Ghostface is without a doubt in my mind the greatest rapper of the 00s (perhaps the greatest rapper of all time) and this album, while it's considered a "minor" album in his canon, is just as good as
Supreme Clientele. What helps here are the relatively short lengths of each track; most of them are done in just over three minutes, and each one is accompanied by an ass-kicking soul beat. Nobody is better than Ghostface at re-appropriating these soul beats in hip-hop, and an instrumental version of a Ghostface album would work just as well as a modern funk record. The relatively low-key quality of this album allows Ghostface to loosen up and just do whatever the hell he pleases, which gives the album the relatively rare feeling of sounding both casual and intense--or maybe it's just that Ghost is so good at what he does that he makes it look easy. Both the uptempo tracks ("Beat the Clock") and more balladesque material ("It's Over") are expertly performed and produced, and there's hardly a slow point from beginning to end, aside from a few ill-chosen skits (but thankfully, they're short--nowhere near the 3+ minute skits that were a major liability on
Supreme Clientele). It's not as serious as an album like
The W, nor does it try to be--it's just a fun, professional record, well-suited for the over-the-top Vegas font of the album cover. It's not nearly as weird as Ghostface's other stuff (he never would have let an obvious dumb pop track like "Tush" on
Fishscale) but for what it is, it's great.
MY RATING:
8.7
Ghostface Killah - "Beat the Clock"
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