After the "Bulletproof Wallets" tracklist and packaging mess, the Stapleton emcee decided to leave the Epic Records label and the following year compiled a short compilation of tracks to quickly free himself from his contract and look for a new home. In 2002 he released "Shaolin's Finest" and in 2003 he signed with Def Jam.
In 2004, Tony Starks released his fourth studio album, the first and only under the moniker "Ghostface". It's also the first album by the Staten Island emcee to be completely devoid of guests from the Wu-Tang Clan. Among the guests linked to the supergroup is only affiliate Trife da God, member of TMF and Ghostface's group Theodore Unit. Wu-Tang mentor Allah Real is credited on "Holla". Guest appearances by all the members of the LOX stand out, as well as those of Missy Elliott, Jacki-O, Musiq Soulchild and K. Fox. The production is handled by multiple people. RZA provides two beats, the rest of the album is made with the efforts of Emile Haynie, True Master, Minnesota, No ID, Ghostface, K-Def, Derrick Trotman, Dub Dot Z, Digga and Nottz.
On a sample of "Tobacco Road" by Tommy Youngblood, Ghostface holds a press conference to address critics after a three-year hiatus from the scene, during which he also released a greatest hits album. The second track is already classic, incredible. Ghostface album. You expect it. We are at choice number two, the first after the intro, "Biscuits". With True Master you can't go wrong. With Ghostface you can't go wrong. The Wu-Elements producer takes a sample from Sam & Dave's "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" and creates a beautiful and timeless soundscape: raw bass line, dirty dusty uptempo drums, rough and gruff samples that thin out after the intro to make room for Tony Starks' raw hardcore delivery that destroys the rhythm, the raw samples return. Hook practically sung by the author, final verse by Trife Diesel, first guest on the album and the only one close to the double v. The boy understands the responsibility and delivers at his best, energetic, lucid, clear, smoothness, fantastic over this clamorous beat of True Master, he tears the cut with a relentless rapping at breakneck speed at his best ever, it's beautiful. Long hook and outro by Ghost in what is undoubtedly one of his best cuts of the 2000s, banger of the album.
RZA is behind the keyboards in "Kunta Fly Shit", Ghostdeini offers a single verse on a tight beat, clear minimal drum, roaring electric guitar riff, sample from "Survival" by Annette Peacock, good regular rap by the interpreter. Minnesota invents the rhythm of the fourth choice: honest bass, cheerful strings, sparse drum uptempo, good samples, pleasant boom bap rhythm. Ghost lets loose offering three verses. "Metal Lungies" has a classic aura. Sheek Louch & Styles P of The LOX join Ghostface of Wu-Tang Clan on a No ID beat. The producer, at the time signed to Def Jam like Starks, takes out a sample from "Nobody Knows" by The SCLC Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir: tight horn loop, sparse minimal uptempo drum, crisp bass in the background, relaxing strings, Ghost enters hardcore, smooth, breathless dope flow. Simple chorus by Ghostdeini to punctuate the verse. Sheek enters hardcore and delivers with energy, confidence, clarity, ripping the joint with his best flow. Styles P aka Ghost P to send the track into the firmament, arrives with his style smoothness and helps make the joint classic.
Ghostface himself produces the soundscape for "Save Me Dear", samples from Freddie Scott's "(You) Got What I Need", dry midtempo drum, rattle, minimal boom bap, straight delivery from Tony. Interlude, Ghostdeini delivers two more verses with style. K-Def produces "It's Over", intro from the lead rapper on a trembling piano scale, midtempo drums, then a sample from David Porter's "I'm Afraid the Masquerade Is Over" emerges, crisp piano, trembling strings, phat bass line, hook from the sample, tight confident hardcore delivery from Ghost who tears the cut. Second verse from the Stapleton emcee, piece closed by Porter's chorus. At the end of the track there's a skit between Ghostface and Solomon Childs of Theodore Unit, uncredited Wu-Tang affiliate. For the "Keisha's House" skit, K-Def stays behind the keys: smooth rhythm, soft bass line, quiet drum, funky beat, calm steady delivery from Ghost who delivers a single vicious verse.
"Tush" has a rhythm derived from Timbaland's production style: loud drums, rough bass, random sounds, samples from "Naked Truth" by The Best of Both Worlds, solid delivery by the Stapleton MC, Missy Elliott with a good flow, but the piece is one of the less good on the record, pretty forgettable. K-Def is in the credits of another skit, "Last Night": the guy takes a sample of a telephone ring and loops it, creating one of the most annoying rhythms in Ghostface's discography. Unlistenable. Skippable. We return to the classic mood coinciding with the arrival of "Holla". Ghostface himself in production. Iconic sample from The Delfonics' "La-La Means I Love You". Tony Starks has already worked with the Delfonics on "After the Smoke is Clear" for his debut album "Ironman" (1996), also involving the group in a gunfight while they were heading to the recording studio.
