«Why do you listen to hip hop?» I think my personal answer lies in this 26-year-old boy's first solo album. In the most misogynistic and violent genre par excellence, Dennis Coles chooses one of the most violent monikers that can exist: Ghost Face Killer. The name is taken from the kung-fu movie "The Mystery of Chess Boxing" (1979). At the first Wu-Tang concerts, he shows up with a mask because he's wanted by the police due to some crime. On that first Wu-Tang album, the first verse of the opening song, "Bring da Ruckus", is dropped by him: he's the first Wu-Tang Clan member that RZA decides to let us listen to and he doesn't disappoint. Ghostface Killah kicks it all off and changes the course of hip hop forever. His verse is one of the most wicked and most memorable that he has dropped in his career above a rhythm that fades and then comes back strong in an alienating and disturbing atmosphere.
His robust performance in "36 Chambers" allows him to launch an extraordinary solo career and quickly become one of the best hip-hop artists ever, with one of the most solid and quality discographies of the genre: three clean classics, "Fishscale" (2006), "Supreme Clientele" (2000), and his debut. They're raw, rough, dark albums, full of violence, gangsterism, thugging, drugs, mafia, weapons, etc. For his first solo single, a song to be extracted to promote his first studio album, just under a month after its release, at this point, you expect it to be one of the most violent hip-hop tracks in history. Instead, Ghostface Killah chooses a song dedicated to his mom: a single verse, very deep, storytelling about his childhood that has a soulful hook by Mary J. Blige. Not only it's a rarity in the genre, it's a song at the top in describing the hard-knock life, at the top of the game by the same interpreter, practically free of curses (there's only one, functional), another absolute rarity in hip-hop. It's a pearl, completely unexpected, beautiful, amazing.
Excellent skit from "The Education of Sonny Carson" (1974). After almost a minute, RZA puts the beat, masterpiece: slow, pounding, perfect drum, wonderful melodic samples from a couple of Al Green tracks, excellent "comic" boom bap. Raekwon lets the beat breathe, then delivers with a sublime, hardcore, smooth, fast, awesome flow. Another short skit from the same film, Ghostface boasts fast delivery, hardcore, smooth, dope in the second verse. Sudden hook by Lex Diamonds, Cappadonna closes, at the best of him in career, with one of his most appreciated performances, extra-verse, accompanied by a sublime break of RZA: Don Cappachino's hardcore, dirty, raw, spectacular, dope delivery, although, not as smooth as the other two MCs, he goes off on his own to kill the cut. Note that Ghost's verse is half that of the guests. The four protagonists of the record are all present in the first track.
2. "Wildflower" (ft. Jamie Sommers & Jackpot Scotty Wotty, both uncredited)
Track number two on Tony Starks' debut album is one of his most criticized ever. Skit from "J.D.'s Revenge" (1976), prelude to a track that will be different from usual for the performer. Great boom bap, dirty and dusty midtempo drum, jazz samples, simple hook performed by GFK and Jackpot Scotty Wotty, which isn't credited. Jamie Sommers enters, delivers four fast bars with commendable style, and exits the track, also uncredited. Ghostface's entry is crazy killer, he delivers a single verse with confident, slow, hardcore, energetic style on an excellent beat. The rhythm is left to breathe intelligently at the end, a beautiful choice, which follows those made in Rae's debut. Here, Ghost Face Killer takes it out on his ex girlfriend, spitting out aggressive bars. The ultra-misogynistic violent lyrics drop the quality of the whole product, despite being a gangster album.
3. "The Faster Blade" (ft. Raekwon)
This cut is a solo by Chef Raekwon. As "Wisdom Body" was for Ghostface Killah in the debut of Lou Diamonds. Without knowing the background of this LP, you're led to think that it's intended, the absence of Ghostface is intended, but it's not. Intro by Shallah Raekwon on minimal boom bap, heavy and dry drum machine, dirty and dusty, hard and midtempo. The samples are cold, dark, dirty, Lex Diamonds delivers a single long verse with a flowing, velvety, enveloping, confident style, weaving mafia bars into a spectacular song. The rhythm breathes half a minute at the end.
