Having made two unsuccessful attempts to get people to actually listen to his Theodore Unit crew in the mid 2000s, in '06 Ghostface Killah realised he was running out of funds from his last solo effort The Pretty Toney Album, and knew that if he was to have any hope of continuing his collection of ugly ass shoes then he needed to drop another solo record asap. So, he set about recording, enlisting the likes of MF DOOM, Pete Rock, the late J Dilla and Just Blaze to ensure the highest quality of production work (although disappointingly not the RZA, nor any of the Wu Elements for that matter), and to help build more excitement for the project bought in every single living member of the Wu-Tang Clan to provide guest vocals, as well as the R&B crooner of the time Ne-Yo and a bunch of Theodore members to fill space. He made sure to include lots of short film samples too, although this time from Marvel animated series rather than Kung-Fu flicks - and he also built the album around a loose concept involving drug dealing and its effects on the community. And finally he made sure to pack this album to the absolute brim with songs - 24 tracks is always going to be daunting, no matter how many are 5 second edited clips from old Iron Man cartoons. Basically, everything about this album led fans to believe it was going to be the return of the Wu after some years of underwhelming output and beef. It was a culmination of the themes of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., the teamwork of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and the irritating skits of Supreme Clientele - and it was very highly anticipated. And in March of 2006 he actually managed to get Def Jam to release this album. The project every Wu fan was waiting for. Fishscale.
I listened to Fishscale for the first time when I was in a Ghostface Killah phase, tracking down his whole catalogue, and at the time I absolutely loved it, if not quite as much as some of his earlier work. Now, I go back in with more unbiased eyes to see if it holds up as an album. The memories suggest yes, but we'll see anyway. Also, why do people hate this cover so much? I mean, it's not incredible, but it's no worse than most of his other covers. Hell, I'd rather look at this art than the assault on the eyes that is the Ironman colour scheme. Anyway, I digress. On with it!
1. The Return Of Clyde Smith (Skit)
Show of hands - who here wanted Clyde Smith to return? No-one? Well fuck you all then.
2. Shakey Dog (prod. Lewis Parker)
Now that's more like it. Ghost takes a fantastically intense instrumental from Lewis Parker and relays a story over it that is incredibly impressive in how detailed and intricate it is. The track recalls memories of "Maxine" from Bulletproof Wallets, only this time the tale is not quite as harrowing, and the beat doesn't go into a weird Red Hot Chili Peppers style breakdown at the end. Ghost's storytelling abilities have never been more evident than on this track, as he finds a perfect balance between humour and seriously intense moments, and also manages to spew out the most random details while still keeping the listener engaged. The beat on here could be Ron Browz levels of quality and I would still love this song, and with this Lewis Parker beat the track becomes an immediate standout on the album. How the hell do you top this?
3. Kilo (feat. Raekwon) (prod. MoSS, add-prod. A. Acid)
I'm not sure where the fuck they got that sample from, but it damn sure does sound dope. The first of quite a few songs to feature Ghost's partner in crime Raekwon is a chill banger with a funky instrumental that details the pair's exploits in drug dealing, and while it's nowhere near the quality of the incredible opening track, this song certainly is fun, and offers a break in-between the intensity of the last song, and also the song that's coming up next. While Raekwon sounds kind of sleepy on his verse, which is sadly the norm for his mid-2000s work, Ghost offers up some great verses and very catchy hooks and bridges that leave the listener entertained if not wowed. Overall, I really like this one.
4. The Champ (prod. Just Blaze)
5. Major Operation (Skit) (prod. Ken Lewis)
For some reason this album is filled with 5 second skits like this with a tailor made monologue made to sound like it's taken from a film. I don't mind the skits themselves, but I do wish they weren't separate tracks. It just makes things awkward.
