Ghostface Killah - More Fish
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www.lostatsea.net Rating: 0
Ghostface Killah has a problem; he has set the bar really, really high for himself. Other than the minor stumble of his occasionally inconsistent 2001 album, Bulletproof Wallets, Ghostface has made album after album loaded with seemingly insane lyrics, stiletto sharp flows and top notch production. Unfortunately with his latest venture, More Fish, Mr. Killah may have finally put his name on an album that is unworthy of mention alongside the rest of his discography.
The first track on More Fish serves as a perfect example of the album's sharply contrasting qualities. The intro is a retarded skit about a New Year's Eve party gone wrong. Then, suddenly, we are treated to Ghost flowing over a sample of the Eric B. and Rakim classic "Juice (Know The Ledge)." Ghost knocks the track out of the park and proves, once again, that he has not fallen off as so many of his peers in the Wu-Tang Clan have. The record's weak points don't come directly from Ghost but rather from the tedious list of guest MCs and lame skits that turn More Fish into something akin to a hip-hop rummage sale - a few gems mixed in with a lot of crap.
Pitchforkmedia.com's Ryan Dombal got it right when he noted in his review that More Fish is actually a follow-up to last year's Theodore Unit album 718: Official Mixtape, as opposed to Ghostface's Fishscale; members of Theodore Unit appear on well over half the tracks on More Fish. The thing to be understood about Theodore Unit is that, like any crew, there is a charismatic lieutenant (Trife), a dangerous heavy (Solomon Childs) and a Scrappy-Doo type who seems a bit too big for his britches (Shawn Wigs). Needless to say, such a variation in personalities and talent leads to a lot of distraction and T-Unit's overbearing presence on More Fish ultimately undermines the album's focus. Which is not to say that Trife doesn't deliver or that all the guest spots are bad. In fact, there is a hilarious return to form by Dirty Jersey's own Redman on a track called "Greedy Bitches," and in another standout British siren Amy Winehouse channels Shirley Bassey and belts out a gorgeous chorus on "You Know I'm No Good."
Musically speaking, More Fish is fairly solid. Madlib, MF Doom, Hi-Tek and Fantom of the Beats (whose track "Blue Armor" is a showstopper) supply Ghostface with a steady stream of interesting sounds to flow over. The album's first single, "Good," is a skimpy little piece of pop fluff that pales in comparison to burners like the unsettling "Guns N' Razors" and the grimy "Street Opera." The production is solid but still not much when compared to either Fishscale or the Ghostface masterwork Supreme Clientele.
When it comes down...
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