Anticipate Ghostface's "Apollo Kids"

ghostface isnt even worth arguing about in 2010

There's definitely something to be said for reliability. Digging this so far.

Seriously, Ghost rap's Mark E Smith in so many ways, fuck the haters

^^^^

yet to extract the rar but the analogy basically parses afaict

Love the bit on "Drama" about Raekwon watching Rachel Ray

also: loooove "Starkology" and its total 1985 vibe: the "Shout" sample, the Rick Rubin-LL scratches and vibe.

Yeah, that and "in The Park" is obv the sweet spot for me

used "vibe" twice haha. I'm drunk.

the first track sounds great

nae fuckin about w/ ghost

it was driving me crazy for a while, but i think it's the first song that shares some sampled UHH!s with the pete rock/kanye/jay thing the joy. just in case anyone else is butting their head against a wall trying to work out why so familiar

lol Ghost sampling Asha Bhosle!!!

he obv just throws this shit out & doesnt really care about it

I don't think this is true of the Wizard of Poetry one, that had a definitely consistent vibe/cohesion to it

i actually think wizard of poetry is one of his less cohesive albums. but i don't see this as a problem with ghost's work in general, at all. not sure how sticking devoutly to the same basic aesthetic, album after album after album, equals "not caring"...

Wizard of Poetry = all about women.

thought this was pretty clear/obvious...?

yeah, i wasn't thinking of the album's subject matter. wouldn't disagree with you there obviously. i meant more that the quality of the individual tracks was more hit-or-miss for me than most of ghost's albums, imo.

well the two before are big doe rehab and more fish so i wouldn't agree

"Stapleton Sex" "Stay" "Paragraphs of Love" "Guest House" "Let's Stop Playin'" <--great run on Wizard imo

on first listen this seems like more of a slapped-together affair in the vein of More Fish and Big Doe Rehab to me

rating this as just okay - best tracks (Ghetto, Troublemakers) are towards the end. kinda lacking in the storytelling dept, which is usually one of Ghost's strong points

Love the chop of this on Starkology:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k0T2UiRaps

At like 1:05

Purified Thoughts is amazing.

But Ghetto really isn't.

Amazon mp3 download only $5. Sold!

I actually really like this. It feels like the most consistent since Fishscale to me. I do miss the more narrative Ghost songs, but this is really fun. I love the production, so many great sample sources. The opening pair and the closing pair are the huge standouts (especially love the Roy Ayers sample on "Superstar"), but it does have some weak spots - lol @ that Jim Jones verse.

I bought my copy today to help the cause, but a dozen listens later and this is second-tier.

I think this is pretty kickarse

pfork review probably otm

yeah, i didn't read it, but 6.5-7.5 seems the right range for this

eh Pfork review runs pretty contrary to my evaluations of his last half dozen albums

do u think they're all great or something?

no they aren't ALL great. but Ghostdini is great. better than this album

like Big Doe Rehab is a totally slapped together, half-assed affair, I can't remember if anything at all on it is particularly worthwhile, but the latest Pfork review seems pretty muddled - I'm not sure what they want from Ghost. For him to not "try so hard" to crossover and go back to all RZA beats or something? I don't quite get it.

"Walk Around"? "Yolanda's House"?

btw I think this record is as good as BDR (i.e. in the B+-B range).

oh yeah Walk Around, that one's great. is Yolanda's House the one where the woman's kids throw the guy out the window? that song is crazy.

oh the Shakey Dog cut on BDR is good too.

in conclusion, even his worst stuff has awesome bright spots.

ah I was thinking of "Maxine"

In Pam's house there was money missing
She was too dumb, had her nose numb, sniffin blow in the kitchen
Her kids never ate, PCW involved with her
Kids that she never seen shipped through to Florida
Maxine dark skinned and bal' headed bitch mean
Pams right here together they're the coldest fiends
Ah! Shit! Guess who arrived at the door
it's Moony the supplier swung open the door
Bitch open the door, Maxine he go'n kill me
Chill I got a friend cop, girl you don't know it's beef
Three long kicks the hinges flew off
Kids sreamin' they happy faced slapped blue, Maxine head off
It's on in the crib, you wrong for what you did
"You gonna pay Pam, fuck that boo kissed your kids
Y'all get the fuck in the room, fuck you, you ain't are real Daddy
Next time you see my caddy don't fucking flag me
[R] This is where he fucks up at peep his movement
Maxine's in the kitchen crying grits is falling on the side
She had a cup of lye, somebody gots to die
Uh huh, y'all bitches fucked up, smoked out my packages
You had Mackie shit and Pappy shit?

