Horror, History & Hip Hop Royalty: How SOFTSPOT* Captured Clipse’s Haunting Return to Form
It’s been 15 years since rap duo Clipse - brothers Pusha T and Malice - last released new music — and the return of the legendary hip hop duo has been nothing short of cinematic.
Their latest drop, ‘So Be It', represents much more than just a music video. Directed by SOFTSPOT* filmmaker Hannan Hussain, the piece unfolds with haunting elegance at Long Island’s Oheka Castle – a setting as storied and stately as the rappers themselves.
Shot on 35mm film with a painter’s restraint, Hannan’s mindful approach leans into Clipse’s legacy, letting every shadow, silence, and lyric breathe. The result is a work that feels expensive, haunted, and deliberate. A fitting prelude to Clipse’s long-awaited comeback album,‘Let God Sort Em Out’.
Here, Hannan tells LBB’s April Summers how he channelled horror, history, and hip hop royalty into one of the year’s most unforgettable visuals.
Exercising Reverence and Restraint
When it comes to new music drops, fans have become accustomed to big, loud, lewd publicity stunts. But when Clipse dropped ‘So Be It’ – their first music release in 15 years – it didn’t come with a bang. It came with a sense of eerie, luxurious inevitability.
The music video – which, at the time of writing, has 9.6M views – plays out like a haunted portrait gallery. Every shot is still, regal, and drenched in visual tension. Set inside the majestic, gold-framed halls of Long Island’s Oheka Castle and shot entirely on 35mm film, it’s a fitting return for one of the most revered duos in hip hop.
SOFTSPOT* filmmaker Hannan Hussain, approached the project with reverence and restraint. “As a fan, I understood the importance,” he says. “And as a director, I knew what it needed to be. I didn’t want to overcomplicate it.”
The opportunity came about in the most serendipitous of ways. While overseas, Hannan spotted a clip of Pharrell previewing new Clipse music during the Louis Vuitton show and was instantly struck by inspiration. “It felt like such a huge moment and I wanted to be a part of it in some way,” he tells me. “I was in middle school when Clipse were first popping off and Pharrell, Push, all of them were very influential – I was a little brown kid living in Florida, buying fake BAPE. There was something so fascinating about that era of rap, and I wanted to add on to the visual language of their comeback, to grow it even bigger.”
After being sent some of their new tracks, Hannan had a clear idea of how he would incorporate Clipse’s legacy into this new project. At the centre of his concept were two simple but weighty words: luxurious and haunting. These words became the North Star which would guide every creative decision, from location to lighting, wardrobe to pacing.
Rather than default to the popular trope of brash maximalism seen in a lot of comeback videos, Hannan’s vision was one of elegant minimalism. Given the weight of Clipse’s return to the rap game, ‘So Be It’ would be a conscious rebellion against the pace and noise of today’s media landscape, designed to cut through the noise.
“We’re living in a world of six-second videos, with filmmaking in general, everything is like fast food,” notes Hannan. “I set out to make something simple, yet elegant, which I knew could be just as effective. And it has proven to be – the video's been doing really well. So it’s great to cut through that noise with something beautifully and intentionally shot.”
‘Now This is Evil. Keep Me Here’
That intentionality radiates from every frame of ‘So Be It’. Shot at the sprawling 109,000-square-foot Oheka Castle – a location famously used in the memorable ‘Boar on the Floor’ episode of Succession – the setting feels both opulent and ominous.
“The space had weight to it. That sense of history matched the energy of the record,” Hannan says. “I wanted the world to feel expensive and haunted at the same time.”
In that sense, this doesn’t feel like a typical music video, Hannan admits. “In hindsight, this video very much feels like we shot a movie and then they scored the film.”
The inspiration behind the aesthetic derived from early horror films. Honing in on stylised and shadow-laced stories, Hannan revisited old Hitchcock films, and movies like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the original Nosferatu, admiring how “simple but intentional with the craft” these movies are.
Hannan also looked to Greek mythology for inspiration, incorporating a nod to Cerberus, the multi-headed ‘hound of Hades’. The Cerberus concept was used as a storytelling device for Pusha’s final verse, perfectly matching the monstrous volatility of his delivery.
On set, Hannan knew the horror aesthetic was landing with Clipse when he received one particular piece of feedback. “Push said it best, after watching one of the monitors: ‘Now this is evil. Keep me here.’”
Shooting on film meant there were only two to three takes per performance; the director leaned heavily on his photographic instincts and background, framing the duo like subjects in a still-life, letting lyrics and presence command the frame.
It was this sense of stillness, of earned restraint, that made Clipse’s presence hit harder.
Despite never working with the format before, Hannan and the SOFTSPOT* team pushed to use film, knowing instinctively that the distinct appearance it can produce would echo the legacy being revived. “We were shooting two rap legends making their comeback and the nostalgic, timeless factor that film gives you fit the tone perfectly.”
A Trusted Vision
While many might be tempted to turn such a long-awaited return into a high-gloss spectacle facilitated by digital trickery, Hannan purposely decided to take the opposite route. “It would’ve been easy to say, ‘Okay, Clipse are back, let’s do heavy VFX and make it massive.’ But I’ve always been obsessed with slow and steady. No edits. Letting the performances speak for themselves. Letting things be simple and intentional and timeless.”
In a testament to trust and creative chemistry, the filmmaker recalls how deeply collaborative Clipse were, from the jump. “We had two or three calls before the shoot, and we’d just build off each other’s ideas.” One moment sticks out: “When I mentioned the initial concept, Push told me, ‘Hannan, you got it. Yes. This is the world we want.’”
That moment of alignment between artist and director, legend and newcomer, is something Hannan won’t soon forget. “It was surreal. These are people I’ve looked up to for years, seeing me eye to eye and trusting me with their vision. It meant a lot.”
The results speak volumes. Following its release in June 2025, the video has whipped fans into a frenzy, with many speculating that this will be ‘The Music Video of the Year’. One comment from a fan seems to perfectly sum up what Hannan set out to achieve: ‘This is how you nail nostalgia without seeming dated’.
The wide-spread excitement and praise for ‘So Be It’ is not just in response to the video’s cinematic beauty, but for its ability to stand out in a fast-moving, trend-chasing space. “I just wanted to prove there’s still value in something timeless,” says the filmmaker.
Introducing Video Village
In celebration of the success of Hannan’s intuitive and hype-inducing filmmaking, SOFTSPOT* held an exclusive screening event in New York to spotlight the work that went into this culture defining collaboration.
Designed to capture the energy from the shoot and bring it to a real world space, SOFTSPOT*’s Video Village, an immersive screening series, took place in tandem with Clipse’s official album release party on Thursday 10th July. The event featured an interactive video village installation, with live projections, printed stills, and original 35mm 4-perf negatives displayed on a light table to give people a chance to really touch and feel the filmmaking that went into it.
“Video Village is an immersive screening series aimed at reframing the film in a new, gallery-like context,” SOFTSPOT* co-founder, producer and director Tomás Whitmore explains. “When we're on set the entire team is focused on the monitors with so much intensity, passion, and intention, and we wanted to create an event that gives people a chance to experience that IRL. It is more than just visuals — it’s a chance to gather in person, celebrate craft, and restore a feeling.”
And this work is certainly worth celebrating. For all the noise this project has made, the video doesn’t shout for attention. It doesn’t need to. It’s a slow burn: haunting, beautiful, and unshakably confident. Just like the duo it was made for.
Mammoth achievements such as this prove why SOFTSPOT* are the ideal creative collaborators to have on side if you are hoping to execute something culturally potent with cinematic flair.
BTS photo credits: Boris Apple
