Album Review: Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die

Album Grade: B

In the middle of the previous decade, it became in vogue to combine forms of media for mass consumption: Green Day’s American Idiot and Queen’s career (as cataloged in a book by Ben Elton) were adapted for the stage — comic book movies became the hottest Hollywood commodity — musical theater-inspired TV shows hit the airwaves in droves.  In 2013, Ghostface Killah has eliminated the middleman and done it all at once, writing an album based on a comic book that feels like a play and was written with composer Adrian Younge, best known for writing the score of 2009’s cult classic Black Dynamite.

Artist of the Day: Ghostface Killah

It feels a bit blasphemous to single out one member of Wu-Tang Clan as standing above the rest, but when considering Ghostface Killah he proves a case worthy of respect in his own right. From the very first verse of “Bring Da Ruckus” and on, it has been clear that Ghostface was an incredible talent. His penchant for high-energy rapping and precise enunciation makes his verses one of the most recognizable in hip-hop, and they have been for the past 18 years. You see, Ghostface doesn’t take time off. Unlike his colleagues like GZA/Genius and Inspectah Deck, who are known for long breaks in between albums, the one and only GFK has released nine solo albums while still finding time to collaborate on full Wu-Tang clan albums and smaller collaborations like 2010’s Wu-Massacre (Meth, Ghost and Rae).