GHOSTFACE KILLAH – THE DISCOGRAPHY

                          
                Click artwork to watch 'Baby' - feat. Rasheem DeVaughn video

On September 29 2009 Ghostface Killah will be releasing his eight (8) solo offering entitled ‘Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City.’ Ghost promises that this album would be mainly inspired by R&B influences. Rumor has it the Ne-Yo, Joseci, Jon Legend and another host of R&B singers are featured on the album. The first single is an auto-tone love song entitled ‘Baby’ – Rasheem DeVaughn.' As of now it’s been suggested that this will be a laid back album. 

Many hip hop fans think they are knowledgeable about this respected and highly influential rapper. But do they know that before Wu Tang Clan Ghostface Killah grew up without his father since age six (6) in Staten Island’s infamous Stapleton Housing Projects in New York? Do they really know that more than often it is unavoidably necessary for them to fish out the lollipop rap CDs they’re listening to in their Ipods to replace it for something really urban and from someone who has truly influenced all of hip hop’s traditions? On the streets he goes by the names Ghost Dini aka Sparky Love aka P. Tone aka Pretty Tony aka Ironman aka Tony Starks or Ghost for short. And Ghostface Killah is a name he derived from the kung fu movie ‘ Mystery of Chessboxing’.

                            
                   Click artwork for ‘All That I Got Is You’ - feat. Mary J Blidge

Ghost was one of the key factors to the success of  Wu Tang Clan’s Debut album entitled Enter The Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers). With that steam fuming, Pretty Toney set off into a solo music career. His debut album was a hip hop classic on all accounts, entitled ‘Ironman’. This 1996 rap album had the streets on fire. Even the most bias hip hop critics praised the album for the knowledge that was encapsulated within it.

It reached number
two (2)
on the billboards 200 charts at a time when Tupac’s ‘All Eyes On Me’ and ‘Makaveli’, BIGGIE and The Fugees albums were sitting in the number one (1) spot on the charts. Singles like ‘All That I Got Is You’ - feat. Mary J Blidge and 'Popa Wu' (a spin off of the Jackson 5 hit single ‘Maybe Tomorrow’) scored a number in the hood and on the charts. Another radio hit off the album was ‘Daytona 500’ which Ghostface took turns on with Wu Tang members like Raekwon, Cappadonna, and the Force MDs. The street was also buzzing with ‘Black Jesus’ and ‘Motherless Child’ when the album became more popular.

                               
              Click artwork to watch the 'Cherchez LaGhost' feat. U-God video.

For the next four (4) years to come fans had to be content with the ‘Ironman’ LP as Ghost would not bless the streets until afterwards when he returned with his sophomore album entitled ‘Supreme Clientele’. This album brought Tony Starks his first solo gold plaque and it solidified his position as not only a dominant member of the Wu family but also a legitimate solo hip hop artist. The album was also noted for a skit aiming shoots at then local New York rapper 50 Cent who was coming up at the time and had recently released a song entitled ‘How To Rob’. 50 Cent’s song offended a few rappers because the lyrics stated how he would rob several celebrities. Among those rappers named in the song was Raekwon who is also a prominent and highly respected member of the Wu Tang Clan. 5o’s song was considered an insult and for that Ghost and Raekwon took shoots at 50 on a skit on this album. The lead single was the classic club banger Cherchez LaGhost' feat. U-God. It was followed by the single ‘Apollo Kids’ feat. Raekwon.

 
Click artwork to watch ‘Never be the same Again’ – feat. Carl Thomas video 

One (1) year later, Ghostface Killah released his third (3) solo album entitled ‘Bulletproof Wallets’. This album was met with unluckiness from commencement since Ghost Dini would be held back because of his record label's (Epic Records) reluctance to pay clearance fees for the samples used. This caused much inconveniences for the Wu Tang Clan strong man so much to an extent where the album’s final production was poles apart from what was initially intended. Ironically, its lead single was ‘Never be the same Again’ – feat. Carl Thomas and Raekwon which was what his career would be afterwards. Ghost left Epic Records and signed with Def Jam. The second single to be released off of ‘Bulletproof Wallets’ was the meagre hit song entitled ‘Ghost Showers’ - feat. Madame Majestic.

                                           
                                     Click arework to watch the ‘Tush’ feat. Missy Eliot

This fourth (4) album by Ghostface was also his Def Jam album debut which was released three (3) years after ‘Bulletproof Wallets’. Among the notable features on this album were his usual WU Tang Clan members. He also reached for his deep rooted gritty sounding and more urban formats with less of a mainstream appeal playing songs like ‘Metal Lungies’ feat. Styles P and Sheek Louch. The hit single was Tush’ feat. Missy Eliot. On ‘Tooken Back’ he featured Jacki-O but the second smash single and street banger would be ‘Run’- feat. Jadakiss.‘Run’- feat. Jadakiss. ‘Run’ turned out to be what radio DJs and fans where waiting for because it got a very heavy rotation on the air and the video was also played a lot. The third single off this album was ‘Love’ featuring K Fox and Musiq'. (click highlighted song titles to listen or watch the clip of the song).

                                                     
Click artwork to watch 'Back Like That' - feat. Ne-Yo video

In 2006 Ghostface Killah released two (2) solo albums. The first one was his fifth (5) solo album entitled ‘Fishscale’. Fishscale is a common street slang used by drug dealers when they refer to raw and uncut cocaine. In other words the album was called Fishscale, a slang word for cocaine. Ghost turned to a lot of soul samples for this album and won the hearts of hip hop critics all over the world. The album saw Ghost’s return to the billboards 200 as it debuted at number four (4) on the charts. He proved that he could do albums for the streets like his ‘Bulletproof Wallets’ and ‘Pretty Toney’ and he also proved that he knows how to turn it up to mainstream levels. It featured Wu Tang artists Raekwon, Masta Killa, and Method Man. The album’s hit singles were ‘Back Like That’ – feat. Ne-Yo and the hit song ‘Be Easy’ – feat. Trife Da God. The final track entitled ‘Three Bricks’, produced by Cool & Dre featured vocals by the late Notorious BIG and Raekwon. (click highlighted song titles to listen or watch the clip of the song).

                                                       
Click artwork to listen towatch 'You Know I'm No Good' - feat. Amy Winehouse

Ghost released his sixth (6) solo album later that same year entitled ‘More Fish’, meaning more cocaine. By this time Sparky Love had already assembled his own band of brothers dubbed ‘The Theodore Unit’ and he was featuring its members more frequently. ‘More fish’ hit the billboards 200 charts at number 71 and yet again critics were impressed by Ghost’s delivery. Rolling Stone, Vibe and Entertainment Weekly magazine each gave a favourable reviews of the album. Many saw this as a split of what could be Ghost’s attempt at a double LP. The album spun of the hit single ‘You Know I’m No Good’ feat. Amy Winehouse and a remix of the hit single ‘Back Like That’ from the Fishscale album. The remix featured Kanye West and Ne-Yo. A track entitled ‘Blue Amour’- feat. Sheek Louch was also a street banger. ‘Greedy Bitches’ was another street favourite song off the album featuring Redman and Shawn Wigs. (click highlighted song titles to listen or watch the clip of the song).

                                                          
Click artwork to watch ‘Toney Sigel A.K.A. the Barrel Brothers’ – feat. Styles P and Beanie Sigel video

The seventh offering from Ghost Dini would be his 2007 'The Big Doe Rehab' album. Releasing it was a subtle move that he announced on his myspace page shortly before it was launched showing that Ghost was back with another one. This album featured Wu Tang Clan members Raekwon, Method Man, U-God, Masta Killa, Cappadonna and members of his Theodore Unit crew but there was no production from RZA who had always produced much of Ghost’s previous albums. This absence suggested that there may be a feud between Ghostface and RZA especially since Ghost expressed displeasure with RZA’s production on WU Tang Clan’s most recent album entitled ‘8 Diagrams’. The album featured several street bangers including; ‘Toney Sigel A.K.A. the Barrel Brothers’ – feat. Beanie Sigel and Styles P, ‘Yolanda's House’ – feat. Raekwon and Method Man and ‘We Celebrate’ – feat. Kid Capri. (click highlighted song titles to listen or watch the clip of the song).


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