So why is Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
While many Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface Killah purists will point to Supreme Clientele as the greatest Ghostface album of them all (Rolling Stone has it at #403 on its greatest 500 albums rankings, and this here best 1,000 albums ever project has it at a closely matched #425), for me Fishscale tops them all by quite a healthy margin.
The biggest reason is that Fishscale contains not one but two songs that have the power to take me out of a funk (and we’re talking a bad/downer funk, not upbeat/rocking funk) anytime and anywhere.
I’ll start with “Be Easy,” which is credited to Ghostface and Trife Da God.
In recent years, this has become a Top 10 track that I feel compelled to crank up to max volume every time I throw it on. “Be Easy” boasts one of the most wildly hard funk hooks and hip-hop beats I’ve ever heard. And it is absolutely required to bob one’s head along with the chorus (and the non-chorus parts too for good measure).
But wait, there’s more! There’s also a version of “Be Easy” on the expanded version that slots in Ice Cube that’s just as good.
“9 Milli Bros,” credited to Ghostface in addition to the entirety of the Wu-Tang Clan, was my initial entry point into the greatness of Fishscale. This is a straight up party banger, with a bombastic, jangling piano hook and a groovy, slightly off-kilter somewhat sung chorus that’s infectious.
One of the reasons that Fishscale is so good is due to the Mount Rushmore pedigree of its producers. The masterful MF Doom gets producer credit on “9 Milli Bros,” while its Pete Rock for “Be Easy.”
“9 Milli Bros” rolls seamlessly into the much slower, stranger, and mysterious “Beauty Jackson,” which is a really wild transition in the middle of the album.
The producer on that one? None other than J Dilla.
“Jellyfish” is a mellow yet nonetheless exciting cut that boasts Theodore Unit, Cappadonna of Wu-Tang fame, Shawn Wigs, and Trife.
And Kilo, featuring Raekwon, is wild and deep-level funky with a very 1970s vibe.
Some stats & info about Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rap, Hip Hop, Hardcore Rap, East Coast Rap
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Fishscale released? 2006
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #122 out of 1,000
Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Well, I’m a singer, dancer, we bulletproof brothers. Wu-Tang got the answer.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.