Out of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, the most prolific of all the emcees is the mighty Dennis Coles aka Ghostface Killah. The first time we noticed GFK was with a stocking over his face in the seminal cut "Da Mystery Of Chessboxin", when he unloaded a venomous verse over that crazy cut. From there, his appearances on other 36 Chambers cuts such as the still-blazing "Can It Be All So Simple" put him in high intrigue. His star shined a little brighter when he was featured quite heavily on Raekwon's legendary debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., in which he's on nearly every cut with Rae on his own album, and they were, more or less, Wu-Tang's tag team champions. The interest level concerning his own solo effort started to grow and grow progressively. His appearances on the aforementioned Rae's album, as well as the debuts of GZA and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, made him the obvious choice for next up. Once Ironman dropped in '96, the doors were wide open, and his identity was standout. He became more than just the tag partner of Rae. He was his own emcee, and a damn nice one at that. Our first taste of Ghost as the starring act was his INSANE cut from the Sunset Park movie soundtrack, "Motherless Child". After Ironman, we had Supreme Clientele and the rest became one of the dopest discographies around, and arguably the best discography out the Wu altogether. We will break down all of his solo albums (not ignoring his group efforts such as the Theodore Unit album, his collab with Trife Da God, and the Wu-Massacre album with Rae and Meth as their all dope as well) and go from least ill to his most ill. Nothing within his discography is below average at the least. With all that being said, let's get to it!
16. Set The Tone (Guns & Roses)
Production: artist, EZ Elpee, Now N Laterz, T The Human, others
Guests: Nas, Raekwon, Method Man, Fat Joe, AZ, Kanye West, Ja-Rule, Busta Rhymes, Remy Ma, others
We start off with the most recent Ghostface dropped, which was Set The Tone (Guns & Roses), which is his first album on Nas' Mass Appeal Records. This also marks Ghost's first album since 2019's Ghostface Killahs, as well as his collaborative album with Czarface (which features fellow Wu soldier, Inspectah Deck), Czarface Meets Ghostface. With five years removed since either project, we hear a refreshed Ghostface going for his. The first single, the Nas-assisted, "Scar Tissue", has the two celebrated veterans bringing that nineties nostalgia back over a rugged instrumental. A lot of the album's instrumentals are truthfully all over the place and critically missing a lot of what helped make Ghost's discography so acclaimed with the classic Wu sound, or at least better sounding New York-laced soundscapes. While the aforementioned "Scar Tissue" works pretty good for him, as well as others such as the Kanye-featured, "No Face" and the Method Man-guested "Pair Of Hammers", most of the rest of the album falls apart. The album is divided between the Guns & Roses half and the Set The Tone half, and certainly the weaker half is the latter. The Busta Rhymes-assisted, reggaetón sounds of "Shots" fails to provide a good repeat-button feel, nor do cuts like "Trap Phone", the Ja-Rule-assisted "Bad Bitch", and "Touch You". While the Sheek Louch/Jim Jones-assisted "6 Minutes" is a good enough opener for the album, there isn't much to add to this album that makes this a stellar project like several other Ghost projects. Unfortunately, Set The Tone (Guns & Roses) is not an album that truly shows the talent Ghost possesses, as both an emcee and a writer in general. Plus the production is messy and falters in several areas of the album. He did state that Supreme Clientele 2 is coming so hopefully we can FINALLY get that this year, and this was a misfire on his way to SC2.
15. Ghostface Killahs
Production: Danny Calazzo
Guests: Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, Masta Killa, Eamon, Solomon Childs, others
As we just mentioned, 2019 was the last album that we heard anything solo from Ghostface. The said album was the somewhat self-titled, Ghostface Killahs. The tone here is more consistent and more up to the standard Ghost has set for himself over the decades, although barely in some spots. The cut, "Me, Denny, & Daryl", features him and Mr. MEF showing their Wu chemistry over some fairly dope production and brings back the early to mid nineties Wu vibes. He continues with other cuts that bring a somewhat warm and fuzzy feeling inside you in a Wu-Tang-esque way with cuts such as the Solomon Childs-featured, "Pistol Smoke", the soulfully sampled-sounds of "Flex", and especially the Deck/Cappadonna-assisted "Burner To Burner", which sounds like it could've easily fit in on The W back in '99. Although we wish there were more moments like these, it isn't always this great, as cuts like the Cappadonna-assisted, "Waffles & Ice Cream", "Party Over Here", and "Conditioning" throw the album's momentum off and end up making the album inconsistent. All that being said, there were more hits than misses with Ghostface Killahs, and this was a decent enough album to make you remember that Ghost is still one of the most intriguing emcees to do it.
