After "Wu-Tang Forever", RZA steps away from the keyboards and leaves production duties to his affiliates, ordering the members of the supergroup to reduce collaborations with each other on solo records to the minimum possible, in order to «not give away Wu-Tang to labels that have only signed one member». This album becomes a great exception, with Bobby Digital returning to have an important role as producer and the Wu-Tang almost complete. In late 1997, Ghostface Killah and The RZA take a trip to Africa, during which the majority of the album is written and Stapleton's MC decides to renounce the materialistic, criminal and violent themes that had characterized his previous works and for which he had won critical praise.
The album was recorded in the two-year period 1998-1999 between Florida and New York, interrupted by a stint in which Ghostface Killah served several months in Rikers for a 1995 charge. The production, mixed and polished by Bobby Steels and GFK, is credited to RZA, Allah Mathematics, Haas G, JuJu, Carlos Broady, Carlos Bess, The Blaquesmiths, Black Moes-Art, Choo the Specializt, Hassan and Inspectah Deck. The guests include Wu-Tang Clan members RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Cappadonna, Method Man, Masta Killa, U-God and Wu-affiliates Superb, Redman, TMF, Chip Banks, Solomon Childs, 60 Second Assassin and Hell Razah.
1. "Iron's Theme - Intro"
The intro is beautiful, made with wonderful samples, and immediately gives a cartoonish look to the project, paying homage to some cartoon theme songs from the sixties, including Iron Man. This is due to the fact that this album should have been called "Ironman" and the debut "Supreme Clientele". Then it was decided that Ghostface's first LP would be titled "Ironman" and the second "Supreme Clientele".
2. "Nutmeg" (ft. The RZA, uncredited)
The first track, “Nutmeg”, is one of the highlights of the entire decade in hip-hop. It's one of the tracks that the artist started writing in Benin and soon became one of the most influential in the scene: the rapper delivers words that sound good together phonetically creating sentences that don't make logical sense and innovating songwriting in hip-hop with this stream-of-consciousness technique. When the beat comes, you think "RZA is back", this is one of his best beats: there's a beautiful sample from Eddie Holman's "It's Over", iconic flute, amazing strings, perfect drums, inaudible dirty bassline, cinematic setting.
However, it's not an RZA beat: the rhythm is signed by Ghostface's barber, who under the pseudonym Black Moes-Art provides one of the best tracks of the 2000s. Ghostface Killah introduces the song and delivers these bars with a calm, precise, smoothness, energetic, clean style, supported by a wonderful loop. The break is heavenly. The strings go back on the hook, then RZA (uncredited) shows up for the third verse and provides a notable attack, spitting bars with his cumbersome, raw and fragmented, rough and hardcore style, the rhythm helps him a lot. The loop keeps coming back like an undertow against the reef, Tony Starks keeps going against it with an unstoppable flow and kills the cut, this is considered one of his best songs ever, it's a shining gem and sets the tone for the entire album.
3. "One" (ft. TMF, uncredited)
This choice is another classic, my favorite track on the album. JuJu of The Beatnuts has designed a beat worthy of the Clan's best solo records of the mid-nineties. The loop is stratospheric, "You Roam When You Don't Get It at Home" by The Sweet Inspirations, the piece is classic from the first moment. Intro by GFK and Trife Diesel (uncredited), midtempo drum, dry, dirty, dusty, perfect. Starks comes in with one of his best attacks ever and delivers with one of his best flows ever, energetic, clean, crisp, velvety, unstoppable. There's a short and notable contribution from TMF (uncredited), hook from Ghost, then it comes back to the second verse, which is a real blessing, before the outro with Tommy Whispers. Impeccable cut.
4. "Saturday Nite"
The tracklist of this album had some problems with the various releases. At this point there should be "Wise (In the Rain)", a song that Ghostface dedicates to his friend Wise who died in Steubenville, Ohio, a few years earlier. The artist credits Ron Banks as producer and creates the song from the Dramatics' "In the Rain", but the sample isn't cleared and the song is consequently excluded from the definitive tracklist. It will be included in Tony Starks' 2006 compilation, "Hidden Darts".
"Saturday Nite" is produced by Carlos Broady, there's a unique stanza by Ghostface Killah which spits bars with an energetic, fluid, unstoppable rapping style over a great beat: tense and shrill strings, rough piano keys, tight midtempo drums, dark and gloomy vibes, reminiscent of a noir movie. Excellent short extract that showcases the artist's storytelling talent. The rhythm is the same as the one used by Pharoahe Monch in his song "Mayor", whose production is done by Lee Stone on the sample of Lamont Dozier's "Shine". This is Ghostface Killah's first solo track on one of his albums, as on his debut every piece had at least one guest, sometimes uncredited.
5. "Ghost Deini" (ft Superb)
Track number five is "Ghost Deini", and there are two different versions, the original and the international one. The original is produced by The Blaquesmiths who create a splendid production: the soundscape provided by the boys is cinematic from the first moments, almost Jamesbondian, because it comes from a sample of "My Hero is a Gun" by Michael Masser for the soundtrack of the drama film "Mahogany" (1975). Crackling vinyl sound, tight bass lines in the background, dirty and dusty drum, hard and lively, elegant, fantastic and dark piano scale. Phenomenal rap from Ghostface, crisp, smooth, hardcore, his voice echoes in this immense cut. The sung hook is a tribute to Marvin Gaye, 2Pac and Biggie. Second verse clearly inspired, closes Lord Superb of American Cream Team, who engages here, he's confident, inspired, hardcore, with a dope flow, and he manages to hold up to the very high level imposed on the track by the main rapper. The rhythm is left to breathe for half a minute at the end, deservedly so, it's splendid. Magnificent track, it's one of the best on the album.
The international version is a remix made by RZA because the sample of the original wasn't cleared. This is the official reason. A curious fact to say the least, because the original rhythm of the Blaquesmiths is the same as that used by the Wu-Tang Killa Beez group Ruthless Bastards, who used it for the song "Bastards" included in Killa Beez' first album, "The Swarm Vol. 1", released in 1998. The Blaquesmiths are also credited in the production of that track. Maybe RZA didn't like that beat or who knows. The fact is that the international version, the remix, is what you listen to on streaming sites clean as if it were the only existing version, there's no mention of the fact that it's a remix and that it was made by RZA, while the original piece produced by Blaquesmiths is hidden in the dark corners of the web. RZA replaces that beat and throws in a James Brown sample, kicking the track off with a kung-fu movie skit like the best Wu records of the mid-nineties. Drum dry and hard, dirty and dusty, midtempo, thick bass lines in the background, a few elegant and wonderful keys of a dark piano. Ghostface uncatchable, Superb is there. Spectacular cut.
6. "Apollo Kids" (ft. Raekwon)
Haas G aka Phantom of the Beats is the fifth different producer on five tracks: RZA never intervened after the intro and yet no one has done anything wrong until now. Sample from Solomon Burke's "Cool Breeze" which gives the song a commanding feel, the organ gives it dark and obscure vibes for long stretches, hard drums, dirty, dusty, flawless, dope hardcore delivery by Ghostface. Raekwon delivers yet another impressive track on the record, delivering bars with a raw, hardcore, silky, great style.
7. "The Grain" (ft. The RZA)
Precisely with the arrival of RZA behind the keyboards, the album begins to lose a bit of its luster: “The Grain” is one of the less successful beats of this excellent project. Sparse tight drum, chopped and looped soul samples, Steels' rough inspired delivery sounds better than Ghost's over a dissonant, honest beat, not as memorable as the previous ones. Hook sung plaintively by RZA. In a final verse recited back and forth between the two interpreters, the two dust off part of a verse from ODB — the only member of the Wu-Tang Clan not to be present on the album, while Inspectah Deck is present as producer — to pay homage to him, from "Don't U Know" from his debut album.
8. "Buck 50" (ft. Cappadonna, Method Man & Redman)
Bobby Digital finds a beat at his height in "Buck 50", wrapping a sublime tight dark loop from Baby Huey's "Hard Times", with guitar loops. Tight and hard dusty dirty drum, Method Man attacks the rhythm beautifully and kills the cut with supreme, awesome, clean, dope flow. Quick hook from Ghostface, Cappadonna spits raw without thought and with aggression, Redman is pawing, he's more fluid, energetic, inspired, also with personality. Short hook from Meth & Red, then Ghostface comes in and ends the track with verse number four, reiterating that this is his LP: it's a manifesto, there's every type of rhyme and multi-syllabic combination you want, and is performed stratospherically by Tony Starks who towers over the track, he embiggens.
9. "Mighty Healthy"
This is a solo cut by Ghostface Killah. A common thing for a rapper. Not for Ghostdeini. This is his fourth solo tune so far, before that there was only "Saturday Nite" a quarter of an hour ago, "Cobra Clutch", a track released a couple of years ago in the album "The Swarm" by Wu-Tang Killa Beez, and "Wisdom Body", a track from 1995 on Raekwon's album. Skit from "Shaolin Rescuers" (1979) leads the way with Starks' rousing rap, which sweeps the track away with an energetic, confident, inspired, hardcore, magnificent delivery. The rhythm of Allah Mathematics is one of the best on the album, a melodic, clean and enveloping loop from the sample of "Wish That I Could Talk to You" by The Sylvers which contrasts wonderfully with a dirty and dusty, slow and tight, lively street drum, the rhythm is underground, with some sad and melancholic elements, piano keys.
10. "Woodrow the Basehead" (ft. Superb, uncredited)
Skit on male soul loop from a Parliament song by George Clinton in which Ghost argues with a crackhead for a few minutes, played by Lord Superb. Skit completely skippable.
11. "Stay True" (ft. 60 Second Assassin, uncredited)
That long skit anticipates "Stay True", where the production is credited to Inspectah Deck (one of the two Wu-Tang members not to participate on the album together with ODB), being the same as his previous year's song "Elevation" (from "Uncontrolled Substance"): downtempo drum, flexible, graceful, dusty soul rhythm, enveloping, warm, soft, taken from "Terri's Tune" by David Axelrod. It's one of the most beautiful samples on the album. Single verse recited with a velvety and inspired style, short track, fantastic, final hook sung by 60 Second Assassin of Sunz of Man, uncredited. Among the best moments of the year in hip-hop.
12. "We Made It" (ft. Superb, Chip Banks & Hell Razah, the last two uncredited)
This track is a masterpiece along with the best songs on this album. The rhythm is by Carlos Broady, but if there was no credit I would believe it was an RZA beat that didn't make it into "Ironman", it's cinematic and brilliant, beautiful: enveloping, warm, wonderful loop, sample from "I Hate I Walked Away" by Syl Johnson, tight, hard, dry, perfect midtempo drum. Intro of Superb, which lets the rhythm breathe, as Chip Banks begins to sing. Then comes the break, Superb delivers as if he were at home, calm, slow, inspired, excellent flow. Chip Banks on the second verse with good energy, at the highest and most inspired moment of his career, he destroys the rhythm with an excellent flow, dirty, raw, fluid, smothness. Superb simple hook, then Ghostface Killah enters as an alien and it takes away his cut, hardcore, razor-sharp, uncatchable, he goes away. Hell Razah of Sunz of Man has the honor of closing one of the best tracks in one of the best LPs of GFK's career: the kid knows he's on the album of the year, every song can be the song of the year, and takes out a burst of machine gun fire, very pure, very rough, hardcore, this is one of his best stanzas ever, he kills the rhythm with an aggressive, fantastic flow, impossible to ask for anything better. This is one of the best Wu-Tang posses.
13. "Stroke of Death" (ft. Solomon Childs & The RZA, the latter uncredited)
This is one of the less accessible tunes of the edition: RZA places, due to an involuntary error, a scratch that remains evident on the rhythm, and is repeated endlessly on a sparse, tight and distant drum: Solomon Childs, uncredited, enters without asking permission and delivers in a simple way, followed by Ghostface and RZA, which is as rough as the beat. The rhythm is annoying at first listens, over time you get used to it and it becomes more accessible, but you have to give it time, it's not an immediate thing. The track is «so gangster it makes you wanna stab your babysitter» (cit. Chris Rock). If you don't get used to the sound, it could easily be the worst song in Ghostface's catalog from a purely musical point of view, hands down.
14. Iron's Theme (Intermission) (ft. The RZA, uncredited)
Interlude that samples "Free Again" by Gap Mangione, splendid soulful sample, then slowed down. RZA uncredited in this short skit.
15. "Malcolm"
This is yet another masterpiece, one of Tony Starks' deepest tracks ever, also addressing the altercation he had with Mase. Skit from Malcolm X, then dark, gloomy and melancholic piano, sample from "Going in Circles" by Isaac Hayes, hard, harsh, dry and slow drum, midtempo. The beat is designed by Choo. Smoothness, somewhat subdued and sad delivery from the Stapleton rapper, mood fueled by the soundscape provided by Choo the Specializt, brilliant piece.
16. "Who Would You Fuck"
Another skippable skit on a female soul sample, then comes a great answer if at this point you're still wondering who the rapper of the year is.
