In 2007, Ghostface Killah releases a compilation composed by unreleased tracks and rarities of his discography. The rhythms are credited to The RZA, Ayatollah, J Dilla, Kid Capri, J-Love, Fess, Self, Grind Music, Steely & Clevie, D-Prosper, K-Def, Mike City and DJ Premier. All the Wu-Tang Clan is present as guest along with Theodore Unit (Shawn Wigs, Cappadonna and Trife da God), Streetlife, Slick Rick and Keyshia Cole.
J-Love produces the title track. Sample from Monty Alexander's "Love Has a Way", dusty midtempo drums, soft bassline, eclectic piano, energetic delivery by Ghostface whose two verses are taken respectively from "The Champ" ("Fishscale", 2006) and from the remix of that track, at the time of the release of this unreleased compilation, and then also included in the 2008 compilation "Ghostdeini the Great".
2. "The Watch" (ft. Raekwon)
Bobby Steels produces "The Watch", first of three bonus tracks inserted in the collaborative album between Ghostface Killah & Trife da God "Put It on the Line" (2005). Is performed by Tony Starks & Lou Diamond. The piece is recorded in 2001 and intended for the album "Bulletproof Wallets", from which it was left out due to sample issues. Intro sung without a beat, Ghostdeini opens the joint with a slow, chanted rapping, then enters the track like a knife through butter and delivers gangster bars with some of his most alienating flows. Sparse drums accompanied by hi-hat, fragrant bass, electric guitar riffs to support the emcee's delivery, in the middle of his verse The RZA also places a vocal sample of Barry White's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", which fuels Starks' breathless extra verse.
Chef Raekwon follows in the wake of his friend for the second verse, with a direct and beautiful homage to "Goodfellas" (1993), and that's why we love these guys. In the next line, Lou Diamonds ironically asks Starks if he doesn't feel arrived and finished, because on the radio you can only listen to DMX and Jay-Z. It remains an appropriate reference because, despite the track is destined to the 2001 LP, even at the time of its inclusion here, the boys of the Wu-Tang Clan are still under the ten-year ban of Hot 100 and the main radios of New York, which decide not to broadcast their songs, whose ban is caused by Ghostdeini himself in 1997.
Ghost himself returns going smooth, velvety, hardcore, almost in spoken word, reiterating to his friend that he himself together with U-God had put a hit in the charts during the aforementioned ban, referring to "Cherchez La Ghost" from his album "Supreme Clientele" (2000), released a few years earlier, thus stating that he is still at the top of the game despite the problems and difficulties. Brilliant breakbeat by RZA, with that magical Barry White sample, Rae & Ghost clarify themselves in the break and during the following outro Ghost takes advantage of this to relaunch his group Theodore Unit, which should be the next new brand shit in the game, but will never be.
3. "Belt Holders" (ft. Raekwon)
There are no production credits for this track: heavy and rusty guitar riffs, dirty midtempo drums, robust bass, energetic delivery from the duo formed by Tony Starks & Lex Diamond who massacre the beat.
4. "In The Parks"
Skit.
5. "When You Walk" (ft. Method Man & Streetlife)
Also known as "Box in Hand (Remix)", "Box in Hand (Unreleased)" and "Deadly Darts", this is a forgotten cut from Ghostface Killah's discography. Originally intended for his debut album "Ironman" (1996), it was later removed from the album for unknown reasons (possibly sample clearance issues) and mistakenly replaced with "Wu Will Survive": despite the track swap, Epic failed to remove the first track's name ("Box in Hand") from the final tracklist, so the mistake remains. Epic would later go on to make numerous other mistakes in Ghostface's catalog. Rough bass, light midtempo drums, hypnotic piano, regular delivery from Starks. Hook by Method Man, next stanza left to the Wu-Tang affiliate Streetlife who rattles off bar after bar with a spacey, flowing, aggressive, energetic, dope flow. Tical devastates the track on the third verse.
