Way back in February, Entertainment Weekly posted a first listen of "Kinda Like a Big Deal," the first single from Clipse's third album Till The Casket Drops, saying it was going to be out on March 9. March 9 came and went, and so did April 9. But today, on April 20, the song has finally premiered. 

The most noticeable thing about "Kinda Like a Big Deal" is the serating electric guitar and organ beat courtesy of DJ Khalil, one of the non-Neptunes producers working on tracks for the forthcoming Drops.

Pusha T kicks the track off with a verse about the third time being the charm, which is a theme he broached at length on Road to Till the Casket Drops, because this is Clipse's third album, and thanks to a huge deal with Columbia, the expectations have never been higher (and technically, had "The Funeral" blown up, their indefinitely shelved first album Exclusive Audio Footage would have made this the fourth time).

Kanye West, in one of his increasingly rare verses sans Auto-Tuner, is next, and sounds like his old self, dropping lines about how he's the "black Marshall crossed with Jay" and calling out Damon Dash. It's not as good as some of his better work, but I'll take this over anything on 808's and Heartbreak.

Malice wraps the track big-upping his drug moving talents, and his, uh malice, which is apparently unparalleled since he's "the reason the hood need a dental plan."

Clipse have caught flak for focusing too much on their alleged pasts as drug pushers, since they're more apt to rap about the type of glassware they cut their  coke in than just about anything else. And on Hell Hath No Fury they took that to visceral ends, mixing in hyper-literal tracks about drugs with tracks lashing out at their record company.

On "Kinda Like a Big Deal," we get a more laid back and simultaneously more pushing Clipse, as they clearly feel the pressure to deliver the pop goods and cut down on the drugs (they're mostly just boasting instead of chroncling here). I'm not sure how "Kinda" bodes for the rest of the album, but Till the Cakset Drops is shaping up as Clipse's long awaited commercial breakthrough. [via Pitchfork]