Idolator: ghostface

Holy crap, is that really a song from the ...

Maura Johnston — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:15:01 EDT

Holy crap, is that really a song from the eternally delayed Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2? It is! (And it's very NSFW, which is why I waited until now to post it.) [Nah Right]

Ghostface's cameo in Iron Man has been snipped ...

Maura Johnston — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:15:00 EDT

Ghostface's cameo in Iron Man has been snipped from the final cut of the flick, which opens this Friday, but there's a new song of his, "Slept On Tony With Dirt," on the soundtrack. But while Ghost wound up on the cutting-room floor, the suits behind the movie thought that Tom Morrello was worthy of cameo time; his "olive skin and and Mediterranean-like features (he's actually of Kenyan/Irish descent) were evidently enough to get him cast as a member of the terrorist insurgents with Al-Qaeda like beard and all." Ooh, political! [The Playlist]

Ghostface Is Not Sure That His MySpace Friends Are Really His Pals

Maura Johnston — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:35:52 EST

Ghostface is tired of using technology, at least as far as street-teaming goes. In the above clip, he laments the fact that, while he has 115,000 MySpace friends, his album The Big Doe Rehab only scanned about 30,000 copies—actually, it was 36,000—in its first week on shelves. And dude does have a point, one that anyone who ever tried to get their e-pals to help them move, attend a reading, or show up at an outerborough bar on a frigid weeknight can probably identify with. But really, is claiming that anyone who buys his album and provides him with proof of purchase will get some Ghostface time the best way to manage the gap between virtual friendship and the real thing? Because 115,000 meet-and-greets takes up a lot of time that could be spent doing, well, anything else. [YouTube via Nah Right]

Ghostface is selling a fitted cap, worn ...

mjohnston — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:30:13 EDT

Ghostface is selling a fitted cap, worn and signed by him, on eBay. Bidding is at $202.50 and the auction has a week to go, so if you're interested in winning, you may want to start checking behind your couch cushions. [eBay]

The Wu-Tang Clan have pushed the release ...

mjohnston — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:01:28 EDT

The Wu-Tang Clan have pushed the release of 8 Diagrams back from Dec. 4 to Dec. 11 so as to avoid conflict with the release date of Ghostface's The Big Dough Rehab. RZA on the latest delay: "We didn't have him move, we moved ... I think that shows the kind of bigger men we could be. Ghost is my brother, [I] love him to death. But we're in this business, and it's hard to kind of discern what's right and what's wrong. ... BBut I will say that, when it comes to a Wu-Tang Clan album, I plan on making it a 60-, 90-day type of schedule. ... It turned out to be a 200-day schedule ... and I didn't want to wait until next year [to put out 8 Diagrams]." [MTV]

If it's October, it must be time for songs ...

mjohnston — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:05:28 EDT

If it's October, it must be time for songs from Ghostface's upcoming album to leak, so here's the Rare Earth-sampling "Celebrate," the first single from Big Dough Rehab. [Nah Right]

Now that he's collaborating with the likes ...

mjohnston — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:15:28 EDT

Now that he's collaborating with the likes of Jewel, Ghostface has apparently decided to hit the road in a separate bus from the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan. (When he plays with them, that is; he was a no-show at the Wu-Tang's performance last night at the Bumbershoot festival.) [Line Out]

Leak Of The Day: Ghostface And Prodigy Recount Their Medical Histories

mjohnston — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:52:16 EDT

DJ Green Lantern has a new mixtape out, and it's got a star-studded cast, with verses by the likes of Nas, Mike Jones, and Redman, as well as the obligatory Lil Wayne appearance. Nah Right has posted a Jay-Z freestyle from the mix (UPDATE: the whole tape is now up there), but we're pretty into the downbeat "Trials Of Life," where Ghostface and Prodigy drop verses about the health problems they've had to work through:

~~Ghostface and Prodigy - Trials Of Life~~ [MP3, link expired; via Nah Right]
DJ Green Lantern - Sirius Invasion [mixtapekings.com]

Ghostface Will Not Test Floors' Cleanliness By Eating Off Them

mjohnston — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:44:56 EST

In an interview with the Irish magazine Mongrel, Ghostface starts off by cluing Mark O'Connell in on the relationship between keeping food off the floor and luck:

Okay, so you've been doing this for fourteen years or so now. Has much changed since the Wu-Tang first came out?
Yeah, well ... [Ghostface begins to answer the question, but breaks off to chastise his manager for leaving a pile of takeaway pizza boxes on the floor] No, don't put the food on the floor, Hisham! Don't never put food on the floor! It's not good luck, you know? Food don't belong on the floor. [To me] Sorry, man, go ahead.

