By David Sutherland for
SarcasticDBag.Blogspot.comGhostface's R&B album is surprisingly good but Fishscale it ain't.To be fair, when I say an album is "surprisingly good" I really mean I'm pleasantly surprised that the record isn't absolute shit. For example, I expected Kanye West's
808s and Heartbreak to be absolute shit and I was very happy to discover that only half of it was. What made
808s and Heartbreak all the more soul-crushing
however was that 'Ye managed to end his streak of releasing album after album of top-notch hip-hop. Unfortunately for Ghostface, the same thing has happened with
Wizard of Poetry, and his well-intentioned but blandly executed foray into the world of R&B falls short of the bar he's raised with his last 4 albums.
Thankfully though, only a quarter of this record is shit.
Wizard of Poetry starts off strong with the hard hitting "Not Your Average Girl" and the soulful "Do Over". The album reaches its R&B peak with the potential crossover hit "Baby" featuring Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn and the song is such a well crafted and catchy marriage of hip-hop and R&B that it's hard to believe it isn't hovering near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 right now.
As an R&B record however, the rest of the album heads down hill very quickly. Although Jack Knight makes "Lonely" a truly genuine tune and Ghost's chemistry with John Legend on "Let's Stop Playing" is very pleasant to the ears, watered-down throwaways like "Goner", "Forever" and "I'll Be That" make it hard to accept Ghostface as someone truly devoted to R&B.
I mean jeez Ghost, it was hard enough to stomach just the thought of you doing an R&B album to begin with.
The harder, more "Wu-like" songs on the album also fail miserably and although "Stapleton Sex" is exactly what you'd expect to hear on an R&B album from a member of the Shaolin, listening to Ghost go into detail about committing some of the grimiest of sex-acts makes you long for the cheesy rhymes of Lil Wayne who'd rather "filet mignon that pussy" than "suck that dick, spit on it, slobber that shit".
The absurdity of "Stapleton Sex" is only surpassed by the commercial aspirations of the wannabe club banger "She's A Killah". The Auto-Tune heavy "Killah" which features the "Ether Boy" Ron Browz is standard club fare in the same way that rum and Coke is: played out and destined to give you a hangover.
The problem with
Wizard of Poetry is that the album has the same effect as a really good mixtape: it preps you for the real deal. But in this case, the real deal was
released 3 weeks ago by Raekwon, and in a month of excellent hip-hop releases for once Ghostface has ended up at the bottom of the pile.
Don't "Cherchez La Ghost".
Strong Points:
- "Baby" featuring Raheem "Radio" Devaughn is flawless R&B rap.
- "Guest House" featuring Fabolous is classic Ghostface material.
- John Legend and Ghost prove to be a potent combination on "Let's Stop Playing".
Notable Blemishes:
- "Stapleton Sex" is just plain gross and "She's A Killah" is a pathetic attempt at creating a club banger.
- "I'll Be That" sounds like a Ja Rule tune. That can't possibly be a good thing.
Headphones or Speakers:- This one sounds better on headphones. You might want to bump "Baby" and "Let's Stop Playing" on the system though.
Final Verdict:
6.7/10Wizard of Poetry is definitely worth a listen or two, but the album doesn't have a strong enough presence to warrant a purchase. If you want to listen to good R&B rap, stick to Drake. If you want to hear Ghostface at his finest, spend your money on Raekwon's
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt 2.
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