Ghostface Killah's tenth solo studio album, just over a year after his previous solo release, a few months after his Method Man & Raekwon collaborative album "Wu-Massacre" and three years after his last true solo hip-hop album. Behind the keyboards there are Frank Dukes, Shroom, Sean C & LV, Yakub, Scram Jones, Pete Rock, Chino Maurice, Big Mizza, Anthony Acid and Jake One. The guests comes mainly from Wu-Tang Clan. Tony Starks on the mic is joined by GZA, Killah Priest, Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz of Slaughterhouse, Game, Black Thought of The Roots, Jim Jones, Sheek Louch of The LOX, Method Man & Redman, Raekwon, U-God and from Theodore Unit members Cappadonna, Trife Diesel, Shawn Wiggs and Sun God.
The first cut of the record is produced by Frank Dukes. Legendary beat, epic. Fantastic samples from "Am I a Good Man" by Them Two, hard midtempo dusty drum, effective bass line, heavenly epic cinematic vocal and instrumental samples. After a short sensational intro, Ghostface Killah makes an energetic entrance on guitar arpeggios and delivers at a slow pace, determined, heavy, enhanced by a tough drum and a robust bass line, stating that he wants to take a different direction from the people who are tied to the streets, changing their lifestyle and purifying themselves. The beat slows down, the sample breathes widely, then the rhythm returns to welcome Killah Priest, the boy attacks with his style and delivers hardcore, loose, effortless, helping to strengthen one of the best cuts of the record with an exceptional dynamic flow and religious lyrics that remain related to those written by Starks here. The track could have ended here, around the three minute mark, however, suddenly the beat returns a third time for the closing verse, courtesy of GZA, good attack, slow, silky delivery, he wraps up the beat and makes it his own with lyrics that are a bit distant from the other performers. Great track from the Wu, with a rare collaboration between Ghostface and The Genius along with the rapper of Sunz of Man.
Hook from the sample of Roy Ayers Ubiquity's "He's a Superstar" to launch the second tune, "Superstar": effective and cartoonish boom bap by Shroom, producer launched by Hell Razah in his records. Good bass line, frenetic hi-hats to accompany a poor uptempo drum, urgent samples, quick urgent delivery by Starks, good hook by some girls. Robust level cut, even if not up to the best songs in the catalog of Ghostface, who returns for the second verse, powerful, fast, regular, good flow. Busta Rhymes enters hardcore and fast in the third stanza and destroys the beat. Frank Dukes is still behind the keys for "Black Tequila". Starks attacks hardcore in this posse on an uptempo boom bap beat with a lean dry drum, urgent samples from "Karye Pyar" by Tafo Brothers ft. Nahid Akhtar, rusty sharp guitar riff, random samples in the background, raw bass. Pretty Toney raps at breakneck speed. Don Cappachino enters hardcore and delivers a mafia verse with a messy, irregular, shaky, extraordinary style. Theodore Unit's other emcee Trife Diesel delivers the final stanza with a good flowing hardcore style, closing this Theodore Unit track on a solid and functional beat, crackling, at times good, but not excellent.
Minimal beat by Sean C and LV for the fourth pick. Dusted cymbals, sparse minimal drum, soft bassline, soft keyboards, curious samples, calm loose delivery by Ghostdeini, weird mix here. Smooth hardcore delivery by Joell Ortiz, closes The Game on a hookless track. "2getha Baby" is a rare solo cut by Ghostface, for women. Yakub extracts a sample from "Together Forever" by The Intruders to introduce this piece. Beautiful. Then the beat comes in. There's a trumpet loop obsessive to the point of annoyance, while the Stapleton emcee spits bars in a slow, syncopated way. Poor uptempo drum, mild and quiet hi-hats, livable, good. Soft bass line. Hook formed by the sample, very smart choice, is formed by the loop that repeats twice. If you pay attention you can notice how the loop the second time comes back quite rough, excessively rough, as if it were from an ordinary person on looptube. It's a shame that something couldn't be done between mixing and mastering to fix this imperfection. But you might not even notice it. Starks goes hardcore on the beat, a good beat at the expense of this obsessive to the point of annoyance loop, the loop isn't too tight, but it's tight enough to drive away most listeners, luckily Ghost keeps the stanzas quite short by bringing back the original sample for the hook. Third verse, even shorter than the previous ones, closes the chorus.