Word to Aunt May I want mine, pulled out the nine
Get in the tub, he seen the hot iron pulled the plug out
He steamed Pam brought it back to Penny on Good Times
Back in the dollar bill he sniffed like six lines
He put his Gat down, why he do that?
Creeping through the crib is Maxine pot holdin' down with the grits
Pam sucking his dick, Maxine Al Greened him screaming slipped in piss
He ran into Ceas' room, grits down cryin' aight with his balls out
He stepped on Clarences' Biggie Smalls album
Mooney get that niggaz, Pam yelling rip that niggaz
Mooney went and got that dye out the kitchen
James jumped on Moon, poked him with a screw driver
Broke the TV Niggaz watching Knight Rider

This is Pam Jerkins mother house the same shit go on in her brother house

You know Mooney is only a buck o'five wet
he only had two hundred dollars worth of shit
And the kids tore his ass up, the Ceas had a huddle up
I felt sorry for'm, the funny shit when bowlegged Keke hopped on 'im
Jumped on him pigeon toed Moony poured dye on him
You should've seen his motherfuckin' face fryin', half dyin'
They stuck a fork through his nuts
the little girl was happy she beat the brotha up
Quick pick the window up Mooney over heard
Right before they threw him out the Nigga said Word!?!

On the count of three he landed on the first floor balcony
Blood brains splashed.. he was dead? and the cops never came
That's Stapleton

All, all, all in together now
We getting fresh getting right for the weather now
And if we fall in the game, yo that's never now
Come to my projects and we'll air you out

maxine is off bulletproof wallets

pfork review otm but the rating doesnt match the general lack of enthusiasm in the review -- would think 5.0-5.5 based on the words alone

yeah bit of a disconnect there

I do agree with most of it; Cohen's one of my favorite hip-hop critics.

i thought most of it was cocksure babble

like why would anyone not hear anything since supreme clientele and then be shocked by wizard? why is this presented like it actually happened? is the residue of the years in the interim really tush, back like that & back like that remix? and so on

wonder what deej thought of like every place in the world who reviewed this bfore his place of work did and he revived the thread lol

Well, those are his biases. Cohen doesn't like R&B, never has.

He doesn't throw his darts sideways anymore, but without sort of bullshit clutter, he's still an incredibly ostentatious lyricist, just one that's easier to parse.

UNLIKE U THEN ooo burn hi 5

yeh that's what's i was thinking tbh, like it's fine to not like wizard just say so, no need for bizarro universalist narrative

I kind of hate contemporary R&B too but Ghostdini's take on it appealed to me (which I elaborated on on the Ghostdini thread iirc)

anyway "all-r&b" is more press release than reality for wizard

i have no interest in hearing this record so im not gonna weigh in in his defense

why'dja bring it up then

i no longer harbor any fantasies of being a paid music editor anymore but in the event of some fluke, consider this an open invite for zvookster to write for me anytime

i think the main problem we're having w/ yer argument (and everyone correct me if i'm wrong) is that there's a level of cynicism that you're insisting we should have when a successful major label rapper starts working with undie cats. To you that pandering, to most of us in 2006 that seemed novel and interesting. Intentional or not, taking that stance has an aura of "Get on my level."

That being said, I don't think the swisha/jazze/nep producer soup analogy fits because I can name 100 records from 2004-2007 that sounded like that and only ONE major label record that was fucking with Doom/Dilla/Pete Rock all in one swoop. Even when Busta would throw a Dilla song an an album it felt like a one-off.

I mean, Ghost could have easily gone the Method Man route and released Tical 5 Million-Billion with shitty producers all day. It wasn't pandering, it was a gamble that paid off. I mean, I think that Rae and Masta Killa albums leaning a lil more tru school these days has to do with the fact that Fishscale made it work.

i dont see how it made i work -- it went styrofoam. and the end result for rae is the same as it was for ghost -- pfork fest and rock the bells performance slots. ghost was already a waning major label rapper at this point, so i dont see the 'gamble' -- it seems to me that the production lineups on 'SC' and pretty toney were 'braver' for not using established brand names at all. and obviously major labels werent messing with doom/dilla/pete rock, i was saying this was the indie equivalent -- get the biggest producers in indie hip hop on your record & that crowd will blindly rep for it. (not saying you are doing this, but this is why im cynical about it -- that plus just not liking the end product)

alright ive clarified enough, out for real now lol

c u in 20 min

ha

when most major label rappers are on the wane they usually 1) try to rack up as many guest spots and R&B hooks as possible 2) Get as many people who can make fake, cheap versions of what made them hot. I wouldn't say it's "brave" that the new Sheek Louch album has beats by nobodys like Darius "Phonix" Barnes.

I mean, it's RARE that waning major label dude turns into an alterna-rap weirdo. The list is like, what, Masta Ace?

I mean it all comes down to Ghost's motivations, which we don't know and will never know. I personally think that 80s-bred Ghost was feeling the tense/trebly/cassette-damaged sounds of Dilla/Doom/Rock at the time. You think he was rubbing his hands together with some weird conspiracy to get pocket money from Fat Beats klingons who were already fucking with him.

