Ghostface Killah, Apollo Kids
Def Jam

Ghostface Killah treads familiar ground on Apollo Kids, offering few if any hooks or choruses, long-winded sixteen-bar verses that could double as freestyles, and crusty soul loops as an accompaniment. Even the title pays homage to a single from his classic Supreme Clientele. He’s capable of more sophisticated stuff, as fans of past peaks like Fishscale will attest. To spice things up, Ghost recruits street-hop stars like Joell Ortiz, Busta Rhymes, Jim Jones and various Wu-Tang affiliates. Highlights include “Troublemakers,” “Street Bullies” and “Starkology.”

Meth, Ghost and Rae, Wu-Massacre
Def Jam

Okay, so the thirty-minute mini-album Wu-Massacre is something of a rush job, with few developed concepts and no memorable hooks. But who cares? The Wu-Tang triumvirate sticks to what it does best and spits hardcore darts over a crackling set of soul loops. While the results aren’t revelatory, they’re thrilling all the same. Ghostface’s “Pimpin’ Chipp,” where he impersonates a hooker paying tribute to her dead pimp, is a strange highlight. Other songs, such as “Youngstown Heist” and “Criminology 2.5,” seem pockmarked with bellowed threats and blasting gun shots.

You’ve read about it on your favorite blogs and websites. You watched the crazy teaser videos that ripped off the Brad Pitt flick Seven. You downloaded the free MP3s. Now it’s time to wipe away the drool, because the Meth, Ghost & Rae collabo album is coming out.

Set for release via Def Jam on March 30, Wu Massacre is mostly a Wu affair, with production from RZA and Allah Mathematics and guest spots from Inspectah Deck, Streetlife (Remember “PLO Style?”) and Trife. Interestingly, the Rhythm Roots Allstars, who were the backing band on many of those Scion Live mini-tours from a few years ago, and even showed up on Ghost’s The Big Doe Rehab, contribute to a few tracks.

Here’s what the label is calling the “tentative” track listing. I will update it if there are any changes.

• 1. “Criminology 2.5″
• 2. “Mef vs. Chef” (feat. Rhythm Roots Allstars)
• 3. “Ya Moms (Skit)”
• 4. “Smooth Sailing Remix” (feat. Solomon Childs & Streetlife)
• 5. “Our Dreams”
• 6. “Gunshowers” (feat. Inspectah Deck & Sun God)
• 7. “Dangerous” (feat. Rhythm Roots Allstars)
• 8. “Pimpin’ Chipp” (feat. Rhythm Roots Allstars)
• 9. “How To Pay Rent (Skit)” (feat. Tracy Morgan)
• 10. “Miranda”
• 11. “Youngstown Heist” (feat. Trife, Sheek & Bully)
• 12. “It’s That Wu Sh*t”

Part two of three. Somebody call a hearse.

Directed by Rik Cordero.

Part one of three. Please, please don’t let this be another crack rap album. I know the punters love it, but that shit gets boring.

Directed by Rik Cordero. This album doesn’t have a title or a label yet (it will probably be Def Jam), but is tentatively scheduled for December 22.

November 24 update: Nope, it just got pushed back to 2010.

Next week, September 29, Ghostface Killah drops his seventh album (eighth if you include the odds-and-sods collection More Fish), Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. As widely reported, it’s an R&B affair, with appearances by an auto-tunin’ Raheem DeVaughn, John Legend, Lloyd and others. Two singles from the Def Jam release have already hit the internets: “Baby,” which has a classic 90s feel, and the raw dog “Stapleton Sex.”

After the album’s release, Ghost will hit the road for his second tour this year, following a successful run with Meth & Red last summer.

