Ghostface Killah
Album : Shaolin’s Finest
Realase date : April 1, 2003
Label : Sony

Review :
Greatest hits albums are all the rage. From LL Cool J to Shaquille O’Neal and the Fu-Schnickens, such compilations range from good to bad to just plain ugly - or from ugly to bad depending on your point of view. The bottom line is, few artists are of the caliber of LL Cool J, posessed with both the large catalogue of music and the depth of talent to justify such albums.

And that my friends, is what makes "Shaolin’s Finest" such a surprising treat. Even in a crew with as many colorful and charismatic characters as the Wu-Tang Clan, Ghostface Killah has always stood out as one of their top MC’s. Quality skills are what Ghost brings to the table every time the cards are dealt including a smoothly golden voice, an ability to write evocative narratives equal to those of Kool G. Rap or Scarface, and a willingness to lay his emotions bare in verses ranging from tender to shockingly brutal. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to tap into his dopeness, because his label Epic released some of the most confusing and erroneous tracklistings in the history of recorded music. Anybody who could make sense out of the back covers of "Supreme Clientele" or "Bulletproof Wallets" had to either be a nuclear physicist or an Epic employee - nobody else could possibly make sense of them.

Thankfully on this album, his last for Epic, they got it right. Nobody can really say whether it was their consistant fuck-ups or their lack of promotions that caused Ghost to leave the label, but if you’re playing "Def Jam Vendetta" you’ll see the flamboyant rapper and his impressive gold armpiece doing a variety of wrestling slams and holds on his new labelmates. What he left behind in the process was this CD, which really does cull the best of his solo work outside the Clan with incredible accuracy.

Starting with "Daytona 500," a high speed power jam built off a riff from the Bob James song "Nautilus," this song sounds just as good in 2003 as it did when originally released on "Ironman" in 1996. Ghost never lacks in lyrical ammo, and on this joint he threw razor sharp darts like "The conviction of my tape is rape, wicked like Nixon" while he "slapbox with Jesus, lick shots at Joseph." Backed up by Raekwon and a surprisingly dope Cappadonna (better known at that point as Cappachino), the song was an instant hip-hop classic. While not released as a single, the track "Poisonous Darts" that follows is from the same album and equally as vicious.

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