I also recommend that deej stop using abbreviations and write in full sentences, to avoid everyone asking for clarification.

laugh out loud

aaaaanyway re: Apollo Kids

Troublemakers is the best track on here. Ghetto, Purified Thoughts, Superstar are all pretty good. then there's a bunch of half-assed filler. everybody agrees abt Handcuffin Them Hoes.

the end

"Purified Thoughts" and "Starkology" are my picks. Cohen was right about Black Thought scorching Ghost on "n tha Park"

http://bigghostnahmean.blogspot.com/2011/02/ayo-charlet-duboc-how-you-doin-boo-boo.html

Ayo whattup baby baby! This Big Ghost aka the black Tony Orlando transmittin live to yalls from the island of Staten nahmean. Ayo thanks for the love namsayin. The god is crazy touched by the tribute ya showin a nigga nahmean. Word is bond. Ayo but to keep shit real the god aint really mean no disrespect to the delicate nigga Drake or nothin like that namsayin. But at the same times a nigga gon speak his mind n shit nahmean. Word. Aint no secret that the nigga soft as baby shit namsayin. The nigga be makin Usher look like Kimbo Slice or some shit. The god aint expose the nigga tenderness or nothin that wasnt already shit the public knew bout nahmean. Aint like the god blew the nigga spot up like that. Word. Wasnt like hood niggas was talkin like ayo the nigga Drake a wildcard nigga dont nobody disrespect that nigga or he gon slap the fuckin veins out ya head nahmean. Wasnt like niggas was livin in fear of the corny nigga. Nah nah nah nah muthafuckas knew the nigga was a Calgon nigga from the jump. Muthafuckas could see the nigga was a Charmin nigga nahmean. You put that nigga between two graham crackers n stick him next to a campfire n the nigga gon turn to a smore n shit nahmeans. You slap the nigga five n he gon moisturize ya palms nahmean. I seen pictures of the nigga in the pillow aisle at JC Penny namsayin. Word bond. The nigga breath probably smell like baby powder namsayin. Nigga prolly cry tears of honey n shit. Word. Aint like the god let the cats out they bags n shit. Niggas was well aware he a styrofoam nigga from day 1 namsayin. The nigga prolly rock mittens when he hold a cold drink namsayin. Yalls already know the niggas pedigree. Nigga prolly got the mirror wit the little light bulbs surroundin it in his bathroom. He a fragile nigga. The nigga tender. You squeeze the nigga n Chanel no. 5 gon come out the nigga nostrils namsayin. The nigga manufactured by Gund n shit. Ayo the god aint make none the shit up. Nahmean. Aint like the god gone out his way to convince muthafuckas that the nigga soft. Nah the nigga need to worry bout hisself n not worry bout what Deini sayin nahmean. Nigga go film Ice Age 4 n dont worry bout the god namsayin. Do YOU nigga. But at the same time the god aint mean no harm like that nahmean. The god wish the nigga the utmost success n shit. Word.
Aight peace.

hahahahaha

You put that nigga between two graham crackers n stick him next to a campfire n the nigga gon turn to a smore n shit nahmeans.

^^^Best part.

You slap the nigga five n he gon moisturize ya palms nahmean.

they did wiz too

Ayo whattup this Deini the Wally Champ namsayin aka Stapleton’s Finest. Ayo I aint really got no problems wit the nigga Wizz Kalifrah nahmeans. Matter fact I aint really know who the nigga was til bout 5 minutes ago n shit namsayin. But yo jus so i aint step on this nigga toes or nothin like that…cos the god sincerely wish the little nigga the utmost success n alla that but yo Imma hafta keep it really 100 wit yalls. This Roll Up shit kinda soft namsayin. By that a nigga mean you could probably rock a cryin baby to sleep wit this shit nahmeans. This some shit for the nurseries n shit namsayin. Ayo a nigga listen to this shit at the wrong time n he liable to start hangin one them posters wit the little babies dressed like animals n vegetables n shit on they walls. A nigga might go cop one them calendars wit the kittens dressed up like they firemen n hang that shit in the hallway namsayin. Ayo this shit be like the shit yall hear in Calgon commercials n shit. Shit sounds like it was produced by muthafuckin Yanni or some shit. Nigga soundin like he gon get muthafuckin Enya n Barbra Streisand to jump on the remix n shit. This like some shit they play in the room when bitches be givin birth n shit. What niggas supposed to do with this shit light candles n soak in a tub by they fuckin selves n shit? Nahmeans. Bitches gon think they can slap a nigga around if they hear a nigga knockin this shit voluntarily n shit. Word bond. A nigga gon grow titties listenin to this kinds a shit. Ayo muthafuckin Lubriderm called n wanna know if they can bottle ya soft ass song nigga. Muthafuckin Hostess wanna know if they can use ya soft ass song to fill Twinkies n shit. Fuck outta here wit this shit nigga. Ayo word bond Staten island niggas dont play this shit son nahmeans. Word. Ayo we punch the sidewalk when we happy nigga. Thats a good day nigga! Ayo we eat broken glass when we in a good mood nigga! Thats real talk. Niggas be shootin at each other when we be sayin hi to each other to keep niggas sharp. We test each others reflexes n keep niggas on they toes n shit nahmeans! Thats love nigga. Thats real family values muthafucka! Yall soft serve niggas dont know nothin bout that. This some shit for niggas to braid they other niggas hair to. Word.Aight peace.

poll

cool Sunday-morning-while-watching-Barefoot-Contessa thread.

Nahmean

Couple bum tracks aside i feel like this was ghost's last good solo album (i do like wu block tho)