Test Spin: Ghostface Killah

Ghostface Killah, lyrical swordsman from the Wu-Tang Clan, combines old and new on his latest release GhostDeini the Great. The album adds some new tracks and remixes to a collection of Ghostface’s rawest beats and vocal efforts. Lil Wayne, Freeway, Ice Cube, and Malice of Clipse join the party on remixes of “Kilo” and “Be Easy” (originally from GFK’s Fishscale) and “Run” (originally from The Pretty Toney Album).
A funky melody dancing over crisp, gritty drums on the “Kilo” remix leaves listeners with no choice but to bump along with the music. “It’s Over” (originally from The Pretty Toney Album), sporadically sprinkles high-pitched bell melodies over a rumbling bass line that fills up the listener’s environment, combining to attack from all angles. In all, every track — old or new — on GhostDeini comes full of the raw, uninhibited energy that fans have come to expect from the members of Wu-Tang Clan since they broke onto the scene in the early ’90s. Nothing on the album is extraordinary, though, and GhostDeini the Great is stuck in the category of enjoyable, falling short of impressive.