14. The Lost Tapes
Production: Big Ghost LTD
Guests: Raekwon, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, LA The Darkman, KXNG Crooked, Ras Kass, Benny The Butcher, 38 Spesh, Big Daddy Kane, Snoop Dogg, E-40, Cappadonna, others
In 2018, Ghost got up with enigmatic producer, Big Ghost LTD to deliver, The Lost Tapes. Unlike Nas' compilation of some of the best work of his career that went previously unreleased, this Lost Tapes is an album full of new music from the Ghost brothers. BGLTD's dark and ominous boom-bap mixed with skillfully sampled soul selections approach to production blended very well with Ghostface's haunting storytelling approach to concepts and writing. He leans right into his Pretty Tony meets Michael Corleone persona on cuts like "Majestic Accolades", "Saigon Velour", and the knocking "Buckingham Palace", while also turning on his Ghostface charm with the ladies on the syrupy cut "Done It Again". He keeps it true to hip-hop in all forms and remembers that he came from the true school of rap. Pretty much, that means he takes his emceeing seriously just like his storytelling. With cuts like "Watch 'Em Holla", the hard rock guitars of "I Think I Saw A Ghost", and the old school spirit of "Cold Crush", Ghostface is energetic and passionate on the mic and shows off his talents tremendously like he has throughout the majority of his career. Ghost also took the time to reach out to colleagues and friends of his within the game to assist him throughout the entire album such as Snoop, Ras Kass, E-40, Benny The Butcher, KXNG Crooked, Big Daddy Kane, and of course his Wu brethren. Sure, we wish there was more of Ghost dolo, but it is what it is. BGLTD did a hell of a job providing Mr. Coles with an appropriate soundtrack that harkens the soul of his nineties/early thousands standouts on The Lost Tapes. Let's hope this isn't the end of these two Ghost artists collaborating.
13. Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Production: Sean C & LV, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Scram Jones, others
Guests: Raheem Devaughn, Estelle, Fabolous, others
Fresh off the excellent, Pretty Tony Story, Ghostface dropped Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, and it was initially a mixed reaction. The album was seen as "too R&B-ish" for an effort of Ghostface's standards, which was traditionally rugged, smooth, street, and lyrically sharp and vivid. However, this was also part of the plan, as he usually has at least one cut for the ladies, and this was just an entire album's worth of cuts with the smoothness of Pretty Tony with the mink coats and the wallabees. The majority of the album is enjoyable, as cuts like the Raheem DeVaughn-assisted (who appears of a few other cuts on the album) "Baby", "Paragraphs of Love" (which also features Estelle), and "Lonely" are cuts that are pretty blush-worthy in nature but still have enough appeal to keep the rotations heavy. He continues his sexcapades on cuts like the bluntly titled "Stapleton Sex" and the John Legend-assisted "Let's Stop Playin'" but shows his smooth charm as only Starky Love can bring on other cuts like "Do Over" and "Forever". While it's not a typical Ghostface album that shows his ruggedness and his penchant for street folklore and gritty narratives, Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City is an overall fun album that shows the softer and raunchier side of Ghost, and honestly, in his own unique way, he made the best hood romance album he likely could possibly make.
12. Twelve Reasons To Die II
Production: Adrien Younge
Guests: RZA, Raekwon, Chino XL, Vince Staples, others
In 2013, Ghostface presented, Twelve Reasons To Die, a macabre, yet intense, audio movie of revenge, payback, and hatred mixed together with incredibly fitting production from producer/composer Adrien Younge that combined seventies soul with haunting chords, organs, strings and other outstanding melodies that fit the narrative of sixties Italian horror in hip-hop form. Ghostface delivered the sequel to Twelve Reasons To Die two years later, and it does a great job picking up where the prior left off at. Younge comes through again with more of the same vintage-sounding production that is specially equipped for such a project like this. However, this time around, we have a couple of notable changes. For one, the guests aren't just his Wu brothers, in fact, none from the first one are here for the sequel. Instead, we get the likes of Chino XL, Vince Staples, and Scarub. The second being the only two Wu brethren on here are RZA (who narrates this edition as well as guests on a couple cuts), and Raekwon, who plays the role of Lester Kane, an NYC kingpin who has an issue of his own with the Deloca family from the prior edition. As Kane is hell bent on taking down the family, Ghost is more or less an anti-hero. He's trying to convince Kane to do what needs to be done to take them down but is also trying to have Kane sacrifice his life for the cause so that Ghost can be in the body of Kane. This provides quite the suspenseful series of cuts including the first three cuts, "Return of The Savage", "King Of NY", and "Rise Up". The soulfully jazzy sounding, "Death's Invitation" featuring the aforementioned Chino, Scarub, and former Latryx emcee, Lyrics Born, is a cut that serves as perhaps the tensest cut, as we start to go into the climax of the album, which is the quite dope "Black Out", which has Kane coming face to face with the family, and the war is on. In an ironic twist, it's the following two cuts that prove for the worthy twists. On "Resurrection Morning", Kane delivers on his promise to take himself out if Ghost helps him gun down the family so that Ghost could be "one with him". As Kane offs himself, and indeed, Ghost's spirits become one with the body of Kane (who it turns out is the son of Tony and the girlfriend, Logan), thus Kane comes back to life. Kane kills Logan with this newfound spirit of Ghost, and as illustrated on the closer, "Life's A Rebirth", Kane is fully the inhabitant of Ghost's spirit. With Twelve Reasons To Die II, the story is compelling enough to keep you in the edge of your seat throughout, just the first one. Younge's production here is every bit as excellent as the prior. While there could be the argument that this sounded a bit more rushed than the prior, this sequel does a great enough job satisfying those that felt the first one was near brilliance in itself.
