Ghostface Killah
The Big Doe Rehab
Release Date: Dec 4, 2007
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Def Jam
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Album Review: The Big Doe Rehab by Ghostface Killah
Excellent, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8.5/10
Review by Amos Barshad.
Based on rating B+
By the time they enter their second decade in music, most rappers are in dire need of career resuscitation. But despite that last word in the title of his latest solo outing — The Big Doe Rehab — Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah isn’t one of them. Now 37, he’s released six acclaimed solo albums (from 1996’s Ironman to last year’s More Fish) full of gritty narratives, plus a few comical cuts.
Opinion: Average
Ghostface Killah took his name from the inexorable villain in The Mystery of Chess Boxing. Known for his relentlessness, the film character would hunt down enemies for years, only sleeping when they were dead. The lone mark of his identity was a miniature medal plate with a ghost insignia left at the scene. Fourteen years after he was the first swordsman heard on Wu-Tang's seismic debut Welcome to the 36 Chambers, the moniker only partly suits.
Opinion: Average
To expect Iron Flag Part 2 would be wrong. 2001 marked the last time the Wu-Tang Clan swarmed as one, Flag an assault of poisonous darts shot over streetwise RZA bangers. Six years later, fifth WTC LP 8 Diagrams pops vintage Shaolin lyrical heat, "Take It Back" prepping a firing line of "Wolves" in feeding frenzy. Opener "Campfire" burns slow as Method Man and Ghostface tag-team a haunting beat, even depleted Wu MC chemistry rivaled only by Tribe's Q-Tip and Phife.