their lyrics. The chorus features the line "Beat the system with chains and whips", which is a double entendre alluding to slavery and purchasing jewelry and cars. Pusha T addresses the risks of obsessively seeking riches, such as diamonds and cash, and attention. He directs criticism at those engaging in this behavior, referring to many rappers but especially Jim Jones: "You think it'd be valor amongst veterans / I'm watching your fame escape relevance / We all in a room, but here's the elephant / You're chasing a feature out of your element". The luxury watch brand Richard Mille is also referenced.Kendrick Lamar opens his verse with the lyrics, "I'm not the candidate to vibe with / I don't fuck with the kumbaya shit / All that talent must be God-sent / I sent yo ass back to the cosmics". He discusses facing various traumas and conflicts in the midst of his fame, systemic inequity, and the current direction of hip-hop, which he implies to be declining, highlighting that the genre's pioneers have gone unacknowledged: "Let's be clear, hip-hop died again / Half of my profits may go to Rakim". Lamar additionally performs in a rhyme scheme involving words that start with the "gen" sound.