11. 36 Seasons
Production: The Revelations, Fizzy Womack, 45 King, others
Guests: Kool G. Rap, AZ, Pharoahe Monch, others
Many were wondering if we would get the much anticipated third installment of the aforementioned Twelve Reasons To Die series. What would become of Ghostface now that he's inside the body of Lester Kane? Were there more enemies Ghostface needed to knock off and using Lester to do it? Several questions to ponder. The closest thing we get to this lineage is 2014's 36 Seasons. This album highlights Ghostface as Tony Starks (presumably before all the drama with the Deloca crime family and dating the boss' daughter, and subsequently getting murdered) coming back home to Staten Island after spending nine years locked up and finding things have been turned upside down in his hometown. While we don't have the fantastic sonic contributions of Adrien Younge here, we do have NYC-based band, The Revelations, doing the soundscape for this effort. Utilizing live instrumentation that fuses R&B, soul, and jazz bring almost as much of a vintage-sounding presence as Younge did for both installments of TRTD. We begin with comic book artist, Matthew Rosenberg, narrating the album and gets up with his two notables in the story, Queens legend, Kool G. Rap, and Brooklyn's heralded, AZ, who both play important roles themselves. G. Rap has started to date Tony's ex girl and he, himself, has become a drug lord and AZ is part of NYPD. Seeing the streets are in peril, he does his best to assemble a group of cats to help organize the hood. His ex is played by vocalist Kandace Springs, and she lets it be known that she has moved on and done so very well on "Love Don't Live Here No More". Great start to Tony's homecoming, don't you agree? From there, we see his complexities and his struggles with leaving the ways that put him behind bars in the first-place clash with the vice grip the streets have on him on cuts like "Dogs of War", the shiesty "Double Cross", and the intriguing "Pieces to The Puzzle". The climax comes in the form of "Homicide", in which he foils a plot to kill him by engaging in the very thing that he had been trying to shy away from. Ultimately winning back Bamboo by the time we reach "Call My Name", 36 Seasons is a tale of a man who had hoped for redemption, but betrayal, deceit, and the tight grips of street living get the best of him, and he gives in. The musicality of The Revelations brings a damn good presence with this effort and there's more of a seventies blaxploitation feel here more so than TRTD, which was also likely the point. You get images of Shaft, Dolemite, and Superfly all in one minus the need to actually do the drugs like Ron O' Neill's legendary character. The enjoyment of 36 Seasons lies within Ghost's niche of being able to carry a story and keep you tuned in with all its twists and turns. An excellent addition to the acclaimed discography of GFK.
10. Sour Soul
Production: BadBadNotGood
Guests: MF DOOM, Danny Brown, Elzhi, others
As we've seen, Ghost can absolutely show his lyrical abilities over single producer album such as The Revelations and Adrien Younge. He does the same with Canadian hip-hop jazz band, BadBadNotGood for 2015's Sour Soul. Essentially, it's more of an EP than a full-length due to a few tracks that are strictly instrumentals. This fact doesn't stop the project from being a tremendous affair to behold. Ghost's lyrical dexterity over the engaging production of BBNG makes for promising results such as the Elzhi-assisted, "Food", and the title track. While other highlights such as the Danny Brown-assisted "Six Degrees" and the lush "Nuggets of Wisdom" beg for repeated listens, it's the collaboration with then on again-off again rhyme partner, the late, great MF DOOM, "Ray Gun" that highlights the great chemistry these two possessed. Although we never did get that highly anticipated Swift & Changeable effort between the two as GhostDOOM, this was another example of what really an enormous partnership for an equally enormous album could've been. The closest we got was that Fishscale was half produced by DOOM himself. In any event, although Sour Soul doesn't see Ghost break any new ground lyrically or stylistically, has his usual tough guy talk and bravado mixed with gritty narratives and occasional pearls of wisdom over sublime and fulfilling production by BBNG. A win all around the board.
9. The Big Doe Rehab
Production: Sean C & LV, Scram Jones, others
Guests: Method Man, Cappadonna, Raekwon, Masta Killa, Beanie Segal, U-God, Chrisette Michele, Trife Da God, others
Following up Fishscale and its cutting room floor album, More Fish, was no easy task whatsoever. That being said, in '07, he certainly attempted to do so with The Big Doe Rehab. Once he started the RZA and Wu-Elements sounds behind him, he started experimenting with other producers to create more rugged, hard-knocking production more so than the dungeon-sounding, soul-sampling genius of The Abbott after The Pretty Toney Album in '04 with the closest being the excellence of Fishscale. He gets up with the likes of NY underground commodity Scram Jones and former Bad Boy affiliates-Sean C & LV for the majority of this album, which overall make for dope results. Cuts like the Beanie Sigel-assisted, "Toney Sigel aka The Barrel brothers", the Wu-assisted "Paisley Darts", and "White Linen Affair" are more than worthy rotators that puts the album on very exciting levels. We get up-tempo with cuts like the Kid Capri-collaborated "We Celebrate" and the collab with Mef and Cappa on the scandalous, "Yolanda's House", providing intrigue and entertainment at the same time, but we get damn vivid with the brutal "Walk Around" and the cinematic sequel to Fishscale's "Shakey Dog", "Shakey Dog Starring Lolita" with brother Rae, both of which show Ghost at his storytelling best, even if bleak such as the case with the former. He continues his storytelling on cuts like "Killer Lipstick" and "Yaap City", but also gets reflective on the touching (yet also somewhat angst) "I'll Die For U" and the surprisingly very good collab with Chrisette Michele, "Slow Down", make for very enjoyable moments. While it doesn't quite measure up to the level Fishscale set, that's quite fine. With The Big Doe Rehab, Ghost doesn't reinvent the wheel, nor does he spit over genre-shifting production, but we do get Ghost being who is, and doing it well. This was an overall satisfying piece from Pretty Toney himself.
8. The Pretty Toney Album
Production: RZA, No I.D., Emile, Nottz, K-Def, True Master, others
Guests: Musiq Soulchild, Missy Elliot, Jackie-O, The Lox, others
If there's one thing known about GFK, he's a man of a few personas. We all know his alias of Tony Starks (obviously named after the Marvel character whose clever brilliance inspired him to create the seemingly indestructible mechanism known as Ironman). However, he also has that pimp side to him that commands respect from his peers and provokes intrigue from the ladies, and that persona is Pretty Toney, the fictional character of Dick Anthony Williams from the legendary blaxploitation movie of the seventies, The Mack. Pretty Tony was a pimp with wisdom. Someone who knew the game and how it was played but was also a tough SOB when need be. This personifies GFK in basically every way imaginable. Thus, we have 2004's The Pretty Toney Album, which followed up 2001's very dope, yet slightly underrated, Bulletproof Wallets. This was Ghost's first album through Def Jam, and it was also his first (and only) album in which the 'Killah' part of his name was excluded due to marketing reasons. This would also mark the first time we heard no Wu-Tang guest appearances on the album, not even brother-in-arms, Raekwon. Instead, we got The Lox (Sheek & Styles P on the tough, "Metal Lungies" and Kiss on the adrenaline-fueled, "Run"), Musiq Soulchild (the reworking on his breakout cut, "Love"), and Missy Elliot (the radio-accessible, club-setoff, "Tush"). With this album, we get more his accessible album to date up to this point. He brings the tough guy, street-savvy narratives of "Run", "Metal Lungies", the outstanding Trife Da God-assisted, "Biscuits" (not the same cut and Method Man's cut of the same name from Tical), and the quite mean, "It's Over" as only he can deliver them. He also brings more appealing and accessible tunes with him such as the aforementioned "Tush" and "Love", but also cuts like the Jackie-O-assisted "Tooken Back" and "Holla". Sometimes this formula works for him, and other times it doesn't. While it was great to see Ghost expand his wings past the clothing of the Wu, in terms of his identity as a Wu soldier, and not much else beyond that, it's missing a charm that the likes of Rae, Mef, or even Cappa would greatly enhance this album with their brands of their signature flows and deliveries. That being said, The Pretty Toney Album showed Ghost's dexterity past the Wu and made an attempt at him being a star without having to put aside all of what made him one of the most in-demand emcees, not just from the Wu, but in hip-hop at the time.
7. Apollo Kids
Production: Sean C & LV, Scram Jones, Frank Dukes, Pete Rock, others
Guests: Wu-Tang Clan, Killah Priest, Black Thought, The Game, Joell Ortiz, Busta Rhymes, Sheek Louch, Jim Jones, others
After experimenting with certain types of sounds and formulas, Ghostface made his way back to the gritty, soulful ferocity we had known from him on 2010's Apollo Kids, named after one of the crazier cuts from his Supreme Clientele album. The irony of this is the album was originally a mixtape lead-in for his MUCH anticipated, Supreme Clientele 2 (or as it was tentatively entitled at the time, Supreme Clientele Presents...Blue & Cream: The Wally Era). This was originally scheduled to be his final project for Def Jam as well. He, instead, turned the mixtape into a full album, while he was reportedly searching for another label to put SC2 out through. Although we didn't get SC2 or anything of the sort, what we did get was somewhat of a throwback to vintage Ghost, and that's always a great thing. Although no RZA or Wu-Elements production here, their influence was everywhere in the sonic assaults on this album. The album starts off very promising with the Killah Priest/GZA-assisted, "Purified Thoughts", as we still hear the same chemistry these three had on GZA's unbelievable, "4th Chamber" on the legendary Liquid Swords album. We get other tremendous glimpses of true Ghost throughout the album. Menacing cuts like the Wu-assisted "Ghetto", the Sheek Louch/Sun God/Shawen Wigs-assisted, "Street Bullies", and the soulful sounds of the Cappa/Trife-helped, "Black Tequila" all scream classic Ghost from his Ironman/Clientele days. The Joell Ortiz/Game-assisted, "Drama", is a slick cut that actually has Joell outshining everyone on this cut, but that can be expected with someone the caliber of "Mr. YOWA!" himself. Meanwhile, the Pete Rock-crafted, "How You Like Me Baby" and "2getha baby" are equipped with Starky Love-isms. Spitting his own charm at the ladies, even the slightly misplaced cut with Jim Jones, "Handcuff Them Hos", is something we've been accustomed to from him since "Ice Cream", and he doesn't fall off or let up at all here. On the Black Thought-collaborated, "In the Park", we have a vintage rock guitar chord that fits into a Rick Rubin-type produced cut, similar to "99 Problems", but with some boom bap behind it. The chemistry between appears odd on paper but works surprisingly well. What makes Apollo Kids work isn't the fact that he's necessarily trying to bring back the aura of Ironman, Supreme Clientele, and Bulletproof Wallets, it's that he updates that age and fits it into the time of 2010. Although starting to get past his lyrical prime by this point in the game, Ghost still had enough in the chamber to unleash signs of revitalization, and he showed it tremendously here.
6. More Fish
Production: MF DOOM, Hi-Tek, Madlib, others
Guests: Trife Da God, Redman, Sheek Louch, Kanye West, Ne-Yo, others
After the simply wonderful outing of Fishscale, Ghost decided to drop some cutting room floor material that was recorded during the Fishscale sessions. Entitled More Fish, these cuts were almost as excellent as the actual cuts that made it onto Fishscale itself, with the exception of a few. Cuts like the DOOM-produced, "Alex" easily should've been a part of Fishcale, with its engaging production by the late, great Metal Fingers, and the cinematic story so complex, it may need more than one spin to fully grasp the narrative being told. Same with the other DOOM-crafted cut, the Theodore Unit & Killa Sin-assisted, "Gunz & Razors", "Miguel Sanchez", and "Street Opera" as exemplary cuts that were very Fishscale worthy with their excellent production and enough grittiness to make them complete sand total standouts. The vivid, "Outta Town Shit", chronicles a hustler that gets caught up in a dice game gone wrong, while he and Trife risk it all in a game of Poker on the dope "Pokerface", and the Hi-Tek-crafted ode to an AIDS-infected, pregnant cocaine addict, "Josephine" are all cuts that exhibit Ghost's fantastic writing ability and his niche for the visual lyricism that only the likes of Slick Rick, Scarface, or Kool G. Rap could dare to rival (save for maybe Raekwon as well). Although not as practically flawless as Fishscale is, this is still an album filled with standouts and cuts that come through at the right time for Ghost (although his duet with the late, great Amy Whinehouse "You Know I'm No Good" was somehow figured in to this album and, although is a fantastic cut, didn't serve a true purpose on this particular album). This would've been an excellent standalone album, without it being presented as leftovers of Fishcale. In that aspect, as a standalone, More Fish is among the best wall to wall projects Ghost has done and continued to demonstrate the gifts of Tony Starks.
5. Bulletproof Wallets
Production: RZA, The Alchemist, Mathematics, Carlos "6 July" Broady, others
Guests: Raekwon, Method Man, Carl Thomas, Ruff Endz, others
After the sheer magnitude of Supreme Clientele and its genius delivery, the pressure was on to replicate, or even surpass, its excellence. This would be very hard, but he definitely attempted to do so in the form of Bulletproof Wallets. Once again having Raekwon featured on four tracks out of the fifteen on this album. Their chemistry is solid and sustainable on the first three cuts, "Maxine", "Flowers", and the first single, the Carl Thomas-sung, "Never Be The Same Again". Although, these cuts are quite enjoyable and repeat-worthy (especially "Maxine"), it only gets better from here. The sonically crazy, yet hilarious, "Strawberry", the Alchemist-crafted "Street Chemistry", and "Theodore" all rank among the standouts in this excellent album, and all have a certain flair of individuality with them that makes Ghost bring out some damn good writing. His calling card continues to be his vivid, cinematic storytelling, and this aspect especially works wonders on certain cuts that prove to be, lyrically and conceptually, the strongest points on the album. On the ingenious, Alchemist-blessed "The Forest", Ghost compares a day in the hood to Disney characters over a sample of "The Wonderful World Of Disney", while he and Rae are in the middle of a sophisticated hit on "The Hilton". He also reworks Wu vocalist, T'keitha's, cut from the Ghost Dog soundtrack, "Walking Through The Darkness", and ends up making it his own song by delivering bars on the cut, to which it now sounds like it's Ghost's cut now instead of T'ketiha's song. Although some may scoff at his attempt at recreating the magic of Clientele's "Cherchez La-Ghost" with "Ghostshowers", which definitely falls short of the predecessor's instant appeal, and some others may scoff at the Ruff Endz-assisted jacking of Case & Joe's superb duet, "Faded Pictures", "Love Session", weaker moments like these aren't many at all, in fact they're that minimal. Although it doesn't quite measure up to the instant classic acclaim of Supreme Clientele, or even the dirty soul samplings of Ironman, Bulletproof Wallets holds its own, and hold its own very well against these two albums. A tad bit more light-hearted, and not as sonically and thematically heavy as the prior two, Ghost continued to show how impressive of an emcee he was and that he was, in fact, becoming the biggest star of the Wu and the face of the Clan, he just so happens...to be a GHOSTface!
4. Twelve Reasons To Die
Production: Adrien Younge
Guests: Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, U-God, Killa Sin, Cappadonna
With all the previous incredible albums Ghostface has delivered, one in particular took advantage of his cinematic writing gifts. While he's always had the talents of vivid storytelling, there was one album that emphasized his penchant for literally crafting an audio thriller right for our ears to thoroughly enjoy and our minds to imagine. This album comes in the form of Twelve Reasons To Die, and to say it's a captivating piece of work is putting it mildly. With producer/composer/arranger Adrien Younge at the helm sonically, Ghost plays himself as a scorned sprit whose human form (Tony Starks) was killed by his former mob employers due to him falling in love with the mob boss' daughter. His remains are melted into twelve different LPs that, when played, conjures up his vengeful and homicidal spirit. From the ominous opening cut, "Beware of The Stare", it's clear we will be in for the quite the audio cinematic ride, and what a ride it starts off being. This is one of those albums that, although you can pick any cut as a standout, it's best to listen to it continuously, as there are layers within each track, and they all spell out the direction of this very scorned spirit that is hell bent on chaos. With Wu brothers Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Cappadonna, and Wu-affiliate, Killa Sin, along for the ride of the audio movie, cuts like "Revenge Is Sweet", "Murder Spree", "Blood on The Cobblestones", and "Center of Attention" all are packed with enough suspense and intrigue that you'll swear you're feeling the same aura Ghost is presenting in each cut. Younge provides the most appropriate and convenient score for this album, as it contains haunting soul melodies, but they're crafted in a way of somewhat replicating the sixties Italian horror feel meant for this ambitious effort. Along with RZA executive producing this project, Twelve Reasons To Die is an effort that doesn't get mentioned enough when it comes to his best work. The brilliant scoring of Younge mixed with the vision of Ghost and the overseeing by RZA makes this one of his most acclaimed projects and certainly one of the single best projects to come out in 2013.
3. Fishscale
Production: MF DOOM, Just Blaze, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Sean C & LV, others
Guests: Wu-Tang Clan, Ne-Yo
With his Def Jam deal, some were expecting Ghost's style to switch up and become very commercial and that he would abandon the streets for the radio accessibility. He proved those people wrong (for the most part) with The Pretty Toney Album, as it was as rugged as it was for the commercial appeal. However, it was his next album that put a clamp on any of those notions whatsoever with his fifth album, Fishscale. Don't get fooled with the Ne-Yo-crooned cut about letting an ex know she went too far for her payback, "Back Like That". This was the most crossover you'd hear throughout this entire album. Vintage storyteller Ghost is in prime form here, and this is as vivid and cinematic as it got at the time. With tales of drugs, revenge, other bouts of crime, and block narratives, Ghost dove headfirst into his Ironman/Supreme Clientele bag for this effort. Once again, RZA, nor any of the Wu-Elements were a part of the sounds on this album, but truthfully, they didn't need to be. the elegant sounds of the late, great MF DOOM, the equally late, great Dilla, and Pete Rock made up the majority of this album, and truthfully, it's DOOM's work that may be the most standout of everybody's. True, most of the beats came from DOOM's Special Herbs instrumental series, but Ghost going crazy over this production of DOOM's is the real. Peep examples such as the all-Wu assembled, "9 Milli Bros", the stunning "Underwater", and "Jellyfish" with Cappa, Trife, and Shawn Wigz, in which this could make a serious contender for best woman infatuation cut of Ghost's since Ironman's "Camay". The irony is that earlier in the album, on the Dilla-crafted "Beauty Jackson", he approaches a woman at the bus stop that was apparently gorgeous and was kicking his game as only Pretty Tony could do, but an awkward situation costed him something good. One has to wonder if he met back up with her later based upon "Jellyfish". He stays cinematic on the adrenaline-rushing "Shakey Dog", that details a robbery that goes left, while on "Big Girl", he highlights the tale of three women that all OD off coke he produced, and the seemingly mournful depiction of their futures being cut short. With other bananas cuts like the CRAZY Dilla-blessed ode to disrespectful youth, "Whip Me With A Strap", the tremendous collab with Raekwon, "Kilo", the Pete Rock-scorched posse cut, "Dogs Of War", the Just Blaze underground favorite, "The Champ", and the stellar "Clipse Of Doom", Fishscale hit every single point needed for Ghost to show his supremacy above many within his peers just for delivery, vocal charisma, and his storytelling abilities. Although another DOOM-crafted cut, "Charlie Brown" didn't make the album (sample clearances really can be a bitch), it still fared just fine without it. In fact, it's the moments where we get glimpses of GhostDOOM where we really would've LOVED to have gotten Swift & Changeable. Easily his best work since Supreme Clientele, Fishscale showed Ghost at his finest work of his Def Jam time, and proved he didn't need RZA or the Wu-Elements to deliver a treasure of an album.
