MORE FISH (2LP)

Shortly after SUPREME CLIENTELE dropped in 2000, Freddie Foxxx boldly proclaimed that "Ghost saved the Wu." As the Clan lumbered into the new millennium, some members' solo work moved mainstream, others fizzled, and the group's appeal as a whole began to fade. Ghostface, on the other hand, led by example, dropping one consistently hot street-level album after another. On MORE FISH, the follow-up (coming a mere nine months after) to his acclaimed 2006 release FISHSCALE, Ghost continues to do his thing, spitting furious flames and flashing grittily surreal hood imagery. Due to the title, the expectation is that MORE FISH might just be a collection of throwaways from the FISHSCALE studio sessions. A more apt way to think of MORE FISH is as a companion album or the second half of a single work. Production-wise, the record sports the same underground sound, featuring a mix of beats from indie-rap heroes like Madlib, MF Doom, Jim Bond, Kool-Aid & Peanut, and Hi-Tek, as well as Ghostface's own production on the hyped-up early 1990s throwback "Ghost is Back." Aside from his Theodore Unit protegees (including his own 17-year-old son, Sun God), Redman, Sheek Louch, Cappadonna, Killa Sin, and Kanye West all put in tight guest appearances. MORE FISH is another tour de force, and exactly what hip-hop heads have come to expect from Wally Kingpin. Ghost is indeed back; fix your mirrors.