17. "Child's Play"
This is a pearl by RZA, a very shrill loop from "Aretha, Sing One for Me" by George Jackson, it was created to annoy and here too it takes several listens to get the ear used to it: sparse downtempo drum, honest melodic piano that alternates with that shrill one. Ghost Face Killer enters calmer than usual and delivers a single extraordinary verse, another showcase for his narrative skills.
18. "Cherchez La Ghost" (ft. Madam Majestic & U-God, the latter uncredited)
Rnb song destined for the club that coincides with one of the least appreciated songs in Ghost's discography. Carlos Bess' production is accessible, minimal, with quiet percussion, sparse drums and lukewarm samples. Madame Majestic enters, uncredited, and pays homage to "Cherchez La Femme" by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, then Ghostface and U-God deliver a few bars each. Honest entry from Ghostface, raw, clashes with the light beat and he's probably not at his most inspired moment, because he takes a couple of bars of Method Man that he wrote as a teenager and spit out on a DMD Posse track. Golden Arms instead inflicts a stab to the rhythm, hardcore, aggressive, lucid, fluid. It's a simple, danceable tune, chosen as the third single and which achieved good success, coming third among the rap singles.
19. "Wu Banga 101" (ft. Raekwon, Cappadonna, Masta Killa & GZA)
Just as the title tells you, this is a Wu-Tang Clan banger. Allah Mathematics chooses the soulful sample of "Queen of Tears" by Gladys Knight & the Pips, he chopped it and loops it over a midtempo hard dry harsh drum, simple beat. Slow, rough, raw delivery from GZA, he's far from his prime but not yet in the downhill he will undertake in a few years. Ghostface kills the beat with a smooth energetic hardcore delivery. Raekwon, honored by a break during his verse, boasts a clean, velvety, confident style, destroys the beat with a dope flow. The rhythm breathes, then another break for the entrance of Don Cappachino, hardcore, aggressive, slow, good flow, it doesn't look too bad but it doesn't feel at the same height as the previous three. The beat still breathes, then Masta Killa shows up on the fifth verse, laid-back, effortless, relaxed, follows the calm current of the beat and delivers accordingly. Tony Starks returns for verse number six and brings anxiety and aggression back to you with his energetic, raw, dirty, flowing style, taking again the track.
20. "Clyde Smith (Skit)" (ft. Raekwon, uncredited)
The following skit, performed exclusively by Raekwon with a synthesized voice to make him unrecognizable, is an ironic diss response to 50 Cent.
21. "Iron's Theme - Conclusion"
A masterpiece outro closes, again on the Gap Mangione sample, fantastic soulful sample, perfect drums, spoken outro. Final skit.
Final Thoughts
Second studio album by Ghostface Killah, like the previous one, closes a cycle of releases by members of the Wu-Tang Clan, known as the second wave. It's the richest period of Wu material and, in many respects, the most disappointing, because none of the individual members manage to replicate the sales and critical appreciation results obtained in the first wave: Method Man, GZA, ODB and Raekwon release their second LP, while Cappadonna, RZA, Inspectah Deck and U-God release their first project.
The efforts of The Meth, The Genius and The Chef have nothing to do with their previous albums, there's an abundance of tracks that is antithetical to the concept of The RZA's studio album, Johnny Blaze floods his project with skits and gets close to thirty tracks, production is everywhere messy, cheap and dull, Bobby Digital's contributions in these three LPs can be counted on one hand and the rapping is inferior to that offered previously. When compared to "Tical", "Liquid Swords" and "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx", they are all albums that seem to be made by other artists. ODB's new album sounds like a sparse, contained copy of his crazy debut. The debuts of Inspectah Deck and U-God are not surprising and get lost in the pile of numerous Wu releases.
RZA releases his second album with the group Gravediggaz, this effort doesn't receive the same acclaim as the first and it's not up to the level of that disk, considered among the best of the horrorcore genre, and releases his first solo LP, which should be an event album, instead it turns out to be a musical disaster where both the rhythms and the rapping are poor. Excluding Cappadonna's debut album — which precedes almost all of these releases, arriving in the wake of "Forever", selling many copies and polarizing critics — the only project to go against the negative spiral undertaken by the group is the collaboration between Method Man and Redman "Blackout!", which in addition to being a good sales success, is appreciated by critics, and has a competent music and rap style that lives up to the supergroup's fame. It's a happy exception to a gray period for the W. However, with the arrival of new trends in hip-hop, the Wu-Tang Clan's path takes a rapid descent and seems destined for decline, far from its best days.