Here’s the track listing:

• 1. Not Your Average Girl (feat. Shareefa)
• 2. Do Over (feat. Raheem “Radio” DeVaughn)
• 3. Baby (feat. Raheem “Radio” DeVaughn)
• 4. Lonely (feat. Jack Knight)
• 5. Stapleton Sex
• 6. Stay
• 7. Paragraphs Of Love (feat. Vaughn Anthony & Estelle)
• 8. Guest House (feat. Fabolous & Shareefa)
• 9. Let’s Stop Playin’ (feat. John Legend)
• 10. Forever
• 11. I’ll Be That (feat. Adrienne Bailon)
• 12. Goner (feat. Lloyd)
• 13. She’s A Killah (feat. Ron Browz)
• 14. Back Like That (feat. Ne-Yo & Kanye West)

And here are the tour dates:

• 9/25: Shoe Biz, San Francisco, CA (afternoon in-store)
• 9/29: Adidas Originals, New York, NY (afternoon in-store)
• 9/30: Hiro Ballroom, New York, NY (MySpace showcase)
• 10/01: Adidas Originals, Washington, DC (afternoon in-store)
• 10/02: Northern Lights, Albany, NY (1)
• 10/03: Adidas Originals, Philadelphia, PA (afternoon in-store)
• 10/03: Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA (1)
• 10/04: Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC (1)
• 10/05: Music Farm, Charleston, SC (1)
• 10/07: Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (1)
• 10/09: Lyrics, Oxford, MS (1)
• 10/10: Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge, LA (1)
• 10/11: Emo’s, Austin, TX (1)
• 10/13: The Rock, Tucson, AZ (1) (2)
• 10/14: Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ (1) (2)
• 10/15: Canes, San Diego, CA (1) (2)
• 10/16: Key Club, Los Angeles, CA (1)
• 10/17: Velvet Jones, Santa Barbara, CA (1)
• 10/19: Club Underground, Reno, NV (1)
• 10/20: Shoe Biz, San Francisco, CA (afternoon in-store)
• 10/20: Slim’s, San Francisco, CA (1) (3)
• 10/21: Arcata Theatre, Arcata, CA (1) (4)
• 10/22: Berbati’s Pan, Portland, OR (1)
• 10/23: Wow Hall, Eugene, OR (1)
• 10/24: Tower Theatre, Fresno, CA (1)
• 10/25: Nightlight Lounge, Bellingham, WA (1)
• 10/28: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT (1)
• 10/29: Belly Up Tavern, Aspen, CO (1)
• 10/30: Bluebird Theatre, Denver, CO (1)
• 10/31: Fox Theater, Boulder, CO (1)
• 11/02: Waiting Room, Omaha, NE (1)
• 11/03: Barrymore, Madison, WI (1)
• 11/04: House of Blues, Chicago, IL (1)
• 11/07: Skully’s, Columbus, OH (1)
• 11/08: Bluebird, Bloomington, IN (1) (5)
• 11/09: Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI (1) (5)
• 11/11: BB King’s, New York, NY (1) (5)
• 11/12: Westcott Theatre, Syracuse, NY (1) (5)
• 11/13: Paradise Lounge, Boston, MA (1)
• 11/14: Asylum, Portland, ME (1)

(1) w/Fashawn
(2) w/Mayer Hawthorne
(3) w/Souls of Mischief, Strong Arm Steady, Deep R.O.O.T.E.D.
(4) w/Ky-mani Marley
(5) w/Blu & Exile

It’s the rap team-up of the summer: Ghostface Killah, Method Man & Redman on the “Footprint of Hip Hop” tour! Actually, all three artists were on Rock the Bells last year; this time Raekwon’s absent (since he’s prepping for the long-overdue release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2). But hey, these dudes got mad classics, Meth & Red just dropped a halfway-decent album, and Ghostface is supposed to drop The Wizard of Poetry in a few months. You gotta love it.