6. 9 Milli Bros. (feat. Wu Tang Clan) (prod. Metal Fingerz DOOM)
Yep, you read that right. The Wu-Tang, and every single member at that (for the only time outside the legendary "Triumph" on an officially released song), rapping over a DOOM beat. And you thought this album couldn't get any better. And for a Wu officially 10 years past their prime, they all sound pretty bloody fresh on this joint. The "bullshit hook" that starts this thing is fun, and Ghost gets things off to a fiery start as you'd expect, but everyone else does their thing too. Meth has a lightning flow that shows a man still very much pissed about the reception to Tical 0, GZA continues to prove why he's called the Genius, and U-God ends the track with one of my favourite verses from him ever - his flow on this beat is nice. Cappadonna is predictably kind of annoying, but otherwise they all slid. And goddamn is this DOOM beat good - it's the perfect mixture of classic hardcore hip-hop and DOOM's droning abstract sound, and I absolutely love it. For a Wu-Tang posse cut made in the year 2006, I really don't think this could have gone any better.
7. Beauty Jackson (prod. J Dilla)
Once again, Ghost exhibits a natural ability for storytelling - hell, now that his music has reached the point of "quite bad" (see Set the Tone) he should get into writing fiction novels. On this song, he puts so much detail into this very short and kind of uneventful moment, where Ghost gets rizzy with an attractive woman at a bus stop, before she hastily jumps on the bus after Ghost's concealed gun falls out of his jacket. This song is too short to ever warrant someone disliking it, and the J Dilla instrumental (which also appeared on his album Donuts) is the perfect compliment to the sensual lyrics. This is a wonderful little song.
8. Heart Street Directions (Skit)
Most of the time I don't like skits, but even I have to admit that this one is pretty fucking hilarious. "My man balls'll be out around there somewhere!"
9. Columbus Exchange (Skit) / Crack Spot (prod. Crack Val)
After a short skit in the vein of "Major Operation" a few tracks ago, Ghost tells various anecdotes about his crack house in the form of two short 'n' sweet verses, over a rather potent instrumental, especially considering how fucking horrible the stage name of the person who created it is. The first verse on this one is especially entertaining, as Ghost reintroduces the "Woodrow the Basehead" character from Supreme Clientele, detailing how he fainted while taking crack in the crack house, just before a knock on the door caused everyone to jump out of their seats. The storytelling here is hilarious and light hearted, and the upbeat and jazzy instrumental is as smooth as anything. Really like this one.
10. R.A.G.U. (feat. Raekwon) (prod. Pete Rock, add-prod. A. Acid)
Very much in the same vein as the previous song, only now Raekwon is here to add his perspective, not one that's any different to Ghost's, mind you. Perhaps the most notable moment of this song is when the man Ghost and Rae are confronting accidentally shoots himself in the bollocks with his own gun, which I think was meant to be funny, but instead conjures up some horrible images in one's head. The rest of this track is pretty standard Ghost - Pete Rock's beat is smooth and sounds ever so slightly dusty (perfect for the Wu), and the storytelling is potent. This is definitely the weakest track so far, but it's still pretty good in my opinion.
11. Bad Mouth Kid (Skit)
The way Ghost delivers his lines in this skit is pretty goofy, but otherwise this skit doesn't really lend itself to the man's character well at all. Threatening to assault a child with your belt in the middle of your album isn't good for press, Dennis.
12. Whip You With a Strap (prod. J Dilla)
I'm not sure what's more worrying - the fact that Ghost has a song titled "Whip You With a Strap", or the fact that the song is actually pretty great. Yeah, the J Dilla beat is heavenly and has a really nice sample (with some admittedly slightly uncomfortable lyrics), and Ghostface has two really nice verses that show the man's personality and ability to get personal that a lot of rappers of his era weren't really able to do - at least not to this extent. Perhaps this song is part of the reason why I've seen some people call Ghost an "emo rapper". The way Ghost delivers his lyrics here really makes you feel the stories he's telling, and despite uncomfortable subject matter (about him being whipped as a child), the song seems to have pleasant undertones, as Ghost believes he deserved to get beaten and it helped him become the man he was today. Against all odds, this shit is actually really good - just perhaps not one to put on the aux in the car.