You can't go wrong. Second number zero: the sound of vinyl crackling, if you pay attention you already know it's a classic. Boom bap splendid, drum clear clean dry midtempo, violins trembling like leaves, bass line intriguing. Instead of taking a segment of the song, the boy decides to make his track on the entire Delfonics song. When Ghostface Killah touches the mic, the piece goes down in history as one of the best of his catalog, an absolute masterpiece: the emcee runs boasting some of his best flows, smoothness, silky, energetic, unstoppable. During his verse, another section from the Delfonics sample arrives, with the violins that return to tense. Rnb hook by Allah Real, Wu-Tang mentor among the few affiliates to be present on the album, great contribution here. Second verse in battle by GFK, who drops bars with a breathless rough hardcore rapping. The violins return to sharpen the track towards the end of the second stanza of Ghost, refrain, then the rapper from Staten Island returns and tears the cut again with a sensational bridge of heavenly violins and a dramatic delivery, letting the original Delfonics sample breathe that flows into the Allah Real hook. Perfect track in the smallest details, untouchable.
Darrell "Digga" Branch lays down a boom bap for "Ghostface": the rapper drops a couple of verses on a simplistic musical carpet, poor midtempo drum, below-average bass, totally annoying loop that cancels the track, pop rap hook. Sample from "AJ Scratch" by Kurtis Blow. Nottz is credited on "Be This Way": long intro by GFK, boom bap, dry midtempo dusty drum, contained bass line in the background, looped soul sample from "(We'll Always Be) Together" by Billy Stewart, soaring strings, hardcore delivery by Ghost. Long hook, second verse, hook. Another skit on the record, then Nottz is behind the keys for the love ballad "Tooken Back" as well: chipmunk soul sample from "Take Me Back" by The Emotions, dry midtempo metallic drum, good bass, solid beat, solid delivery by Ghost, his hook with Jackie-O, who also gets a full verse. Starks returns to the third stanza and completes the cut. A skit follows over a sample from The Moments' "Not on the Outside."
The banger "Run" is produced by RZA: haunting dizzying sample from Lex Baxter's "Hogin Machine", dusty drum dirty underground uptempo, bass line covered by the din of the cymbals and the shouted delivery of Ghostface, who enters hardcore and doesn't let go for anything in a tune in which the performers advise the drug dealers on how to escape the police. Urgent chrous shouted by GFK. Interlude to introduce Jada of The LOX, the emcee enters with a more calm style, focused, punctual, smoothness, the boys make one of the best cuts in the vast catalog of Tony Starks. Splendid work by No ID behind the keys for the track that closes the album, "Love": magnificent sample from "Statue of a Fool" by David Ruffin, Ghost lets the beat breathe for over half a minute and delivers calmly, silky, clean, fluid, closes his fourth solo album appropriately. Hook by Musiq Soulchild and K. Fox, second verse by Starks, hook. Classic cut.
Final Thoughts
Three years after his last effort, Ghostface puts out his fourth studio album, tying GZA as the Clan member with the most solo albums. The cover pays homage to Doug E. Fresh's 1988 album "The World's Greatest Entertainer" and features a photo of the boy at Jay-Z's farewell concert at Madison Square Garden during a performance with Beyoncé. To build his fourth LP, the author forgoes the Wu-Tang Clan, taking only two RZA beats and no guests from Shaolin. His friend and Theodore Unit member Trife da God has the honor of being the closest Wu affiliate on the record, other than the group's mentor Allah Real. For rapping, Pretty Toney calls the LOX, while for commercial cuts designed to push sales there are some singers and the rapper Missy Elliott who is the protagonist in "Tush", a piece that gets a following both in the US and in the UK. As in his previous album "Bulletproof Wallets" (2001), some songs that didn't make it into the tracklist of this album ended up in the compilation "Hidden Darts" (2007), such as "The Drummer" and "New Splash (No, No, No)", while "Tony's Money" is included in the collaborative album of Ghostface & Trife from God "Put It on the Line" released the following year.
In this album of over 50 minutes there's a quality musical set and tight lyrics that allow Ghost to combine street rap with mainstream rap, making an undeniably good and personal album, so much so that the lack of guests (especially from the Wu) could lead you to think that the album lacks songs that live up to the peaks of his catalog, at least until you start listening to it. Released by his own label Starks Enterprises and Def Jam, distributed by Universal, the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 and number four among hip-hop releases, also doing well in Canada. In summary the album is strong, solid, full of brilliant moments and some highlights of Ghostface's career, few missteps and no really weak choices. It's one of the best releases of 2004 in hip-hop.
Rating: 8/10.
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