4. "260" (ft. Raekwon)
Classic track among many very strong choices. Drug story that ended in unexpected way. Skit from "The Education of Sonny Carson", at the end of the skit, it comes a dusty smooth sax from Al Green's "You Ought to Be With Me". There's also a melodic sample on which Ghost Face Killer delivers velvety, smoothness, quick, rips the track. Raekwon completes the song with a similar flow, quick, silk, fantastic, another iconic joint of the duo, which close in back n forth.
5. "Assassination Day" (ft. The RZA, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck aka Inspektah Dek & Masta Killa, who's not credited)
The song is brilliantly linked to the previous one, with a skit from "The Usual Suspects" (1995) that collects the theme of "260", where the two protagonists realize that there's no coke in the house they're robbing; skit from the manga "Crying Freeman", one-line intro by Masta Killa (uncredited). Dry, lean and hard drum, midtempo, organ in the background, guitar pinches, distorted sounds. Dek lets the rhythm breathe, then attacks, slow, fluid, hardcore, with a dirty style. RZA continues with its rough, raw, dirty, irregular flow. Raekwon in the third verse, calm, slow, confident, precedes Masta Killa, even slower, laid-back, relaxed. From the point of view of the lyrics, the title explains well what the track is about. This posse lacks the author of the disk, Ghostface Killah.
6. "Poisonous Darts" (ft. Method Man, not credited)
Skit from "The Mystery of Chess Boxing" with Starks intro. Drum meager midtempo, haunting samples, energetic, raw, rapid rap of the performer, who tears the song. Johnny Blaze hook, uncredited, along with a skit, then in the second verse Ghostface comes back stronger than before and represses the rhythm, drowns the song, excels. The track is particular given its brevity and the fact that as soon as he says the last word, the rhythm stops and doesn't breathe by itself at the end of the track as usual.
7. "Winter Warz" (ft. Cappadonna, Masta Killa, U-God & Raekwon, who's not credited)
Midtempo drum, lean and dirty, excellent dusty loops, snappy and shrill synths for a few moments, every now and then in the middle of the rhythm. Intro of Ghostface Killah, Cappadonna and Masta Killa, Raekwon hook, uncredited, first verse delivered by U-God. Golden Arms boasts a tidy, energetic, excellent style, instantly kills the piece. Chef's short hook, Starks drops the second stanza, smooth, sharp, energetic on a haunting beat. Another hook, third verse of Masta Killa, slow, laid-back, quiet, he takes his time with a good flow. Raekwon's last hook, then comes the story. Don Cappachino writes history. Ultra-verse, hardcore, energetic, raw, dirty, flowing, unstoppable and he's unstopped, all in freestyle for two minutes (according to him), he destroys the track and records his best verse ever.
8. "Box in Hand" (ft. Streetlife aka Street, Method Man, The Force MD's & Raekwon, who's not credited)
Force MD's Antoine Lundy sings the opening hook, Streetlife's one-line in the intro, Raekwon's second intro, uncredited. You can hear a girl singing in the background, it's Blue Raspberry from the sample of "Release Yo Delf", Method Man's debut track. Boom bap, hard and dry, dirty and dusty drum, midtempo, perfect, excellent samples, including that of Jackson 5 "Never Can Say Goodbye". Chef Raekwon lets the rhythm of RZA breathe, which makes a sudden switchbeat: the deep dark and obscure piano keys coincide with the entry of Lex Diamonds, smoothness flow, beautiful, dope. Hardcore, energetic, smooth delivery by GFK, Rae's hook on bridge of eclectic and dark piano keys. Method Man performs the third verse with a fragmented, slow, irregular, fantastic flow. Dope cut.
9. "Fish" (ft. Cappadonna & Raekwon)
Yet another classic song of a classic album. First and only soundscape produced by a person that's not RZA: the Wu-Element True Master. Intro, sample from "Crying Freeman", then the rhythm arrives at the end of the skit. Drum hard dry and midtempo, dirty and dusty as usual, perfect, one of the best of the year. The rhythm is a blessing, a real blessing, papal. Beautiful, ethereal, heavenly sample, taken from a classic: "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Otis Redding. The production is a manifesto of True Master's talent: he takes four different moments from Otis' song and assembles them together, creating one of the best sonic panoramas of the year. It's a party of pianos and strings dope in crescendo, the beat is let to breathe, it's one of the best musical moments of the year, you can hear it coming. It seems to be in San Pietro or among the Vatican rooms.