While we take a second to mull over the state of the Idolator flophouse, and how its decrepitude may be affecting our fortunes, you should take in the rest of the chat, where he lets fly about the original Ghostface action figure's portliness, and how close the world is to "last couple of pages in Revelations that's left over." (Answer to that last one: Pretty close.)

The Revelation Of Tony Starks [Mongrel Magazine, via Nah Right]

On The Shelf: Tomorrow's New Releases Revealed Today

mjohnston — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:55:51 EST

Welcome to On the Shelf, Idolator's weekly look at new albums hitting record stores' shelves on Tuesday. This week's roster of new releases is small but mighty, and it includes not one, but two certified American Idols. After the jump, we look at tomorrow's releases from Taylor Hicks, Fantasia, Tyrese, and Ghostface.

Taylor Hicks, Taylor Hicks
The artist: Silver-haired sixth-season American Idol winner.
The sound: Remember those ads Ray Charles did for Diet Pepsi? Yeah.
The first in line: People who have no idea what to put in their office-party holiday grab bag.

Fantasia, Fantasia
The artist: Third-season Idol winner who recently emancipated herself from the show's management camp.
The sound: Brassy R & B with a slightly harder edge, thanks to input from Missy Elliott and Swizz Beatz.
The first in line: Lifetime devotees.

Tyrese, Alter Ego
The artist: Male model-turned-singer-turned-split-personality.
The sound: Disc 1 is smooth R & B, while disc 2 has Kurupt and The Game rapping alongside Tyrese's alter-ego "Black Ty."
The first in line: Honestly, we have no idea, but his last album moved 880,000 copies, so maybe a double-disc isn't too ambitious.

Ghostface, More Fish
The artist: 30 Rock's favorite Wu-Tang Clan member.
The sound: More thrillingly twisty word-puzzles, tempered a bit by lots of Theodore Unit appearances.
The first in line: These guys.

On The CD Front [Pause & Play]

Leak Of The Day: We Have Finally Achieved Ghostface Overkillah

Brian Raftery — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 08:45:46 EST

We know, we know: Enough with the More Fish leaks already. But the whole album's online now, and it's one of the last need-to-hear records of the year, so we really had no choice. Here's "Outta Town Shit," which features a spoken-word cameo from a guy who sounds suspiciously like a certain Naked Gunner:

~~Ghostface Killah - Outta Town Shit~~ [MP3, link removed]

Leak Of The Day: Ghostface Gives Kelly Clarkson Another Unlikely Musical Shout-Out

mjohnston — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 10:38:01 EST

What a week Kelly Clarkson's having—one day she's collaborating with Mike Watt, the next she's getting props from Ghostface. "You Know I'm No Good," Ghostface's stinging duet with British spitfire Amy Winehouse, is slated to be on next month's More Fish, and it's also going to serve as the B-side for Winehouse's single release of the original track. (Which is, alas, Clarkson-free.)

~~Ghostface featuring Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good~~ [MP3, link expired; via Discobelle]
Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good [YouTube]

Yet Another Leak Of The Day: Ghostface, "Ghost Is Back"

mjohnston — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:17:17 EST

The first single from Ghostface's More Fish—his second full-length of 2006, set to come out on Dec. 19—the fiery "Ghost Is Back" is awesome, with Ghostface boasting (and name-checking Ruben Studdard) over the bass-heavy backing track from Eric B. and Rakim's "Juice (Know the Ledge)."

~~Ghostface - Ghost Is Back~~ [MP3, link expired; via Discobelle]
Previously: Caption This: When Ghostface Met Lady Sov

Caption This: When Ghostface Met Lady Sov

mjohnston — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 14:46:11 EDT

The scene: Last night at the mtvU Woodie Awards. The players: Wu-Tang loose cannon Ghostface Killah and itty bitty British MC Lady Sovereign. We have no idea what they were discussing, but we're going to guess that Def Jam's promotional priorities were at least mentioned in passing.

~~Ghostface - Big Girl~~ [MP3, link expired]
~~Lady Sovereign - 9 to 5~~ [MP3, link expired]
[Photo: Getty Images]

Internet-Savvy Readers Don't Have Your Back (On The Sales Front)

mjohnston — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:42:22 EDT

Oh Word's Sacha Orenstein looks at factors affecting sales by recent offerings from Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah and Bay area rapper E-40. Ghostface's album, Fishscale, scooped up heralds from critics and bloggers left and right, while E-40's My Ghetto Report Card recieved little press; yet it wasn't the recipient of the huzzahs whose album went gold. Orenstein's analysis is a solid read, particularly for this nugget:

From the New York Times to Pitchfork every single hipster publication had their money on Ghost, running profiles and cementing his status as the rapper of choice for snarky insiders. The problem is internet savvy publications have internet savvy readers...who download.

A Tale Of Two Marketing Plans [Oh Word]
~~Ghostface - Kilo~~ [MP3, link expired]