13. Back Like That (feat. Ne-Yo) (prod. Xtreme)
14. Be Easy (feat. Trife) (prod. Pete Rock)
15. Clipse Of Doom (feat. Trife) (prod. Metal Fingerz DOOM)
An area in which both Supreme Clientele and Ironman nail in my opinion is front to end consistency - the lesser quality songs on those albums (that are still great, mind) are spread throughout the tracklist, and the bangers and truly great songs are also spread evenly. This is where, in my opinion, Fishscale falls down - from here on out the album goes from fantastically consistent to merely pretty great but wobbly, and that's what in my opinion makes this album slightly weaker than every Ghost album up to this point beside Bulletproof Wallets (and his random collaborations too). Take this tune for example, which certainly isn't bad (Ghost's final verse here is actually quite compelling), but is a little too abrasive thanks to DOOM's noisy beat, and also just a little too stagnant lyrically. I don't dislike this song, but it doesn't really match the fun energy of this album at all. Oh well.
16. Jellyfish (feat. Theodore Unit [Cappadonna, Shawn Wigs & Trife]) (prod. Metal Fingerz DOOM)
And as for this? I'm not sure what possessed Ghost to include this oddly creepy love song onto this album, but I do know that it doesn't really work within context at all. Not only is this instrumental completely unsuited to the lyrics being recited over it, but the lyrics themselves are quite weak too. And what the fuck was that Cappadonna verse? I don't think this song is bad on it's own, but it's inclusion on this album confuses the hell out of me. Still, it's certainly better than the love songs that littered his later album Ghostdini, so that's something I suppose.
17. Dogs Of War (feat. Raekwon & Theodore Unit [Trife, Cappadonna & Sun God]) (prod. Pete Rock)
Yes, that is how these features are listed on the back cover. Ghost forgoes another DOOM beat in favour of a Pete Rock instrumental that sounds more suited to the aggressive style of these MCs, but unfortunately the beat here sounds much more clunky than that on the far superior "Be Easy" from a few tracks ago - this isn't a bad beat, but there's just something off about it, especially with that "it's a family" sample that throws the whole concoction off every time it jumps in. The lyrical content is boasts and bullshit pretty much, which is a far better choice of content for a posse cut than the weirdly out of place love raps on the previous song - still, this one isn't really up to snuff with a lot of 718, let alone the rest of Fishscale.
18. Barbershop (prod. The Studio Beatz)
I think going it alone for a track was probably the best option for Ghost at this point in the tracklist, as things seemed to be going off the rails a bit for the last few cuts. This song is a humorous and unique one verser that details Ghost's frustrations at being done dirty by his barber, and it's far more like the Ghostface Killah we know than the last two songs - in fact it's likely those were made last minute in order to help promote Ghost's Theodore Unit a little more, after 718 and Put It on the Line sold about as well as the cookies they sold door to door to raise money for the choir when they were younger. This is one of those instances where the lyrics of a song are so good and so captivating that the music doesn't even matter. It's a great track.
19. Ms. Sweetwater (Skit)
Another skit? I thought we were finished with those!
20. Big Girl (prod. Ghostface, add-prod. A. Acid)
It was certainly a bold move of Ghost to rap over the same sample that inspired Nas' infamous travesty of a song also called "Big Girl", and even bolder to advertise this very fact within the song title, but surprisingly he manages to pull the stunt off, and not just because he, unlike Nas, doesn't come across as a complete creepo during the track's runtime. This song helps serve into the incredibly loose narrative of this album, which is that Ghost transitions from being a drug dealer into leaving the profession after he realises the effects of these drugs on those around him. You could put all of these tracks into this narrative if you really tried, but this one fits in the best, as it's narrative surrounds Ghost meeting some girls who are spiralling into cocaine addiction, and attempting to convince them to stop taking the drugs and pursue actual careers. The track is heartwarming and surprisingly mature from the man who once rapped "you dumb bitch, horny hot fuck from out the mountains!!". Sure, the sample on here does recall disturbing memories for us Nas fans, but if you ignore that then this stands out as one of the best written tracks on the album.