• 7/22: Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
• 7/23: Lincoln Theater, Raleigh, NC
• 7/24: 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
• 7/25: Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
• 7/26: Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT
• 7/29: Ram’s Head Live, Baltimore, MD
• 7/30: Nokia Theater, New York, NY
• 7/31: Lupo’s Heartbreak, Providence, RI
• 8/01: Nectar’s, Martha’s Vineyard, MA
• 8/02: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
• 8/04: Amos’ Southend, Charlotte, NC
• 8/06: House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
• 8/07: House of Blues, Houston, TX
• 8/08: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 8/09: Emo’s, Austin, TX
• 8/11: Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM
• 8/12: Marquee Theater, Phoenix, AZ
• 8/13: House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
• 8/14: Canes, San Diego, CA
• 8/15: House of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
• 8/16: Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA

According to a recent Billboard.com post, Ghostface Killah’s new GhostDeini the Great is an odds-and-sods collection of greatest hits (“Cherchez La Ghost” and “All That is Got Is You”), hard-to-find remixes (“Run” with Lil Wayne and others and “Back Like That” with Kanye West) and new tracks (the intriguing-sounding “Ghostface Christmas”). Unfortunately, it seems that the recently leaked cut “Computer Love” isn’t included. GhostDeini the Great drops via Def Jam on December 16.

• 1. “Slept on Tony”
• 2. “Run (remix)” (feat. Jadakiss, Lil Wayne, Raekwon & Freeway)
• 3. “Kilo (remix)” (feat. Raekwon & Pusha T)
• 4. “Be Easy (remix)” (feat. Ice Cube)
• 5. “Tony Segal (aka Barrel Bros.)” (feat. Styles P & Beanie Sigel)
• 6. “It’s Over”
• 7. “Walk Around”
• 8. “9 Milli Bros.” (feat. Wu-Tang Clan)
• 9. “Mighty Healthy”
• 10. “Apollo Kids”
• 11. “All I Got Is You” (feat. Mary J. Blige)
• 12. “Cherchez La Ghost”
• 13. “Back Like That (remix)” (feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo)
• 14. “Street Opera” (feat. Sun God)
• 15. “You Know I’m No Good” (feat. Amy Winehouse)
• 16. “The Champ (remix)”
• 17. “Ghostface Christmas”

Photo by Daniel Hastings.

Ghostface Killah
The Big Doe Rehab
Def Jam

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Being Ghostface Killah must be a tough schtick for Dennis Coles, who sticks himself in the misery and muck of 80s crack-era street life again and again, only to rise out of the crap with hopeful eyes towards the future. It’s led to diminishing commercial returns, because Ghost hasn’t had a gold album in seven years, ever since the dawn of the Internet piracy era. But it’s also made for some undeniably powerful and emotional music.

The Big Doe Rehab may be his most predictable work to date. Unlike Fishscale, which sounded heavy and rich in its panoply of coke raps, familial homage and environmental fantasias, The Big Doe Rehab is narrowly focused. It seems like every song finds Ghost cooling with his friends or fucking some girl, then running out of the crib to punish his enemies. Nevertheless, the album is a success. thanks to his impeccable musical taste, exploration of familiar crime and redemption themes — he’s truly one of the great hip-hop structuralists of this decade — and spare but effective lyrical performance. Despite its formulaic structure, The Big Doe Rehab dazzles with elements — the guest appearances from various Wu-Tang personnel such as Raekwon and Method Man (minus the RZA, of course), the sharp and dependable musical backdrops — that click in time like a Cartier watch or a currency counter.

Unheralded producers such as Sean C. (a former member of P. Diddy’s Hitmen team), hard techno-turned-rap producer Anthony “Acid” Caputo and even Ghost himself compose The Big Doe Rehab‘s music. “We Celebrate” opens with a Rare Earth sample and a loud Kid Capri scream-a-thon that’s loud enough to make you fast-forward if you actually aren’t at a party, then drops into a nice funk buzz that allows Ghost to deliver his “in da club” manifesto. “Rec-Room Therapy” is built of scraps and bits of live jam sessions, but feels like a classic flute lick from the 70s. The same goes for “Yolanda’s House,” where Houston producer Anthony “Ant-Live” Singleton weaves a dramatic, string-laden beat around Joi Starr’s declarations of “no more.”

