Don't do it, homie. Please, please, please, PLEASE. I beg you not to risk tarnishing the legacy.
Alright, I'll never understand the frustration of being judged by the wax-pressed lightning of Supreme Clientele and having every record since then be considered a lesser offering. Shit, I can't understand why critics fail to include your solo debut Ironman in the historical paragraph of album reviews. The critics loved Fishscale. Hell man, Apollo Kids might not be selling like you hoped, but it's critically strong with an 85% Metascore. Don't ego trip on the glory days and let our criticisms get the best of you. Don't pull a Raekwon misfire.
That's right, rap world! I fuggin' said it. I cannot believe you yes-manned Raekwon's OBFCLII. Here's the rub, Ghost. I bet if we rounded up all the critics who helped make Rae's record the fourth-best reviewed in 2009 and asked them if they stand by their words today, they'll lie to us like the yes-men they are and state that OBFCLII is a well-served companion piece to a classic Wu-solo record. Don't buy that swill, Ghost. OBFCLII has as much to do with the original as Stillmatic is comparable to Illmatic or Tical to Tical 2000: Judgement Day – do you remember Tical 2000? Holy Hell! I believe you were locked up on a robbery charge during that record's release, but let me just say Tical 2000, which attempted to stretch Dre's “California Love” Mad Max futuristic-doom theme across 28 tracks, got strong critical response as well. Wonder what they would say today, now that Y2K didn't cause a societal collapse?
The way I see it, in small doses, over the course of your post-Supreme Clientele career, your persona has morphed into that of a rap savior. You regularly make records that the nerdiest of underground fans adore, while keeping your name ringing in the streets fresher than the latest slang for the dopest of crack. You said it best yourself on “Apollo Kids”: “Since the face been revealed, game got real.” Amen, god. You just dropped your sixth (sorry, Ghostdini does not exist to me) solo record since Supreme Clientele and it's still shitting on 80% of rap music. We've yet to cease being in awe of Tony Starks' charisma.
So the kicker. Don't risk it, man. Don't do Supreme Clientele II. Your pal Raekwon is catching his second wind with plans to drop two records in 2011. It might feel like he's got the juice with his Kanye guest spots, but he's riding the coattails.
The Aughts were yours. I never once felt an emptiness from a Ghostface record. It always felt as though each teetered towards SC-territory but never captured the true essence. But why would they? You've felt nothing but the warm bed of success since its release. Prior to SC, you were incarcerated. The Wu-Tang was struggling with the idea of a new millennium. U-God had disillusion of going solo. RZA was wearing cheap Zoro masks, making “dodododododo” sounds and scoring Jim Jarmusch films. Shit was a goddamned wreck.
Remember when Superb was claiming he wrote some of the songs on Supreme Clientele? Remember when you told Rhapsody Music in an interview, “He couldn’t make an album, you feel me? I made Supreme Clientele
what it is. Those are my stories, based around what they’re based upon.
It’s me. I can’t see what songs ‘Perb wrote. He ain’t write 'Mighty
Healthy' or 'One' or 'Apollo Kids' or 'Cherchez LaGhost' or 'Saturday
Nite' or 'Malcolm'.”
A decade later, do you really think you can write those songs again? Don't Superb yourself.
Have you heard of meta? It's our greatest enemy. Your records are great because of their unabashed generosity. You see no problem in rapping over The Delfonics “La La (Means I Love You)” record without a trace of production meddling. You quote Rakim's “Move The Crowd” verbatim for six bars. Your records are tied together by comic samples from Ironman, blaxploitation dialogue and mafioso films. Had the face never been revealed, we'd still have a working knowledge of your identity. Revisiting a previous formula is a cop out and suggests that your greatest inspiration and influence is Ghostface in 2000. Meta is evil because it encourages egoist moves like paying homage to oneself. Rewatch the Ironman film, god. Remember what happened to Tony Starks when he got too gassed on himself?
In closing, please refer to track three of the original Supreme Clientele and take your song to heart, Ghost.
How many Supreme Clienteles we need?