2. Ironman
Production: RZA, True Master
Guests: Wu-Tang Clan, Mary J. Blige, The Force MDs, The Delfonics
With the tremendous critical and commercial success Wu solo albums had been achieving such as Method Man's debut, Tical, Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers: the Dirty Version, GZA's seemingly perfect sophomore album, Liquid Swords, and of course Raekwon's timeless debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., it was high time for the next in line to drop his much-anticipated debut, with Ghostface's Ironman. Obviously billed off the mechanized superhero of Tony Starks from the Marvel comics, Ghost delivered his debut and it definitely lived up to the hype and anticipation. The majority of the album featured Rae and new affiliate at the time, Cappadonna, over some of the best RZA production heard at the time (although Wu-Element boardsmith, True Master, contributed to one of the standout cuts on the album, "Fish"). We were very familiar with the incredibly knocking, "Motherless Child", as well as "Winter Warz", which is widely known for appearing on the Don't Be A Menace...soundtrack and for the career-defining verse from Cappa on this track. We also received the sultry and silky "Camay", complete with the very fitting Teddy Pendergrass vocal sample from one of his most known hits, "Can We Try" and the seventies feel of the blazing, "Daytona 500". However, we were thrown with the touching, autobiographical duet with Mary J. Blige, "All That I Got Is You", which detailed his upbringing in the Stapleton projects and also doubled as a dedication to his mother. The melancholy keys and strings provide the essential backdrop to the transparent lyrics from Ghost and the accompanying vocals from Ms. Blige to present one of the most fantastic cuts within his entire thirty-year career. Do not let this fool you kiddies; the majority of this album consists of street narratives, mafioso-esque imagery, and plenty of drug referencing, with the occasional wisdom dropping on a few tracks such as "Black Jesus" and "Wildflower". RZA's production was very soulful in the sense of it relied heavily on soul sampling, primarily from the seventies. We even got a feature from the legendary seventies group, The Delfonics, on the excellent, "After The Smoke Is Clear". As far as guests besides Rae and Cappa, with the exception of GZA and Dirty, all the Wu members were in full effect throughout this album, thus really making it a Wu family album. Cuts such as "The Faster Blade", "Iron Maiden", and the very dope, "Box In Hand" all sound custom made for Ghost and company and only elevate the album even more than it already was. The quintessential Ghostface album, Ironman showed the world he had arrived, and he was more than that dude with the stocking over his face. He was an emcee. A damn good one, and a unique one. Much like Rae, his penchant for storytelling rhymes are his calling card, but mixes it up with his infatuation with the ladies, his old soul aesthetic, and his hunger to bring out intensity and vigor with virtually everything. If one were to state this was the best debut out of everyone from the Wu, one would be hard pressed to argue against it.
1. Supreme Clientele
Production: RZA, Mathematics, Juju of The Beatnuts, Carlos "6 July" Broady, others
Guests: Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, others
Following up the aforementioned, Ironman, was not an easy task, nor did anyone expect it to be. When looking at sophomore albums from Method Man, Rae, GZA (although technically Beneath The Surface was his third, but his second under the Wu-Tang banner and the GZA moniker), and Ol' Dirty Bastard, the Wu sound was starting to not sound as raw and fresh and gritty. Also, at this time, Wu offspring such as Cappadonna, Sunz Of Man, Killarmy, and Royal Fam were dropping quite dope albums that were very reminiscent of the Wu we had remembered from '93-'96. Also, RZA finally dropped his debut under the futuristic playa persona, Bobby Digital, to decent acclaim. Even the Wu's sophomore effort, the monstrous double album, Wu-Tang Forever, was seen as a very good, yet not extremely heralded, successor to their landmark debut. There was something missing. Something that needed a good refreshing of what Wu-Tang was about in its rawness and innovativeness. Enter Supreme Clientele, Ghost's UNBELIEVABLE sophomore album of 2000. With critics and even some fans declaring that the Wu was starting to decline or even fall into the trap of commercial sounds for a crossover audience, Ghost became even more of a Tony Starks-like hero. One whom realized that it was up to him to salvage the name of the Wu, but knew it was going to take some out the box stuff in order to accomplish this mission. What stayed was his storytelling abilities and his knack for inject his unique charisma and lyrical dexterity into the fray. What changed was that RZA was not the only man in charge of the boards, however, in no way, shape, form, or fashion was that a bad thing at all. He brought in Juju of nineties Queens duo, The Beatnuts, Bad Boy's 6 July, and The Blaquesmiths, whom you would hear again primarily doing Inspectah Deck's fantastic, "Show N Prove" from his underrated, Uncontrollable Substance album. The sounds here are not uniform. While you could, for the most part, tell a RZA beat, a lot of the other ones weren't too far off from sounding like late nineties-early two thousand RZA, just not as blaxploitation-sounding as Ironman. We did get a couple of dumb dope singles to kick off the rollout with "Mighty Healthy" and "Apollo Kids", but it was the very infectious, yet unexpected, smash from the album, "Cherchez La Ghost" featuring U-God that took the prize for most thumping hit. Also featuring the silky, sexy vocals of Madam Majestic throughout the cut, this became almost an immediate body mover and was the most accessible cut on the album without sacrificing its sound to deliberately make it on to Billboard. There were no crossover sounds or trends here. This was authentic Ghost to the utmost. From the haunting wailing loop of the knocking "One" to the haunting chords of the Wu-Tang assisted, "Wu Banga 101" and the nostalgia-esque "Child's Play", there were various dope stylings that helped each cut have its own identity. This was no more evident than one the highly unorthodox, yet BRILLIANT, production on the minute and a half cut, "Strokes Of Death", in which RZA incorporates a wicked vinyl-scratching loop that makes you believe, if you were a DJ, your vinyl was legit scratched up while playing. Ghost, along with Wu-affiliate Solomon Childs and RZA, obliterate this left-brained constructed beat (RZA, especially, lost his mind with one of the craziest verses he had delivered at that time). In terms of lyricism, Ghost's storytelling is first class all throughout on conceptual cuts like the aforementioned "Child's Play", which had him reminiscing over adolescent love, the Ma$e-dissing "Malcolm", which has him encompassing the spirit and aura of Malcolm X and how he would likely be in today's times, and "Saturday Nite", which detailed him getting harassed by an FBI agent concerning gun distribution the Wu had been accused of. Other standouts included the vivid collab with the late Lord Superb, "Ghost Deini", the Method Man/Redman-collab "Buck 50", and the RZA-assisted opener, "Nutmeg", in which these only further proved how truly stellar this album was. Basically put, Supreme Clientele had zero flaws (if you look past the skits and their lengths). Ghost went completely next level here, and over some of the most fluid and engaging production of any Wu-Tang project, we heard him become officially a star. Not just a star, but this album propelled him into becoming the Clan's most reliable go-to emcee for consistency and quality. Ghost's Supreme Clientele was not only one of the single best albums of 2000 (in a year that also included The Marshall Mathers LP, Train Of Thought, Like Water For Chocolate, Stankonia, Deltron 3030, HNIC, and even the Wu's own third album, The W), but also spawns the argument of possibly the best Wu-Tang, or Wu-Tang solo, album to ever get released. It for sure stands out as his most monumental and spectacular album in his career.
