Author Topic: Ghostface Cooks Up More Fish (Read 123 times)

Damien J. · « **on:** November 15, 2006, 10:19:00 AM »

Someone forgot to tell Ghostface Killah it’s OK to rest on your laurels. Less than 10 months after releasing the most critically acclaimed album of the year – Fishscale – Ghost is back and as strong as ever with the surprising and equally stunning sequel, More Fish. Set for a December 12 release on Def Jam Recordings, More Fish finds Ghost on a creative roll, and picks up right where Fishscale left off – with the kind of raw, uncut, uncompromising, soulful street rhymes only Tony Starks can deliver.

On Fishscale, The New York Times wrote: “When you get a new Ghostface Killah album, the only reasonable reaction is to get lost in it.” Getting lost in More Fish, what’s immediately striking is Ghost’s artistic consistency; he continues to put out great music at an alarmingly prolific rate. Tracks like the Rakim inspired “Ghost Is Back,” and the albums’ first single – the dancefloor burner “Good” – bristle with energy, Ghost’s legendary mic skills in top form. This time around, however, Ghost has a little help; the album showcases Ghost’s longtime Staten Island crew, The Theodore Unit: Trife Da God, Cappadonna, Shawn Wiggs, and Ghost’s 17-year-old son, Sun God – who’s deep, gravely flow shows brilliant promise on tracks like “Miguel Sanchez” and “God 2 God.”

Revered in beat-junkie circles for his soulful, sample-heavy soundbeds, Ghost returns to the same well of underground producers who made Fishscale an instant classic. MF Doom mans the boards on “Cartoonz” and the Hardy Boys-themed “Stones From Greece.” Madlib contributes “Untitled,” while Pete Rock lays down “Chunky.” On “Josephine,” one of the album’s standout tracks, Ghost laments life in the drug-addled projects over a deep, mid-tempo soul sample from Hi-Tek.

While many in hip-hop mourn the passing of the glory days, More Fish is another classic album from one of the genre’s true legends, and one of its greatest talents. But for Tony Starks, it feels easy – like shooting fish in a barrel.