6. "Murda Goons"
This track samples "Geek Down", a track that Jay Dee placed for his latest album "Donuts". The rhythm is phenomenal. Ghostdeini spits three verses on this musical carpet and creates a personal classic.
7. "Odd Couple" (ft. Cappadonna)
Ayatollah steps up behind the keys for this Theodore Unit tune featuring Ghost Face Killah joined by his friend Don Cappachino. Vibrant production, solid bassline, crunchy drums, haunting samples, smooth rapping by Starks after the intro and first hook by Cap. Chorus by Ghostdeini, verse shouted by Cappadonna who eats the beat. Double hook by Pretty Toney and his outro.
8. "Good Times" (ft. Raekwon & Lord Superb, the latter uncredited)
Despite being one of Raekwon and Ghostface's brightest tracks, this one doesn't have any credited production. Sample from James Gilstrap & Blinky Williams' "Good Times Theme", bare drums doubled by hi-hats, raw punctuated bass, simple rhythm. Ghost Face Killer delivers the intro verse in style, Lord Superb drops a couple of bars uncredited before returning the mic to its owner, the American Cream Team rapper again for a few more verses, then Tony Starks drops a new verse. Superb seems destined to say a few words at a time on this track, Chef Raekwon comes in focused and releases a velvety, flowing, dope rapping. Lord Superb in his wake finally gets the chance to deliver a full verse of his own, however after a few bars he stops as if in disbelief that he's spat out more than four in a row, Ghostface closes with another short contribution.
9. "Cheche La Ghost (Remix)" (ft. U-God & Madame Majestic, both uncredited)
This remix has no production credits. There's heavy, raw bass from Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat", the sample of the original hit. Madame Majestic sings the hook, U-God joins Stapleton's emcee to complete the remix.
10. "Milk Crates"
Pretty Toney freestyle over a Kid Capri production.
11. "Return of Theodore Unit" (ft. Wigs & Trife da God)
Another freestyle follows, this time iconic because the beat comes from DJ Premier. His soundscape is a blessing, it's that of "Crooklyn Dodgers 95" by Crooklyn Dodgers, Chubb Rock, OC and Jeru the Damaja in the original. Deep silky bass line, dry dirty dusty drum perfect uptempo, descending piano keys, sad, dark, it's one of the best beats of the nineties and one of the best ever released by Premier, genius. Magnificent sample from Young-Holt Unmilited's "Strangers in the Night".
Ghostface comes in and immediately tears up the cut with a fast, energetic, powerful, unstoppable delivery. Trife da God in spoken breaks the track with an interlude. Shawn Wigs comes in relaxed and effortless to drop the second verse without leaving too many impressions. Interlude, then J-Love, uncredited, also goes down to the mic to join Theodore Unit in this posse and deserves his props for this performance. Trife introduces himself for the final verse and brings back that energy that was missing from the host's initial contribution and rips the joint with a hardcore, fast, lethal, fantastic delivery.
One of the best cuts in Theodore Unit's history, thanks to the beat "borrowed" from Preemo.
12. "9 MM" (ft. Wu Tang Clan)
Aka "9 Shot", J-Love steps in for MF DOOM on keyboards to deliver this remix of the historic posse that Ghostface managed to land for his solo album last year. The DJ fails to do the trick of upgrading the posse with a different beat than the original, unfortunately the beat sounds bad here, despite the Wu-Tang Clan boys doing their job.
13. "The Sun" (ft. Slick Rick, Raekwon & RZA)
This ode to the sun is one of the songs originally planned for Ghostface Killah's third disk "Bulletproof Wallets" (2001) and which failed to make it into the album's final tracklist due to sample issues. Wonderful ethereal heavenly production by Bobby Digital. Dope samples from "Does He Treat You Better" by Unique Bland, a mid-seventies piece. Perfect downtempo sparse drum, splendid trumpet/sax loop, wonderful crispy bass line.
