This is a revitalization on par with Loretta Lynn working with Jack White, except Adrian Younge and Dennis Coles are only separated by less than a decade. The RZA gets Executive Production on the forthcoming collabo between Ghostface and the damager behind Venice Dawn, but the aesthetic is clearly drawn straight out of Younge’s blend of analog Wu, Morricone, and Portishead. It’s a reminder how heavily the sound itself affected the original impact of the Clan. One reason why Raekwon has continued to be effective over the last few years is that he returned to the slanguistics, Shaolin clips and dusted crackle. Ghost has been rhyming over exhausted soul samples and Statik Selektah-like beats since Wizard of Poetry.
The lyrics on “The Rise of the Ghostface Killah” stay on the black superhero tip that Tony has been doing for the last five years. This isn’t a return to “Shakey Dog” narrative or “Gihad,” but more a return to the bell-ringing and orchestral strings that he started with. He’s doing classic RZA better than 2013 RZA can do classic RZA and it works as well as we could’ve expected. Maybe better. Then there are the scratches: this is the return of the Ghostface Killah. No argument here.
Track below the jump.