It's as if the Pope is welcoming you with open arms. The rhythm should give you these sensations, these vibes. Instead of one, there are three Popes to welcome you, you're again in 1414: Ghostface Killah flies, right away, rips the track, with a slow, enveloping, warm style, performs fantastically, with its best delivery on a production that has few equals in 96. Cappadonna at the best of life, doesn't miss the attack, cannot go wrong, calm delivery, fluid, completely confident, at the top in this period. Then there's Don Raekwon who kills the track, he's the Godfather of this album, relaxed, calm, clean, crisp, smoothness, wonderful flow. Dope track. Three emcees at their best, inevitable classic, is indisputable. One of the highlights of the decade in hip-hop. The rhythm of True Master breathes a minute at the end of the track, a wise and brilliant decision as always.
10. "Camay" (ft. Cappadonna & Raekwon)
After bass, piano and background vocals, Teddy Pendergrass is one of the first things you hear in the song, the sample chosen by RZA is wonderful, straight from "Can't We Try". Accompanied by a lean light drum. Ghostface & Cappadonna background intro, then Chef Raekwon does what he's pretty much always done up to now, opens the cut. For the fifth time in eight tracks that he appears, he has the first verse. RZA drops a dry and heavy drum, midtempo, very hard, relentless, sting by a piano scale, the loop is dark and haunting. Lex Diamonds slow, fluid, enveloping delivery. Hook left to the sample, Cappa flows fluid, calm, relaxed, finally Tony Starks concludes the ballad with a calm, slow, placated style, it's unusual to listen to him with this type of atypical energy. The guys create another track dedicated to girls, a sort of sequel / follow-up to Only Built's "Ice Cream". Another classic, don't sleep.
11. "Daytona 500" (ft. Cappadonna, Raekwon, The Force MD's)
Intro sung by Force MD's, rnb band from Staten Island. RZA's initial break beat using Bob James' "Nautilus": dirty dusty midtempo drum machine, excellent samples, rhythm left to breathe. Excerpt from "Incarcerated Scarfaces" to introduce the first MC: Raekwon's energetic, smooth, hardcore delivery that jabs the beat and overflows with his dope style. Force MD's hook and ODB excerpt from "Da Mystery of Chessboxin" to launch Ghost Face Killer: the landlord's entrance is like an anthology, he asphalts the rhythm, hardcore, energetic, raw, unstoppable, amazing flow. Sample from "Incarcerated Scarfaces", hook, another sample to launch Cappachino: the guy spits bars and looks like he's truly one of the best rappers of the season, he certainly is, he's focused, head down, going straight like a tank, rough, hardcore, quick, effective, awesome. One of the best songs of the year.
12. "Motherless Child" (ft. Raekwon)
RZA, the genius, takes the sample of the homonymous song by O.V. Wright, speeds it up and ties it to a second song by O.V. Wright, "Into Something (Can't Shake Loose)". When on the intro along with Ghostface Killah, Raekwon announces the duo as "Lou Diamonds, Tony Starks", you know you're about to witness yet another welcome classic cut of an album that is simply a true masterpiece. The Chef's work on this LP is impressive and comparable to what Ghost did on "Only Built". Magnificent rhythm, plaintive strings, lively piano keys, crunchy drum, midtempo, dirty and dusty, muffled. Raekwon's short, slow, confident verse, followed by a single long Starks verse, that delivers one of his best pieces with a slow, energetic, dominant style. Hook left to sample, Ghost outro with samples from a third song by O.V. Wright.
13. "Black Jesus" (ft. Raekwon, U-God & Popa Wu, who's not credited)
Skit intro between Lou Diamonds, Popa Wu and Tony Starks. Splendid ethereal vocal soul sample, from "Riot" by the Blackbyrds, slow, tight and skeletal drum, midtempo, apocalyptic, comic, cinematic samples. This is one of the few cinematic rhythms that you can find in this LP. Enveloping hardcore delivery by Shallah Raekwon, powered by the epic Blackbyrds sample in the background. It follows Ghostface's powerful energetic hardcore delivery, he tears the song with one of the his top flows, spectacular. U-God enters and slaughter the beat with a frighteningly smooth, fluid flow, probably one of his best stanzas ever.
