About Stefan Halley
Location: Malmo, Sweden
Occupation: Editor-in-Chief
Bio: Stefan has been writing reviews for seven years and started Pop Syndicate out of need to voice his mis-guided opinion.
Posts: 719
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Sure the Wu Tang Clan might not be putting out much music these days. Their last album 8 Diagrams was met with mixed reviews. The good news is that with so many members, fans of Wu Tang are guaranteed to find at least one of the members putting out something new at any given moment. One of the most prolific of the Wu Tang has been Ghostface Killah. His seventh album is one of his best and shows why he’s one of the top MC’s out there.
The Big Doe Rehab is a kind of concept album as Ghostface finds himself in rehab trying to get over his addiction to money. Of course the only cure is more doe. Basically he’s saying that once you’re in the game, you’re always in the game and there is no way out, only up or down. The Big Doe Rehab takes us on a music journey though the highs and lows of the hustle. Ghostface brings his strong rhymes and soulful tracks once again.
That’s not to say he’s exploring any new territory here. Songs about drugs, women and violence permeate the CD but Ghostface is able to take it past the mundane lyrics that have plagues so many rap CDs over the past few years. The party anthem “We Celebrate” is a light bouncy dance track and one of the lighter moments on the CD. “Walk Around” picks up after the violence of shots ringing out. He deals with the horrors of coming to copes with a violent shooting and how the blood won’t wash out. It’s a sobering account.
The rest of the album has Ghostface bouncing between street life and being a successful MC. Unlike 50 Cent, who desperately wants to maintain his hard life image while making millions, Ghostface has come to terms with his success and while we don’t believe he’s out banging in the hood at night, when he tells the stories they feel real, not manufactured.
The Big Doe Rehab works because Ghostface isn’t afraid to show the flaws of rap music. With today’s rap artist, their music has become about cheap clichés. Ghostface takes those clichés and holds them up to the light to show that there is more to them. The Big Doe Rehab raises the bar that others can hope to lift their game up to.
Damn, didn’t I just buy a Ghost album around this time last year? Looks like I gotta drop more “doe” on another Ghost CD but a Ghost CD is worth it. So where does this rank as far as Ghost albums go? Bottom of list: Bulletproof Wallets (the only Ghost album I sold, though it’s not a terrible CD); top of list: Ironman.
It depends on how you feel about his last album. It’s about on the same level as that one.
Who’d have thought Ghostface would be the only Wu member to put out consistently good solo albums?
Well, GZA puts out good stuff but only every twenty years or so! And when Wu first came out who was gettin’ all the props? M-E-T-H-O-D...Man. And I haven’t bought a Meth album since ‘98 and will probably never buy another one.
Ghost, consistently puts it down!