Ghostface Killah

Since bursting on the scene with the Wu-Tang Clan in the '90s, Ghostface Killah has been one of the most readily recognizable voices in hip-hop. He's had no shortage of material as a solo artist, and his career has an emotional depth and clarity of vision that's surely the envy of most rappers. GhostDeini the Great, on the other hand, doesn't seem quite sure what it wants to be. Ostensibly the first archive collection from Ghostface, GhostDeini offers up a lot of material that his fans will have heard already; some of his album tracks are faithfully reproduced here and some of them have new remixes or verses tacked on. Then there are some genuine odds-and-ends, like the frantic, bizarre "Ghostface Christmas." There's great music on GhostDeini, but it suffers from the lack of vision; it's clearly not meant to be a major release, but it's still not clear whose stockings it was meant to stuff.

Ghostface fans will be interested in any material that may be new to their collection. "Ghostface Christmas" is mostly a novelty cut, and "Slept On Tony" isn't much different–a mildly satisfying excuse for Ghostface to jump in the skin of Iron Man Tony Stark (the track was used in the film). Some high-profile pals drop by for verses–to varying effect. Ice Cube sounds pretty complacent on the "Be Easy" remix; he's one of the greats, but sounds half-hearted when trying to prove that his street cred is fully intact despite being a family-friendly millionaire movie star. Kanye West takes over for the first verse of the remix of "Back Like That"–one of Fishscale's best tracks–but isn't a good fit, even though it's funny that his date orders the "Kobe beef like Shaquille O'Neal."

On the other side, the fabulously contagious funk of "Kilo and the hard-edged street tale “Run” both inherit some extra muscle–"Kilo" finds Malice joining on the verses with Ghostface and Raekwon, while “Run” makes room for Raekwon, Freeway and–you guessed it–the ubiquitous Lil Wayne. While the concept of GhostDeini seems flawed, there's no getting around the power of the best material–or the range of the artist showcased. He goes from the somber narrative "All That I Got Is You," where he talks about picking roaches out of his breakfast cereal, to Supreme Clientele standout "Apollo Kids."

— Adam McKibbin
01.08.09

Not a greatest-hits set for casual fans, and not quite a rarities set for the diehards who don't quite snap up every leaked track -- it wouldn't be accurately titled Even More Fish, either -- GhostDeini the Great is somewhere between all of these designations. Def Jam's third consecutive December Ghostface release, the disc mixes it up between album cuts from Ironman and Supreme Clientele ("Apollo Kids," "All That I Got Is You," "Cherchez LaGhost," "Mighty Healthy"), remixes (most contain alternate guest verses), and previously unreleased material (none of which is great shakes, though "Ghostface Xmas" adds a little seasonal value). Fans won't be thrilled doubling up on tracks they already have, but the set is definitely more for them than for those who know little beyond the classics. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide