September 26, 2009
The History of Ghostdini the Loverman, or Why Wizard Of Poetry Sounded Like A Good Idea
THIS WEEK IN HIP HOP
Ghostface Killah’s new album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City, leaked this past week (it drops this coming Tuesday) and it’s not that great. Billed as a sort of R&B concept album revolving around the ladies, it’s basically just an excuse to pair Ghostface with seemingly every single R&B singer at his label, Def Jam, and make eight or nine attempts at a radio hit. Instead of the usual posse of Raekwon, Cappadonna, and Trife Da God, Ghostface finds himself alongside the likes of Ron Browz, Lloyd, John Legend, Raheem Devaughn, some other budget R&B no-names and two instances of Autotune usage. Not as terrible as it looks on paper because Ghostface still raps like Ghostface. But pretty shameless nonetheless.
Of course, when Wizard of Poetry was first announced—and before the guests were announced—it sounded like a great idea. Ghost has always been a soulful loverman and he’s been exploring that side of himself more and more in recent years. It seemed inevitable that an album dedicated to the queens would burst out of him. So here’s an abridged history of Ghostface the lover, not the fighter:
“All That I Got Is You” | Ironman
Ghost sums up his poverty-stricken childhood in the Stapleton Projects over a group of women covering the Jackson 5 classic, “Maybe Tomorrow.” Obviously, Ghost isn’t in loverman mode here but this is the first strong sign of just how soulful he is. He only raps for a couple minutes before he lets the songstresses take over the track, kinda basking in the beauty and emotion of it.
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