The Grindin' Drop: Full Circle

Some stories start in a specific place. This one starts in Virginia.

The Virginia connection

In the early 2000s, Virginia took over hip hop. The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott made the Commonwealth impossible to ignore, and Clipse gave it one of its defining statements. "Grindin'," produced by Pharrell and Chad Hugo as the Neptunes, was the single that broke them, lifted from Lord Willin', Clipse's 2002 debut. Two brothers and one producer, all from Virginia Beach, and one beat the whole country memorized.

The reunion

Twenty four years later, the story is still being written. On July 11, 2025, Clipse released Let God Sort Em Out, their first album in 16 years. Pharrell produced the entire project, on the boards solo for the first time in Clipse history. Thirteen tracks, five GRAMMY nominations including Album of the Year, and a debut at number one on the Billboard Independent and Vinyl charts. Pusha T, Malice, and Pharrell, still building together.

The coffee

And somewhere in those sessions, a new product was brewing. Literally.

Grindin Coffee launched September 14, 2026, a partnership between Pusha T, Pharrell, and Lavazza, the Italian roaster with 130 years behind it. The name nods to the 2002 single. The idea came from the studio routine the two built over decades of working together: up at 5 a.m., black coffee or the strongest espresso they could find, hours locked in creating, then twenty five miles on the bike, then back to the music. Create, move, create again. As Pharrell put it, "Coffee has always been part of that discipline. It has been in the room with us when we create. Now it has a name."

That is how Pharrell works. He does not lend his name to things, he curates them. Billionaire Boys Club with Nigo. Humanrace skincare. Collaborations with Chanel, Adidas, and Tiffany. The men's creative director chair at Louis Vuitton. Grindin Coffee is cut from the same cloth: a product built with intention, roasted by people who have done it for over a century, inspired by a ritual its founders actually live.

So when the coffee landed on our radar, there was only one record that belonged next to it: Lord Willin', the album where it all started.

The drop

The Grindin' Drop is coffee, vinyl, and a tee.

• Grindin coffee - Medium Roast, whole bean. South American beans, with notes of bittersweet chocolate, caramel, and roasted hazelnut. The morning cup.
• Clipse, Lord Willin' on vinyl - the 2 LP reissue. The soundtrack.
• The Grindin' tee - black, heavyweight. The uniform.

The three together run $79.99 in the bundle. The merch line, tee, hoodie, crewneck, and dad hat, is also shoppable on its own. See the full lineup on the Grindin Drop page.

We are making about 50 bundles to start. A test run, packed and shipped by hand, to see if the ritual catches on.

Day ritual. Coffee first, then the needle. From Virginia to the morning cup, some pairings pick themselves.

Want first word when the bundles are ready? Leave your email in The Sunday Needle Drop below. You will hear it here before anywhere else.