For those who don't already know, Ghostface Killah is one of the original nine membered Wu-Tang Clan. After receiving a decent amount of critical praise on the groups debut, ghost has carved himself a niche and become the most consistent member of the crew. We will eventually get to all of his albums, but for now just know that he is one of the only members not to release an album that's complete trash, as well as dropping the undisputed classic "Supreme Clientele."
Ghost has a well documented battle with his record labels including Def Jam, his current label. The result has been years of delays for his highly anticipated sequel to Supreme Clientele (I doubt it actually is released, but a man can dream, right.) So Pretty Tony did the thing any logical man would do: hook up with R&B/Soul composer Adrian Younge to create what I guess you could call a side project. Ghostface is no fool though folks, turns out Younge is a damn good producer and takes his talents to give this the ultimate cinematic feel. Oh, and while he was at it, ghost got RZA to executively produce the album.
Mix all of that together and you have Twelve Reasons to Die, a hardcore gangster story with a twist that I will not spoil at the moment. Ghostface goes by the name Tony Starks (they could have been a little more creative, considering he's been calling himself that for twenty years, but whatever), who has risen to the top of the drug world, with only a rival gang in his way. That's all I'm going to go into now because I'm ready to get this started, so lets go!
Just kidding, I forgot I'm obliged to covered the production of the project. The album was released on on RZA's record label Soul Temple Records. (There's no way that man sleeps, he's produced at least six albums, released a full length movie, and now a record deal in one year. Please stand up and give the man a round of applause, I'll wait.) Adrian Younge provides a very Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...-esque backdrop with the cinematic feel, while still sounding fresh and unique.
And now the review.
1. Beware of the Stare
The songs starts off with some nicely sung vocals contributed by an unknown female artist. You get the immediate feel that this is like the opening credits of the album. Ghostface lays down two verses that definitely introduce you to the Tony Starks character, but he's mainly just warming up and laying down some vintage Ghostface bars. The instrumental here is absolutely awesome and continuously changes throughout the song to fit the moods. So yes, even if the rest of the album is terrible, at least it had a top notch intro.
2. Rise of the Black Suits
Ghostface portrays the way he made it to where he is today over another interesting instrumental by Mr. Younge. I'm on record for liking the organ in a beat and this is no exception, its dope as hell. Everything about this is incredibly vivid and paints a picture in your mind, which is from combination of ghosts flow and Adrian Younges fantastic beat. Yeah, this shit was nice.
3. I Declare War (Feat. Masta Killa & The RZA)
More organ, more better. The instrumental hits you right in the face with this one, as the drums and vocals provide a perfect opportunity to further develop the story. This is an opportunity that ghost capitalizes on, while introducing the first of his henchman that appear throughout the story: Masta Killa. He sounds awesome and plays right along with the story line. I've always thought Masta Killa was very underrated, although most would argue that he fell off after the success of his debut. He sounds right at home here and flows right into the spoken words of the RZA, who narrates the the album.
4. Blood On The Cobblestone (Feat. U-God & Inspectah Deck)
The song jumps right into our hero in battle, of course ripping apart all enemies. Ghost sounds good and all here, but the real star of the track is U-God. Not because he had the best verse, but because I was so shocked that he actually sounded up to par with his partners. If you're not familiar with baby U, he is unanimously the worst rapper in the wu-tang clan (he's not that bad, its just fun to make fun of U-God). Yeah, Inspectah deck is just as good a fighter as ghost, he kills everyone.
5. The Center Of Attraction (Feat. Cappadona)
After the really long, but weirdly fitting build up, we are finally treated to the words of the Ghostface Killah. At first, this is a regular love song to Ghost's lady friend, an area that he excels in. Ghost is having a great time until Cappadona comes in and try's to convince ghost that she's setting him up and she's part of the rival gang. Cappa sounds pretty good on here and genuinely sounds concerned about ghosts well being. From a musical standpoint, Younges instrumental is awesome and highlights the song.
6. Enemies All Around Me (Feat. William Hurt)
The wise words of Cappadona have taken a tole on Ghostface. He's beyond paranoid and fights with himself on what he should do in regards to his girl. Younge provides another really good instrumental and William Hurt provides a pretty bad hook, but it was still kind of enjoyable. Overall though, this song is only decent and doesn't really contribute to the story of the album. Ehh, next song.
7. An Unexpected Call (The Setup) (Feat. Inspectah Deck)
I'm going to tell you something shocking and you could never tell by the title: Tony Starks is set up by his girlfriend. Word of advice, never doubt the wise words of Cappadona, although I doubt you'd doubt him if you were in a position where he is giving you advice. Anyways, Starks is taken hostage by the rivals gang, killed, and compressed into twelve vinyl discs, one for each member of the family. Yep, halfway through the album the main character is completely dead. We never actually hear it happen, but Deck takes control and explains the situation in a great verse.
8. Rise Of The Ghostface Killah
After the tragic death Tony Starks, he rises again as the *gasp* Ghostface Killah. As great as Ghostface sounds on this beauty, the star is Adrian Younge. His beat is absolutely awesome and is conveniently my favorite of the album. Ghost is going around just wreaking havoc and killing everyone in his way of his journey for redemption. Sadly, this song actually leaked weeks before the album was dropped. I mean c'mon, how are you going to let the climax the damn story leak. Anyways, I highly recommend everyone check out the video to get the full effect.
9. Revenge Is Sweet (Feat. Rza, Inspectah Deck, & Killa Sin)
The Ghostface Killah has risen and now its time to get serious and take out any and everyone. The instrumental matches the tone of the song perfectly. It's haunting and to the point, so this certainly has the blueprint for success. The singing in the first minute in the half are a nice touch that help the overall mood. Along with Ghostface, his army has come to his side as well including Masta Killa, who sounds just as good as he did earlier. After a brief RZA narration, we hear from the criminally under appreciated Killa Sin, who steals the show.
10. Murder Spree (Feat. U-God, Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, & Killa Sin)
And here, we've reached the first "single" of the album. Not sure why exactly they picked this one out of the pack to release as a single, other than the fact that its fucking awesome. Ghost continues his murder spree, hence the name, while Inspectah builds upon his earlier work this year. Best of all Killa Sin appears again, and I have even more good news: he sounds great. Feel free to drop an album or something man, I'll buy it four times. Oh yeah, U-God describes the way he kills his victims in the most vile way possible, but honestly sounds pretty damn good.
11. The Sure Shot (Parts 1 And 2)
Conveniently enough, the other "climax" of the story leaked as well. (Damn you Internet) I've heard numerous people say this sounds like it was performed by the roots, which is extremely accurate and well said. On the first part of the song, ghost is on the verge of taking his final revenge and ultimately finishes off the last of the gang members. The second half of the song is Ghost thinking back on what just happened and where he goes from here. This is done remarkably well, as you can feel the sadness in his voice that he's lost his friends and you start feeling bad for a guy that just come back from the dead and killed multiple people. I'd be committing a crime if I didn't point out the brilliant work done behind the boards by Andrian Young. It's a terrific beat that makes the story all the more clear.
12. Twelve Reasons To Die
And with this title track, we close out the project with a spoken work narration by the RZA until they just let the beat ride out for the rest of the song. This was a great way to end the album and serves much better than an actual rap outro. It has a real cinematic feel to it and you can almost see the credits. (If you actually see the credits, please get checked out or just lay off the acid)
Rating: 4.5/5
Yeah, I just gave this a 4.5. It's possible that I've just gotten caught up in it because its new, but this is easily one of the most entertaining Wu-Tang albums I've heard that has been released in the last two years. Ghostface sounds good as always on hear, but the amazing production provided by Adrian Young and the consistently good feature lift this album to the 4.5 status. Moving forward, I will probably start reviewing the wu-tang solo albums in chronological order. If that happens, stay tuned Method Man fans, Tical is coming up next. There is also the chance that I blow off some steam and just completely destroy the new Kid Cudi album. Either way, its in your best interest to come back for more reviews. Until then, peace.