14. "After the Smoke Is Clear" (ft. The Delphonics, Raekwon & The RZA, both uncredited)
Obsessive sample by Jimmy Ruffin, heavy drum, ruthless, midtempo, very hard, hook of the soul group from Philadelphia The Delphonics, who just got out alive from a street shootout in which Ghostface accidentally involved them as he was taking them to the studio to record the track. Hardcore, energetic, focused delivery of Ghostface. Hook of the group, with some rap lines from Ghost. At the second verse there's Raekwon, uncredited, with a clean and crisp, silk and energetic, unstoppable delivery. Great attack by RZA, also uncredited, punctual, honest, crude, rough, great verse.
15. "All That I Got Is You" (ft. Mary J. Blige, Popa Wu, who's not credited)
The first solo single in the history of Ghostface Killah, it's extracted as the album's lead single. One of the best rap ballads ever made in history, if not the finest. Third song using a skit from "The Education of Sonny Carson" on this LP. Ethereal sample from "Maybe Tomorrow" by Jackson 5, intro by Ghost in spoken word, soulful hook by Mary J. Blige on tearful strings. Ghostface Killah's unique verse, touching, very powerful, personal, dedicated to his mother and his childhood, performed with its best flow, hardcore, velvety, enveloping, concentrated, clean, crystal clear, dope, absolutely dope. It's incredible, and has one of the best lyrics of the year, backed by strings and a perfect light drum machine, distant, downtempo, wonderful piano in the background, Mary J Blige chorus in the background beautiful, light, distant, melodic. Soulful Hook by Mary J. Blige, verse of her sung: her heavenly voice is one of the most amazing things about this masterpiece album. Outro, in spoken word, brilliant, by Popa Wu. This is a sort of closure of the album, too bad two other tracks have been inserted after this one.
16. "The Soul Controller" (ft. The Force MD's)
Force MD's soulful intro, melodic flute, oriental vibes, tight, dirty, hard, heavy midtempo drum machine. Hardcore, dirty, smooth delivery of Ghost Face Killer. Starks boasts a dusty and dirty flow like the musical carpet, the chorus of the group is equally dirty and dusty. Heavy piano to accompany the third verse of the MC, then a one-minute hook from the group. The cut is extended to around seven minutes with two film extracts from "Carlito's Way" (1993) and "The Usual Suspects" (1995) respectively, both overbeats.
17. "Marvel" (ft. The RZA, not credited)
RZA churns out its most minimal production on the record: thin, tight drum, simple honest sample, intro of the two, short hardcore verse by GFK, long stanza of RZA, rough, raw, shiny, at first listen it seems one of the weakest closures in history for a classic album and that reduces the value of the project, but it only needs to be given more confidence and more listening to be better absorbed.
Final Thoughts
Debut album by Dennis "Ghost Face Killer" Coles, Wu-Tang Clan's fifth solo album, after the debuts of Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon and GZA/The Genius (the second LP by him, but it's also considered a debut). First, unique, last studio album of the Wu-Tang Clan in 1996, because the group is preparing to build the second album for 1997, to finish the five-year plan of RZA. "Ironman" is released in the wake of "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." by Raekwon, and it boasts the same main performers, the same themes, the same music, the same mood, the same classic vibes.
The production seems to be a continuous cross between the other two Wu solo previous albums in every aspect: under this point of view, the record is often neglected, because the music on the other top tier Wu solo albums is considered better that this one. Nevertheless, here there are some of the most beautiful soundscapes provided by The Abbot, still at his finest. Coming from the release of "Only Built" and "Liquid Swords", Bobby Steels decides to keep that kind of vibes and differentiate Ghostface's debut from the other two: he decides to eliminate all the kung-fu movie samples that featured The Genius album and keeps several extracts from mafia cinema, which have less weight than those present in Chef Raekwon's disk. In their place, the blaxploitation film "The Education of Sonny Carson" enters powerfully, which is a driving force in this project, opens and closes it: that is, is present in the intro, in what is one of the best intros of a hip-hop album, and is present in "All That I Got Is You", an excerpt that refers to the troubled and criminal teenage life of Ghostface, in the song that should have close the tape.