21. Underwater (prod. Metal Fingerz DOOM)
After a shockingly serious moment, Ghost takes us back into his weird and wonderful mind by taking a nautical DOOM instrumental and rapping about imagining being underwater, for a reason known to only Ghost himself apparently. This song fucking rocks, with easily the best Metal Fingers concoction on the entire album creating the perfect atmosphere for the lyrics Ghost is rapping, which are not only unusual but also more often than not memorable. The flows on here are some of the best on the entire album, especially the bit where he says "I bet this'll bring that out", but really everything is an improvement upon the previous DOOM collabs (not counting the Wu posse cut). This is fucking awesome.
22. The Ironman Takeover (Skit)
>:-(
23. Momma (feat. Megan Rochell) (prod. Sean C & LV)
An unusually mainstream way to end the album - I'm not asking for another "Wu Banga 101", but surely Ghost should know that his fans really aren't interested in overdramatic music like this with an R&B tinged hook. "Back Like That" was one thing, but at least it was catchy. Ghost's lyrics here dedicated to single mothers in the hood are very sweet, but musically this is too soppy, and frankly didn't age very well either. Still, it's a hell of a lot better than the boring as shit "Love" that the otherwise excellent The Pretty Toney Album ended with.
The following song is listed as a bonus track, despite appearing on every pressing of the album out there. I'd probably call that good marketing if this wasn't the case with almost every bonus track on mid 2000s hip-hop albums.
24. Three Bricks (feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Raekwon) (prod. Cool & Dre, co-prod. Diddy)
I'm sure people were sick of hearing more exploitative unreleased Biggie verses by 2006 after the much maligned Duets: The Final Chapter came out the year prior (I believe this track right here was recorded for that album, but was left off the "final" (hehe) cut), but thankfully this track actually sounds pretty goddamn good if you ask me - maybe because Biggie's verse is nicked straight out of his classic track "Niggas Bleed", rather than his hard drive of half assed "unreleased for a reason" verses that were used on many posthumous cuts. This track here features an infectious but menacing Cool & Dre instrumental, and some dope performances from Ghost and Rae in the later half of the track. Yes, the song is a bit shameful in that it uses Biggie's name to promote itself, but at least it sounds good. That's all I can ask for.
Even though Fishscale features a Ghostface who's well over ten years into his career, it's still just as exciting as you'd expect a release from a brand new abstract hip-hop artist to be. This thing is just insanely fun, and not unlike previous Ghost projects isn't afraid to have it's serious moments as well (whether or not these always work is another matter). While fellow Wu members were losing more and more relevancy by the second, along with artistic integrity, Ghostface Killah was on top form in the mid 2000s, and Fishscale is the pinnacle of his work from this era - even if I personally enjoy The Pretty Toney album a smidge more, there's no doubt that Fishscale is about as Ghostface as a Ghostface album can be - whether it's the high quantity of detailed and hilarious drug dealing tales, the weirdly abstract production or the abundance of Wu members and affiliates showing up around every corner, this thing exudes Ghostface's fun and unpredictable energy. It's not a perfect album - tracks 15 to 17 get a bit dull at times, the skits make the tracklist seem way too cluttered, and the last song (not counting the bonus track) completely misses the mood of the project - but what it is is ambitious and highly contagious - you won't stop bumping this if you hear it, that's guaranteed. I also love the album's loose concept, of Ghost being a drug dealer who slowly realises the negative impacts that that is having on the community around him - that's how I read into it anyway. And if you're looking for classic Ghost bangers, look no further than "Shakey Dog and "The Champ", two of his best hits ever. This album is great, and even if there are some consistency issues in the second half, the overall listen is one that I and many others love. While Ghost would go on to keep pumping out great material in the 2000s and even 2010s, he never got quite this ambitious, or quite this weird, again. Thanks for reading!
Best tracks: Shakey Dog, The Champ, 9 Milli Bros, Crack Spot, Be Easy, Underwater
Worst tracks: Jellyfish, Momma
I've written a hell of a lot more about Ghostface Killah if anyone's interested!
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