"Starkology" boasts an experimental beat by Scram Jones with samples and random sounds, solo cut by Ghost. No hook. No sample to let the hook breathe. Dry drum uptempo stiff, then comes a sample from "Shout" (1984) by Tears for Fears, soft bass line, light guitar riff, two minute cut but it seems at least five. The Wu-Tang Clan and Roots emcee revisit the beginning of rap in the 80s in this nostalgic cut of the early days of hip-hop. The latest beat from Frank Dukes features a duet between Ghostface and Black Thought. Heavy boom bap, sample from a classic, Johnny Thunder's "I'm Alive". Rockin' beat, sparse drum downtempo hard heavy, fat bass line, guitar riff that plays over Starks' rapping, slow, loose, smoothness, effortless. Mixing needs revising, Ghost's voice is barely audible over the Thunder sample. Black Thought goes hardcore and manages to hold the beat with a silky, clear, clean, dope delivery.
Pete Rock on the beat for this eighth pick, "How You Like Me Baby". Perfect midtempo dirty dusty drum, thick heavy bass line, guitar riffs, hardcore focused delivery by Ghostface Killah. "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson on the whispered hook. Good second verse, third verse chanted, sung by Starks. Jim Jones joined Ghost in "Handcuffin' Them Hoes": Chino Maurice on the beat for this track, rhythm with oriental vibes, good samples, soft bass line in the background, drum sparse midtempo, oriental samples, arpeggios, velvety delivery of Ghostface flying on this beautiful production. Simple hardcore hook, second verse of guest Jim Jones, who comes with an irregular, carefree, lively style.
Big Mizza brings the classic back to Ghostface's records with the tenth choice "Street Bullies". Soul sample from Millie Jackson's "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" approached to chipmunk in loop, dry downtempo drum accompanied by a crunchy hi-hat, robust bass line, dusted cymbals, good samples. Intro by Sheek Louch, chorus by Ghostdeini, intro verse by Theodore Unit rapper Shawn Wigs who enters hardcore and delivers with a good regular, fluid flow. Chorus, then Sheek Louch of The LOX, the emcee flies on this wonderful soundscape destroying the rhythm with some nonsense flows, velvety, hardcore, energetic, focused, confident, unstoppable, he goes away as if he were one of the best emcees ever. After the chorus the piece is closed by another member of the Theodore Unit, Sun God who comes down on the mic with energy and drops a third energetic verse with a regular, fluid, hardcore flow, tight joint surely among the best of the edition.
A Wu-Tang Clan posse produced by Anthony Acid follows. Crisp bass line, dry drum downtempo poor but good, vocal sample, hook by Marlena Shaw. Short intro verse by Chef Raekwon that goes down on autopilot with a smoothness, fluid, velvety flow, but he's not trying hard, you can feel it. Hook that pays homage to "Woman of the Ghetto", then Cappadonna comes in with a normal verse, delivered with a pretty calm execution for his style. Tony Starks tears up the cut with a slightly shorter verse but with smooth hardcore rapping. After yet another hook, Lucky Hands comes in with an extra verse and brings this Wu-Tang Clan posse to the end, irregular, calm, syncopated style. Given the performers it could have been a classic, but neither the rhythm nor the execution of the boys is on the level of the group's best pieces.
Jake One places a tight boom bap for the last posse of the album, "Troublemakers", a track that still says Wu-Tang. Bare midtempo drums, lively bass line, samples of horns stretched out from "Searching for Soul" by Jake Wade and The Soul Seachers, smoothness and flowing delivery by Raekwon, with more energy than the previous tune, but still not at his finest. Ghostface with more energy, hardcore, jabs the beat in stanza number two with a commendable rapping style. Redman and Method Man are the other guests of the posse, which therefore features two duos (Ghostface & Raekwon with Method Man & Redman), Red drops bars with a fluid, lethal, energetic flow, Tical enters with a fluid, calm, smoothness, fluid, magnetic delivery. The track goes down among the best posses of the Clan in recent years.
After five solo albums, the collaborative album with Raekwon and Method Man and a compilation, this is his eighth and officially final effort with Def Jam. After the release of his latest solo effort, GFK announces the sequel to "Supreme Clientele" to coincide with the expiration of his contract with Def Jam. After receiving an advance from the label, the Staten Island rapper delivers "Apollo Kids", a project that began as a mixtape and was soon raised by the artist to a full-fledged album with the sole purpose of fulfilling his contract and keeping the sequel to release it independently. At the time of writing, the sequel has not yet been released. Distributed by Universal, the album sold 13,000 copies in its first week, debuting outside the top one hundred in the pop chart and touching the top ten among rap releases. For the second effort in a row, the emcee feels it necessary to put the Wu symbol on the cover. It was received very positively by specialized critics, who considered it close to his greatest works: Ghostface rediscovers a gritty, dirty and punctual production, creating a modern Wu sound, and being supported by both the boys from Staten Island (Wu-Tang and Theodore Unit) and by guests who represent the cream of the circuit. A rough, compact, tight album is born, and maintains a splendid replay value with its forty minutes. Recommended to fans.
Rating: 8/10.
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