The only one kung-fu film held by RZA is the one who gave Ghost Face Killer his name, along with some extracts from mangas. By this way, the disc differs from the others and at the same time, it loses authenticity, because on the whole, these samples don't have their own cohesion and look like scattered flashes of a crazy camera. The production is entirely entrusted by RZA, while the "Wu-Element" True Master provides the rhythm for "Fish", creating one of the best beats of the season. Musically, the whole LP seems the union of the cold minimal sound of "Liquid Swords" and of the warm soul sound of "Only Built": the drums raise a lot of dust and dirt from the ground, there are soulful voices that envelop you in this suffocating fog from which you cannot see the surrounding landscape, then three guys arrive who shoot lyrical bullets all the time. Overall, it's an amazing production, it combines the elements that made the other two LPs great and manages to make that great this album too, in a different way. RZA made another amazing work.
From the technical point of view, I have nothing to say: like the Purple Tape, there are two of the best performers ever in hip-hop. Just as Ghost Face Killer appears to be superior to the lead performer on the previous year's album, in Tony Starks' debut, Raekwon is dominant and seems superior to the landlord. They both have some of their best deliveries ever and they kill every cut they're in, they rip every song, they're great. From the lyrical point of view, "Ironman" takes a few steps back from his cousin album which arrived the previous summer. In theory, it's composed by seventeen tracks scattered, with some fillers like songs for women and personal songs among the main themes, violence and gangsterisms: instead, despite there's no concept, the disk is cohesive, tight, excellent, one of the best album for the streets of the nineties.
The arguments are the same as for "Only Built", but if you pay close attention, you realize that they're qualitatively inferior to those of the other tape, despite a commendable execution: these are less detailed, there are fewer memorable lines and an abundance of references to the Five Percenters. The author himself explained the technical disparity of the texts despite the short time gap between the two releases. When it's time for Ghostface to shine, RZA tells him he has more or less two months to record and complete the album. It should be the best time for the rapper's musical career, however, he comes from a complicated personal period: shortly before, he was diagnosed with diabetes, and his best friend went to jail. Ghostface Killah quickly picks the beats from RZA, and his choice is flawless, but he can't rap on it, his mind is elsewhere. He can't think of the lyrics, he can't perform them. He doesn't participate in "The Faster Blade" and "Assassination Day" due to these problems, his pen game isn't at his best, he's not where he wanted to be.
Chef Raekwon is still in the mafia mentality, while Ghostface Killah leans more firmly on gangster: it comes out a record that isn't totally mafioso and not totally gangster, but it's perfect for the streets. The figures and the names of Raekwon & Cappadonna are inserted in the cover. They're the main guests of the disk, they'are the co-hosts supporting the main actor, Ghostface Killah, who's present in 15 tracks out of 17. Lex Diamonds partecipates in 12 tracks (3 as uncredited), while Don Cappachino is featured in 5 songs and he's fantastic, in one of his best moment in career: he never fails, its performances in all these tracks are considered as masterpieces. His two-minute last long verse in "Winter Warz" is considered his best verse ever and that song is also considered his song, a Cappadonna solo song, by the Wu-Tang boys themselves. "Iron Maiden", "Fish", "Camay", "Daytona 500", all classics, all among the mandatory pieces in this mandatory record. Maybe he's just luck, maybe he's one of the best rappers of the year, quite simply.
The other guests are Wu-Tang Clan MCs The RZA, Method Man, Masta Killa, U-God, Inspectah Deck, the affiliates Streetlife, Jamie Sommers, Jackpot Scotty Wotty and Popa Wu, The Force MD's, The Delphonics and Mary J. Blige. Half of them are uncredited. They participate with performances which are remembered as some of their peaks. Ol' Dirty Bastard is present with a sample, while GZA is the only one member of the group to not perform at all. Published by Epic and Razor Sharp, the album gets a better sales answer than the previous Wu records, charting second in the Billboard 200 and first among the rap albums. Positively welcomed by critics, it's received better in Europe than in its homeland, a kind of tradition for Wu-Tang's first wave albums: today it's considered a classic and one of his best albums.
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