Fishscale
by Ghostface Killah

From Graeme2 10/16/2022 00:00 | #290515

I always remember this being good but not as good as this. Absolutely classic material.

From LebowskiRams 10/19/2021 02:12 | #275169

His best

At this point, despite having been the most consistent Wu member in terms of his solo albums, I don't know how many would expect to reach the levels of Supreme Clientele again. As far as I'm concerned, he managed to surpass it (admiteddly you could easily argue in favor of any of those two, both are great). The determining factor for me is clearly the production. He's moved on, providing us with a great variety of styles, but still carries his "hardcore" background with him, always keeping things in control and combining all the different elements into a cohesive and consistent album. It all starts -after the tone-setting intro/skit - with Shakey Dog ("Fasten your seatbelts, I'ma take y'all on some real shit"), a bombastic way to begin the album, he is already firing on all cylinders. Speaking of bombastic, you can't help but think of The Champ ("Took a fat nigga out in like 40 seconds My gun get hard wit a 45 steel erection Eagle on, Kangol half-slanted, Coconut Ballys from Morocco Guerilla medallions like Flavor Flav clock, yo Niggas want me dead but they scared to step to me Rip they guts out like a hysterectomy When beef collide look on the flip by the penitentiary kite Or get you bumped off from the inside"). Of course one of the biggest merits of this album is that it contains 9 Milli Bros. ("Official Wu-Tang headbanger"), which is a track that it's impossible to be objective with, it's simply huge. You also have -among many others - the short and sweet Beauty Jackson ("The ashes was hangin off her stog' so she flicked it Damn, had to bundle up, I caught goosebumps Plus the windchill factor had dropped, here the bus come I never rush one, here take my number miss I live alone, her face fell when I dropped the chrome Damn, can I have your number?"), we get to see a more sensitive side in Whip You With A Strap ("Get beat, then I'd run and tell grandman "mama hit me for no reason" She whipped me hard when I finished eatin And felt that belt stingin after I wet that bed Hid my drawers and start cryin, when she felt that bed Caught another when I told her those the fake pro-keds In the corner weavin and screamin trying to block my head") or Momma("All she needed was somebody to rub her feet Give her a nice hug and rescue her from off these streets"), the "take it slow" super-groovy soul/R&B-based Back Like That or Big Girl, the hectic Be Easy or Three Bricks. Not much to be said about rapping or lyrics, he puts on display his typical extremely high level once more. Another album on the longer end of the spectrum -which seems to be the theme of this matchup-, but the truth is hadn't I read it's actually more than an hour long, I wouldn't even have noticed, this feels like 40-45 minutes at most, you blink and it's over, it leaves you begging for some more.

From planetneutral 01/29/2018 15:57 | #206768

I liked this. Creative beats and varied delivery.

Best Tracks: The Champ, Jellyfish

The third masterpiece of Starks' solo career. Consistently the most entertaining, interesting and original rapper when it comes to the album format.

Gotta love The Champ!

holy shit this is incredible. @weedygonsalez said it perfect with that white album reference. its so eclectic and wide-ranging, yet at the very same time one of the most cohesive rap albums ive heard, which is even harder to do when you have 20+ tracks. threw it up on my chart as the 12th greatest rap album of all time, damn, the story-telling and the soul and even the bumpin tracks are just wow

From paladisiac 12/09/2011 22:11 | #32538

ghostface killah (of wu-tang clan fame) announces his arrival on "fishscale" from "shakey dog" on, with its triumphant synth-horns opening the way for ghost to spit "Fasten your seat belts, I'm a take y'all on some real shit". I'm not much into rap and i've wondered, when i am into a rap album, exactly why is it? With Ghostface i think it's the tough-as-a-barking-pitbull lyrics and samples and accompanying bravado. He also brings some hilarious ideas like on "kilo" and "the champ". "kilo" has some background homies telling you "a kilo is a thousand grams, easy to remember". it's a pro-drug, pro-dealin' song served levity by the female vox interspersed throughout the song as raekwon tells you "You know your ammo better be heavy 'cause soon kids is coming in camo / Protect your land daddy, I'm an announcer / you get caught with an ounce and its over / matter 'fact they takin you down, son". "The champ" starts off with a Rocky sample setting up ghostface for a comeback saying he hasn't "been hungry since supreme clientele" bringing the pre-boxing party atmosphere while trying to fortify his rep: "Revenge is my arts is crafty darts / While y'all stuck on Laffy Taffy / Wonderin' how y'all niggaz get past me / I been doin this before Nas dropped the Nasty". I find the "bad mouth kid (skit)" pretty funny. "whip you with a strap" is old-school parenting, and "back like that" is new-school r&b inflected featuring ne-yo. i like the synth sound in "jellyfish" ("she must be a special ladieeeeeeeeeeee").

I won't say that this is the White Album of hip-hop, because the White Album is actually the Fishscale of rock.