Beautiful calm velvety delivery by Ghostface that follows the flow of the beat. Simple hook in spoken by Starks and Slick Rick. Second verse reserved for Shallah Raekwon who flows velvety silky with some of his most fluid flows. Chorus, third stanza by Slick Rick, with a great sing-song style, it seems like the beat was created for him, magnificent. The Abbot (uncredited) drops in to lay down a couple of scientific bars, before the final chorus. The music breathes deservedly for twenty seconds at the end, one of the greatest Bobby Steels ever pulled out in his career.
14. "Mama" (ft. Keyshia Cole)
The cut is the same as "Fishscale", this time Dennis Coles enlists pop star Keyshia Cole to sing the hook instead of Megan Rochell. Although the production was originally done by the Hitmen, here Grind Music is credited as the beatmaker, even if the rhythm doesn't change a bit.
The Hitmen behind the keyboards invent a masterpiece rhythm, an event that rarely happened in the career of the production group. The sample is simply perfect, with flawless drum, slow, sparse, minimal, weightless, downtempo, fantastic, amazing samples, wonderful soul hook by Cole, who "kills" the track with a wonderful voice. Ghostface Killah enters sweetly with a velvety rapping, on one of the sweetest soundscape you can listen in his catalog.
Cole again on the chorus that annihilates the track with a beautiful work. Pretty Toney returns and delivers in a subdued way, creating another dramatic cut dedicated to the mother, a pure sequel to his first single released ten years earlier, "All That I Got Is You" with Mary J Blige for his debut album.
15. "Love Stories" (ft. Wigs)
This track is the greatest of Othorized FAM debut album of 2001, "The 1st Amendment". Production by Fess, crackling hi-hat, raw bass line, obscure violin, splendid piano keys, dope beat. Ghostface Killah at his finest details the scene of a wedding in a cinematic way. The other guest of the track, Ellie, beautifully sings the hook. C-Wiggs aka Shawn Wigs, brought by Ghostface to the Theodore Unit group, closes the song with the second verse. This track is a pearl, the best cut in Otherized FAM's career and is rightfully included by Ghostface here.
16. "Wise"
This track is supposed to be on "Supreme Clientele", but it's left out of the tracklist and is then included on the Canadian edition of the album. The producer of the track is often uncredited, while he gets credit on the second Ghostface CD, is Ron Banks. On the beat of "In the Rain" by The Dramatics, the artist pays homage to his friend Wise who died in Steubenville, Ohio. One of the most beautiful cuts in the Starks catalog.
17. "No No No"
Production by Steely & Clevie, sample from Dawn Penn's "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", silky bass, light drum, background piano, slow, uneven delivery by Pretty Toney who drops two verses in this ballad. The choice was originally intended for "The Pretty Toney Album" (2004) as "New Splash (No, No, No)", but it failed to make the final tracklist and Ghostface put it on this compilation. Nice enjoyable record.
18. "Black Cream"
Ghostface self-produces this masterpiece sampling the homonymous song made by The Harold Wheeler Consort in 1975. Soft piano, light bass, vocal sample that accompanies the author's intro, then the rhythm changes to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles: guitar riff, perfect phat bass, slick keyboard, soft downtempo drum, extraordinary rhythm. In December 2007 the Wu-Tang Clan releases its new CD that presents its own version of that Beatles song, with the son of George Harrison, "The Heart Gently Weeps". But here Ghostface seems to have an almost identical beat nine months earlier. It's possible, and it's beautiful, but how did he make that clear?
Something doesn't add up. I keep looking, maybe that track of "8 Diagrams" can tell me something else, and it does: one of the samples of that song before Erykah Badu sings the hook comes from the cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" performed by Jimmy Ponder. This cover has already been sampled in the past by De La Soul, Main Source and by Ghostface Killah himself, for a song of his that seems unreleased, "My Guitar" (whose title refers precisely to the Beatles song): the piece should end up in the tracklist of "The Pretty Toney Album" (2004), but due to clearance issues it can't get into the album and the Staten Island emcee proposes it here with another title. This is a pearl in which the author descends with a lethal hardcore rapping for ninety seconds. A few months later, Wu-Tang remakes the track asking permission from the Beatles and invents one of the last classic cuts of their discography.
19. "Drummer" (ft. Method Man & Streetlife)
Back to a highlight with the arrival of "The Drummer" and the return of a production credit, Self Service is the beatmaker author of this joint. Sample from "I Don't Need No Help" by Valerie Simpson made chipmunk, from which also comes the title of the song, which is a reference to that song. Sound of the crackle of vinyl, Ghost in the intro along with the sample and nothing else. Then on a casual cry of Ghostface the beat starts, raw boom bap of Self Service, robust bass line, thick, dusty, dirty, midtempo drum.
Hardcore delivery by Starks who goes away chanting, when you expect Meth to arrive, already mentioned a couple of times, the Wu affiliate Streetlife appears, delivering a few bars with a regular flow to leave room for Trife da God. Another short verse, also a short verse by Tony Starks who returns to the piece to then open the floor to Method Man with his silky, smooth, dope flow. The cypher continues with contributions from Trife, Streetlife, Ghostdeini and Johnny Blaze, who closes the posse. The song is originally intended for "The Pretty Toney Album" (2004), but fails to enter the tracklist. Cypher of just two and a half minutes, almost classic.
20. "Late Night Arrival" (ft. Wigs, Trife da God & Solomon Childs, the latter uncredited)
J-Love is behind the keyboards for the next choice, "Late Night Arrival": gorgeous boom bap noir, perfect samples, dry drum hard underground midtempo fantastic, raw bass line, dark samples scattered magnificent, rhythm bordering on perfection. After a train that runs on rails in the dark, comes the rhythm, which breathes a few moments before the concentrated hardcore entrance of Wigs, then Trife hardcore, energetic, raw, good flow. Solomon Childs (not credited among the guests) in the wake with an irregular, rough, quarrelsome style with the beat. Tony Starks with the fourth verse of this cypher, drops thug bars with a velvety hardcore style to then leave room again for Wigs who returns and gives another stab to the beat, with a rough, raw, energetic style. Valuable cypher. The joint is inserted in "Put It on the Line".
21. "Paycheck" (ft. Trife da God)
The track is taken directly from the Theodore Unit album "718". DProsper & K-Def break up many parts of "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" by Dakota Staton to build the beat. Piano loops, fresh and sparkling bass line, uptempo scattered drums, lively samples, great rhythm. Tony Starks enters hardcore and delivers well, simple hook of his, Trife with energy in the next verse and an amazing flow, among his best. Ghostdeini returns in the third verse and sends home the tune, hook, outro. Certainly among the brightest cuts of the Theodore Unit album.
22. "Heard It All Before"
Mike City behind the keyboards for the last piece of this magnificent compilation, sample from the song of the same name by Sunshine Anderson. The emcee delivers a couple of verses with his most velvety style and sings the hook, providing a long outro to close this album.
Final Thoughts
In early 2007, Ghostface took an unofficial J-Love mixtape from 2002 and made it legit and official as his own compilation in 2006, releasing it through his own label and filling it with gems. This release came a few months after the release of his last album "More Fish". The RZA returns to produce on a Tony Starks product and is also the main beatmaker on this collection along with J-Love, who takes care of the whole effort. Along with them, among others, stand out the names of Kid Capri, J Dilla and DJ Premier. More than a third of the album features solo efforts by the Stapleton emcee, who does not hesitate to call Wu-Tang and Theodore Unit to complete the project. Raekwon is the main guest on this album as well, with five appearances, ahead of Trife da God (3), Method Man (3), Wigs (3) and Street Life (2).
Blessed with commendable production and sublime rapping, what should be a mixtape project consists of discarded songs, remixes and tracks that for some reason didn't make it onto the author's previous albums, is released by Starks Enterprises and quickly becomes an essential album for fans. Definitely one of my favorites.
Rating: 8.5/10.
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