By Nick Psillas
It’s been a huge year for Ghostface Killah. At the beginning of 2007, Ghost was still riding high on the huge critical success of last year’s epic cocaine drama, “Fishscale,” and its companion piece, “More Fish.” He then proceeded to release a singles compilation, “Hidden Darts,” on his own Starks Enterprises imprint. As the year went on, he appeared on a few high profile tours, worked on a new Wu-Tang Clan record, did some recording for his upcoming collaboration album with MF Doom and managed to release his third solo full-length album in just 18 months.
Unfortunately Ghost falters a little with “The Big Doe Rehab.” It’s not a surprise that “Big Doe” falls short of “Fishscale’s” glory, or even that it fails to reach the heights of 2004’s underrated “The Pretty Toney Album,” but that’s not to say that the album isn’t without its brilliant moments. Not content to sit on a single production team for two records in a row, Ghost has enlisted L.V. and Sean C. (better known as the Hitmen).
The overall style of the record is vastly different from the claustrophobic grime of “Fishscale,” and the “Big Doe” is a great example of how unwilling Ghost is to make the same record twice. He throws listeners for a loop in his sequel to “Fishscale’s” standout track, “Shakey Dog,” and throws away the heavy brass in favor of a slower, lazier cut.
Ghost continues the street crime epics on tracks like “Walk Around,” where a trip to the grocery store turns into a bloodbath. It is on tracks like this where it’s easy to see the difference between an MC-like 50 Cent’s glorified shooting tales and Ghost’s gritty and frantic ones.
The record ain’t all stainless steel .45s and heavy bags of coke, though. “We Celebrate” is a party anthem featuring the legendary Kid Capri, where Ghost is sipping on Goose and “holla-in’ at them birds like Dr. Doolittle.” On the ill-concieved “White Linen Affair (Toney Awards),” he and Theodore Unit member Shawn Wigs attempt to elevate a not-quite-there Frequency beat with a slew of shout-outs, which turns out to be only good for a couple of laughs. The record picks up after “White Linen,” with Ghost gliding easily over a sample of Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Superman Lover” on “Supa GFK,” and he teams up with U-God and Raekwon for an excellently minimal and breezy Baby Grand beat on “Rec Room Therapy.”
The remainder is either monstrously out of place or completely forgettable. While the showcase for R&B singer Ox, “The Prayer” is a magnificent a capella exhibition, it interrupts the flow between “Rec Room” and the heartrending “I’ll Die For You.” Ghost’s decision to keep the Rhythm Roots All-Stars’ appearances to mere assistants on the intro and outro tracks is a disappointment.
“The Big Doe Rehab” is a lesser disappointment in a year full of inexplicable disappointments (Against Me!, Common and Wilco just to name a few). Ghost still has more talent and juice at the end of an 18-month streak than most artists do after two years of inactivity. While not a smash like “Fishscale” was, “The Big Doe Rehab” is still a hip-hop album that sounds like an album instead of a mere collection of background tracks for music videos. In a year where ringtone-rap has a stranglehold on real hip-hop, “The Big Doe Rehab” stands as a mature, knowledgeable voice in a genre that is becoming increasingly, ignorant and vapid.