In the dawn of the "gangsta rap" era, when Dr. Dre, 2pac, and Snoop Dogg were getting all the attention, airplay, and accolades that come with ushering in a new style and putting their West Coast brand on hip hop, something else was happening. On the other side of the country, a group from Staten Island, New York known as the Wu-Tang Clan were emerging with their own sound as well. While their album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) didn't achieve the same commercial success as their Western counterparts, they were no less influencial. What they did was make hip-hop underground again. For every 100 times they played a Dr. Dre video on Mtv you might get one showing of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." at 3 am, if you were lucky. With 9 members and an honorary quasi-member in Cappadonna, you got a sense that someone should have come to the forefront and shown everyone who was the best out of all of them. While RZA had the producing chops, GZA releasing one of the greatest hip-hop albums of the 90's with Liquid Swords, Ol' Dirty Bastard being goofy and comical, Method Man with his signature voice, someone had to step up and be the best. In their solo projects and offshoots someone needed to shine, and 2 of the members stepped up to take that distinction; Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Just as luck would have it, when Ghostface Killah released his first solo album Ironman he took Raekwon and Cappadonna along for the ride with him. It has his name on it but it doesn't feel so much a solo effort as a collaborative effort between the best minds the group had to offer. A few great albums and several forgettable ones followed and he has returned triumphantly with Apollo Kids. The album is classic Ghostface, classic Wu-Tang offshoot as noisy, raw, and gritty as the city they hail from. It's strange listening to someone you grew up listening to make references to iPhones and Barack Obama, a guy who stepped out of a time machine and started waxing poetic about the world, like a caveman driving a Prius. As strange as it is, it works beautifully. His signature basslines, soul samples, and blaxploitation guitars are present throughout the album (along with his mysogyny). Cappadonna and Raekwon make appearances as well, along with Busta Rhymes and The Game. It's like a class reunion where you actually look forward to the people you haven't seen in a while getting together again. That being said I had a blast listening to this album and getting to know the gang again. The song "In The Park" is the highlight of the album for me, the fuzzy guitar and olympic, ostentatious rapping is as classic Ghostface as you can get, the foundation laid down and built back up again. My only complaint is the length of the album, 12 songs, barely 40 minutes in length. When the last song "Troublemakers" is over, after Raekwon and Method Man have brought you back to 1993, you half expect another song to start, yet it leaves silence and wanting. After the last few forgettable releases this is definitely is a great way to start over. For what the album lacks in length it makes up for in breadth and intensity. I give this album a 4.5 out of 5.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Review: Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids
In the dawn of the "gangsta rap" era, when Dr. Dre, 2pac, and Snoop Dogg were getting all the attention, airplay, and accolades that come with ushering in a new style and putting their West Coast brand on hip hop, something else was happening. On the other side of the country, a group from Staten Island, New York known as the Wu-Tang Clan were emerging with their own sound as well. While their album Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) didn't achieve the same commercial success as their Western counterparts, they were no less influencial. What they did was make hip-hop underground again. For every 100 times they played a Dr. Dre video on Mtv you might get one showing of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." at 3 am, if you were lucky. With 9 members and an honorary quasi-member in Cappadonna, you got a sense that someone should have come to the forefront and shown everyone who was the best out of all of them. While RZA had the producing chops, GZA releasing one of the greatest hip-hop albums of the 90's with Liquid Swords, Ol' Dirty Bastard being goofy and comical, Method Man with his signature voice, someone had to step up and be the best. In their solo projects and offshoots someone needed to shine, and 2 of the members stepped up to take that distinction; Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. Just as luck would have it, when Ghostface Killah released his first solo album Ironman he took Raekwon and Cappadonna along for the ride with him. It has his name on it but it doesn't feel so much a solo effort as a collaborative effort between the best minds the group had to offer. A few great albums and several forgettable ones followed and he has returned triumphantly with Apollo Kids. The album is classic Ghostface, classic Wu-Tang offshoot as noisy, raw, and gritty as the city they hail from. It's strange listening to someone you grew up listening to make references to iPhones and Barack Obama, a guy who stepped out of a time machine and started waxing poetic about the world, like a caveman driving a Prius. As strange as it is, it works beautifully. His signature basslines, soul samples, and blaxploitation guitars are present throughout the album (along with his mysogyny). Cappadonna and Raekwon make appearances as well, along with Busta Rhymes and The Game. It's like a class reunion where you actually look forward to the people you haven't seen in a while getting together again. That being said I had a blast listening to this album and getting to know the gang again. The song "In The Park" is the highlight of the album for me, the fuzzy guitar and olympic, ostentatious rapping is as classic Ghostface as you can get, the foundation laid down and built back up again. My only complaint is the length of the album, 12 songs, barely 40 minutes in length. When the last song "Troublemakers" is over, after Raekwon and Method Man have brought you back to 1993, you half expect another song to start, yet it leaves silence and wanting. After the last few forgettable releases this is definitely is a great way to start over. For what the album lacks in length it makes up for in breadth and intensity. I give this album a 4.5 out of 5.
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