The storyline, which centers on Ghostface running wild in the streets, yet hungry for salvation, is a common motif in all his work. On “Shakey Dog Starring Lolita,” where the Rhythm Roots All-Stars compose a mock salsa track, he seemingly dies amidst a hail of bullets from police after winning a gun battle against a murderous lesbian gangster. “I fucked your pussy while you died slow,” he raps. But the album tacks on two extra “bonus” tracks, which allows him to cool out and pay homage to his woman on “Killer Lipstick,” and mull over domesticity on “Slow Down.” As Chrisette Michelle revisits her lovely Billie Holiday impression from Nas’ “Can’t Forget About You,” Ghostface talks big about his lavish life: “First breath of today can be me last, so I flash/Give my niggas some cash, I just pull out the stash/Buy a million-dollar piece like I buy a pack of seeds/You buy .oz’s of haze, I buy a forest of trees.”

Then, as Syience’s balletic, melancholy track winds down, Ghost turns surprisingly reflective, and seemingly answers Michelle’s entreaties to slow down. “I think about it, you know what I mean? Responsibilities, I gotta focus more,” he says. “Start being with the family more, I might live longer, you feel me? .. I’m a take your advice, though.”

As previously announced, Ghostface Killah’s The Big Doe Rehab is on the way, and hits stores December 4 via Def Jam.

Ghostface Killah has been on the road for most of the fall, touring with the Rhythm Roots Allstars and a sundry of opening acts. According to the track listing for The Big Doe Rehab, which hit the Internet last week, he returns the favor by collaborating with the LA funk combo on “!” (Perhaps he’s taking a page from the Brooklyn band !!!) Other guests on the disc include Raekwon, Method Man, Beanie Sigel, Styles P, and Chrissette Michelle. The first single, “We Celebrate,” features mixtape pioneer Kid Capri and is percolating on mix shows nationwide.

The Big Doe Rehab is part of Ghost’s winter attack. In addition to the upcoming Wu-Tang Clan album 8 Diagrams (more on that in a minute), Ghost Dini is finally dropping that book he talked up last year. The World According to Pretty Toney, co-written with J. Brightly and published by MTV Books, comes out on January 8. According to the press release, “Pretty Toney offers nuggets of street wisdom on the key elements to becoming your own personal success story: livin’, hustlin’, lovin’, eatin’, and the all-encompassing Toneology. Coupled with vibrant 4-color photos by renowned photographer Dave Hill that illustrate each pearl of wisdom, these are indispensable life lessons that will become hustler hallmarks for playas everywhere to live by.”

While you chew on those nuggets, check out the track listing for The Big Doe Rehab below.

• 1. “At the Cabana (skit)”
• 2. “Toney Sigel a.k.a. The Barrel Brothers” (feat. Beanie Sigel & Styles P)
• 3. “Yolanda’s House” (feat. Raekwon & Method Man)
• 4. “We Celebrate” (feat. Kid Capri)
• 5. “Walk Around”
• 6. “Yapp City” (feat. Trife & Sun God)
• 7. “White Linen Affair (Toney Awards)” (feat. Shawn Wigs)
• 8. “Supa GFK”
• 9. “Rec-Room Therapy” (feat. Raekwon & U-God)
• 10. “The Prayer”
• 11. “I’ll Die for You”
• 12. “Paisley Darts” (feat. Raekwon, Sun God, Trife, Method Man & Cappadonna)
• 13. “Shakey Dog Starring Lolita” (feat. Raekwon)
• 14. “!” (feat. Rhythm Roots Allstars)
• 15. “Killa Lipstick” (feat. Method Man & Masta Killa)
• 16. “Slow Down” (feat. Chrisette Michele)

Plug One review: Ghostface Killah, More Fish

www.myspace.com/ghostface