One thing's certain, two things for sure: Ghostface Killah has been the franchise of Wu-Tang for the better part of two decades now. Even with the apparent decline and separation of the group, He's by far the most prolific member and perhaps the most acclaimed. As we've seen here with this list, Ghost is several lanes above the majority of his Wu brethren, if not all of them. While Method Man definitely is showing he's still among legends in the game, Ghost is there with him. His knack for storytelling and vivid lyricism mixing with his ability to kick his thug charm to the ladies is vintage Ghost. Don't sleep on other releases from him including the following:
718 (w/ Theodore Unit)
718: Put It On Da Line (w/ Trife Da God)
Wu-Block (w/ Sheek Louch)
Hidden Darts: Special Edition
The Wallabee Champ
Wu-Massacre (w/ Raekwon and Method Man)
When it's all said and done, you can always depend on Pretty Tony to deliver goods that remind you why he's been among the most sustainable emcees in the game. Before we go, let's peep a brief playlist of cuts from the legendary GFK. Until next time folks!
Good Times feat. Lord Superb, Raekwon (production: artist)
The Odd Couple feat. Cappadonna (production: Ayatollah)
Pistol Smoke feat. Solomon Jewels (production: Danny Caiazzo)
Strokes Of Death feat. Solomon Jewels, RZA (production: RZA)
Malcolm (production: Choo The Specialist)
Motherless Child feat. Raekwon (production: RZA)
Scar Tissue feat. Nas (production: T the Hitman)
Wu Banga 101 feat. GZA, Cappadonna, Inspectah Deck, Raekwon (production: Mathematics)
I'll Die For You (production: Sean C & LV)
Street Chemistry feat. Trife Da God, Prodigal Sonn (production: The Alchemist)
Black Tequila feat. Trife Da God, Cappadonna (production: Frank Dukes)
Biscuits feat. Trife Da God (production: True Master)
Gunz N Razors feat. Trife Da God, Cappadonna, Killa Sin (production: MF DOOM/Metal Fingers)
One feat. T.M.F. (production: Juju of The Beatnuts)
Return Of The Savage feat. Raekwon, RZA (production: Adrien Younge)
Fish feat. Raekwon, Cappadonna (production: True Master)
Shakey Dog Starring Lolita feat. Raekwon (production: Sean C & LV)
Iron Maiden feat. Raekwon, Cappadonna (production: RZA)
Ray Gun feat. MF DOOM (production: BadBadNotGood)
Jellyfish feat. Trife Da God, Shawn Wigz, Cappadonna (production: MF DOOM/Metal Fingers)
Paisley Darts feat. Raekwon, Sun God, Cappadonna, Trife Da God, Method Man (production: Sean C & LV)
Kunta Fly Shit (production: RZA)
Emergency Procedure feat. Pharoahe Monch (production: The Revelations)
Beware of The Stare (production: Adrien Younge)
Block Rock (production: Madlib)
Underwater (production: MF DOOM/Metal Fingers)
Me, Denny, & Daryl feat. Method Man, Cappadonna (production: Danny Caiazzo)
Whip You Wit A Strap (production: Dilla)
The Forest feat. Raekwon (production: The Alchemist)
Nuggets Of Wisdom (production: BadBadNotGood)
Pair Of Hammers feat. Method Man (production: Steve Wallace)
When You Walk feat. Method Man, Street Life (production: RZA)
Resurrection Morning feat. Raekwon, Bilal (production: Adrien Younge)
Stay (production: Skymark)
Miranda feat. Raekwon, Method Man (production: Mathematics)
Strawberry feat. Killa Sin (production: Mathematics)
Homicide feat. Nems, Shawn Wigz (production: The Revelations)
Purified Thoughts feat. GZA, Killah Priest (production: Frank Dukes)
Revenge Is Sweet feat. Masta Killa, Killa Sin (production: Adrien Younge)
Rise Of the Ghostface Killah (production: Adrien Younge)