When Ghostface Killah releases his second studio album, the supergroup's path radically changes direction. With this album, he proves that Wu-Tang is still relevant in the game and that it hasn't missed a beat in these years of tarnishing. Up until that point, few New York solo rappers had released two classic albums in a row on their debut: Rakim, KRS-One, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Redman, Nas, Jeru the Damaja, OC, Biggie Smalls. Even fewer can claim to have improved on their debut with the second album. Kool G Rap probably, and maybe Nas. However, there's a gap of about two years between the first two records of all these artists, while Ghost appears again on the solo scene three and a half years after "Ironman", era on the hip-hop circuit and his rapping hasn't only remained that of his best days, but he has actually improved and the same cannot really be said of his colleagues within the Wu.
Lyrically, taking up what the author himself said later, these 64 minutes are simply words that sound good together without having any logical connection. His rhymes don't make sense, but Tony Starks delivers them as if they made sense, with such an energetic, confident and committed style that the whole record soon became one of the best of the decade. The production is interesting and is very different than "Ironman", albeit maintaining that vintage Wu sound made of soul samples, strong bass, jazz instruments, hard drums, fresh scratches and piano loops. Behind the keyboards are credited Black Moes-Art, JuJu, Carlos "Six July" Broady, The Blaquesmiths, Hassan, Allah Mathematics, Inspectah Deck, Choo the Specializt and Carlos Bess. But it's true and right to point it out that behind the grandeur and majesty of the album's production is The RZA, main producer who also chose to adjust, remix and improve the other rhythms in order to give greater unity, fluidity and cohesion to the entire project. And he certainly succeeded, he did a great job here, [this is] perhaps the last classic album where Bobby Digital is a major figure in production.
Take "Stay True", which is grounded in Inspectah Deck's beat straight from his solo debut released three months earlier: Deck's beat on his album for his song "Elevation" is beautiful, but it's dirty, raw, rusty, gritty, while the version proposed in this album presents a very clean, shiny, glossy, elegant beat. There's the same difference as there's between Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. That doesn't take away from the fact that all the guys involved have vastly exceeded the expectations of an audience coming from one disappointment after another.
Produced by Epic and Razor Sharp, it's distributed by Sony: it reaches seventh place on the Billboard 200, second among hip-hop records, it sells over one hundred thousand copies in the first week and after a month it's certified gold. Even the single extracts achieved good success at the expense of limited airplay, because television and especially the radio don't play Ghostface Killah's hits, and this album is packed. This seems incomprehensible if you don't know the story, and there's a complicated story behind this fact: just two and a half years earlier, the Wu-Tang Clan released its second effort, a two-hour double disc that was well received by critics and the public, still today it's the group's best-selling album, including all the boys' solo albums. To promote it, the New York supergroup goes on tour in Europe with Rage Against the Machine.
All is well, until the Wu-Tang Clan has to return to New York for mandatory participation in 1997 Summer Jam organized by Hot 97, a radio station which, having fallen into crisis at the beginning of the nineties, decided to switch from broadcasting dance songs to that of hip-hop and rnb songs, especially after the exploit of the Wu-Tang Clan itself. Over the course of a few years, it manages to return to the top among radio stations. The Staten Island group returns to New York at their own expense and performs for free as scheduled, but during his performance, Ghostface on his own initiative shouts "Fuck Hot 97" and incites the crowd to follow him. This results in a ten-year ban of the Wu-Tang Clan from the Hot 97 radio station: for this period of time, their tracks were not played on the radio, and other stations decided to follow Hot 97's example. This reflects negatively on the group's record sales, on tours and inevitably also on the bond between individual rappers, which breaks over time.
Despite the few hidden defects that can be summarized in an excessive quantity of skits (six, most of which arrive in the second part of the CD) and some cuts that fail to maintain the overflowing quality of the others, the album is majestic, features almost the entire Wu-Tang Clan, and it's often considered Ghostface Killah's best and certainly one of the best of the period in hip-hop. The Canadian version of "Supreme Clientele" is different from the original: the tracklist is different and a bit mixed, all skits are removed, including intro and outro, the rare weak points ("The Grain" and "Stroke of Death", not surprisingly two of the three beats created by RZA and in which he's also present rapping) are removed and "In the Rain (Wise)" is added, on which the group The Dramatics are credited as guests, in a song I referenced earlier. The Canadian version is therefore an impeccable and wonderful edition.
Rating: 9.5/10.
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