As any serious hip-hop fanatic has noticed by now, the end of 2014 will be a period of a true Wu renaissance if things goes down as planned. Not only are we getting the first Wu-Tang Clan album ("A Better Tomorrow") since 2007:s "8 Diagrams", we've also recently heard new mixtapes from Raekwon and Inspectah Deck, with several generals working on official solo albums - including GZA, Raekwon, Method Man and of course Ghostface Killah. The latter is preparing an LP called "36 Seasons", a collection of fourteen songs of Ghost weaving stories and fierce rhymes over soulful backdrops co-produced and performed by Wu-Tang favorites The Revelations ("Wu-Tang Chamber Music", "Legendary Weapons", "The Man With The Iron Fist: Soundtrack"). The project will be released on the relaunched Tommy Boy imprint on December 9, and also includes co-production from Fizzy Womack and The 45 King as well as lyrical contributions by Kool G Rap, AZ, Tre Williams, Rell and more. Yesterday we heard a six minutes sampler, mixed by DJ 7L, and judging from that "36 Seasons" should be another GFK sure shot.
Personally Ghostface has always held a special spot for me as an artist, all the way back when I was 12 and fell in love with hip-hop and Wu-Tang in particular, Ghost quickly became one of my top 3 emcees of all time and since then he has stayed there. It's pretty much impossible to say who the greatest of all time is, but I'd still go out and say that for me the holy trinity are Nas, Rakim, and Ghostface Killah. To me all three of them are so much more than your average rapper, they are artists in the truest sense of the word. The aforementioned trio's mic presence and writing is simply out of this world - they got a myriad of flows with an enormous knack for playing with words and rhymes, have enormous longevity, are incredible influential in the hip-hop world, put on great live shows and especially in the case of Nas and GFK they have an almost endless catalouge of brilliant albums and guest features/unreleased joints. I've done a gang of compilations of Rakim and Nas on The Lost Tapes before, and though I've done a Wu comp or two, I have never actually specialized in one for GFK. And with two albums featuring him heavily just around the corner, what better way to celebarete that fact than with a compilation showcasing his more recent guest verses and solo/non-album singles released over the last couple of years or so. Entitled "Still Killin' It", the 20 tracks collection is a 70+ minutes excursion into the mind and the world of the Masked Assassin. As usual a lot of thought has gone into the sequencing so I strongly recommend giving this a thorough front-to-back listen. At least that's what I do until December 9 is here.
Recorded between 2011 and 2014, the compilation showcases Ghost in a myriad of settings, from hardcore sounding hip-hop joints, solo tracks, back-to-back rhyming with some of the true greats, more R&B flavored joints, Ghost over live instrumentation, and more. Producers, performers and vocalists featured on "Still Killin' It" are producers, instrumentalists and guest vocalists including Killah Priest, RZA, eLzhi, Raekwon, Danny Brown, KanYe West/Pusha T, Kool G Rap, Flume, Childish Gambino, Inspectah Deck, 7L, Mobb Deep, Havoc, Killah Priest, Inspectah Deck, Snowgoons, True Master, Shyheim, Cormega, Mathematics, and even French Soulkast. An interesting thing is that I included the three tracks from the 7" single that Ghost recently released with musicians and producers BadBadNotGood. This single was supposed to be a prequel to a full-length collaboration between the Wu General and the jazz trio to come out on February 16 via LEX and titled "Sour Soul". Let's hope this does not get lost in the shuffle now that the The Revelations proect is coming. However, it would be too dope to have three consecutive Ghost albums with different live bands (Adrian Younge/Venice Dawn, The Revelations, BadBadNotGood). We'll just have to wait and see, but luckily Dennis Coles is a very prolific guy so I doubt there will be any lack of sick Ghost verses while we wait, so here we go with (perhaps) the first volume of Ghostface Killah's "Still Killin' It". Tune In, Turn Up and Press play!
02. Ghostface Killah & BadBadNotGood - "Six Degrees"
03. Ghostface / Raekwon / Kool G Rap - "Rivers of Blood"
04. KanYe West / Pusha T / Ghostface Killah "New God Flow"
05. Flume / Ghostface Killah - "Space Cadet"
06. Ghostface Killah - "Savagely Attack"
07. Czarface (INS / 7L / Esoteric) / Ghostface Killah - "Savageky Attack"
08. Mobb Deep / Ghostface Killah - "Dirt: Remix"
09. SoulKast / Ghostface Killah - "Worldwide"
10. Killah Priest / Ghostface Killah / Inspectah Deck- "Devotion to the Saints"
11. Aspectz / Ghostface Killah / Cody Coyiote - "What You Get Now"
12. Snowgoons / Ghsostface Kiillah / Pusha T / Swisha T - "The Cypher"
13. True Master / Ghostface Killah / Inspectah Deck - "Strong Arm"
14. Hanz On / Ghostface Killah / Inspectah Deck - "City Lights"
15. Josh Osho / Ghostface Killah - "Redemption Days" [RZA Remix]
16. J-Love / Cormega / Ghostface Killah - "Glorified Excellence"
17. Ghostface Killah / Inspectah Deck / Sheek Louch - "Bust Shots"
18. Ghostface / Inspectah Deck / Raekwon / Method Man - "4 Horsemen"
19. Ghostface Killah & BadBadNotGood - "Gunshowers"
20. Ghostface Killah & BadBadNotGood - "Tony's Rap" [Instrumental Outro]
GHOSTFACE KILLAH - "Still Killin' It"
Mad dope compilation that shows GFK is still relevant in the game. Comp flows really well. Thanks!
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