After the release of their debut album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" back in 1993, Wu-Tang Clan was literally on top of the rap world. The album was hailed as an instant classic and allowed the members of the group to branch out and record their own solo albums.
With the success of "36 Chambers" obviously expectations were high for the first round of solo projects from the Wu-Tang Clan and for the most part they didn't disappoint. Both "Tical" from Method Man and "Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version" from Ol Dirty Bastard are considered hip-hop classics and Ghostface Killah's "Ironman" was easily one of the best of the solo albums released by the group.
But as with many artists, sometimes the sophomore effort doesn't quite stack up the debut version. After releasing "Wu-Tang Forever" in 1997 the group separated for a second round of solo albums, but this time around many weren't as acclaimed as their original counterparts.
While albums from RZA, GZA, Method Man, and Raekwon were all commercially successful, they were not quite as close to critically acclaimed as their debuts. But one member of the group bucked this trend, emphatically improving on his second effort, the album "Supreme Clientele" from Ghostface Killah.
Released on January 25, 2000 the album features guest appearances from RZA, Raekwon, GZA, Method Man, Cappadonna, Redman, and Masta Killa and is considered to be one of the best solo albums to come from a member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
The album was hit with critics and fans alike after its release and was certified Gold in sales two months after its debut. The album is a long one, with 21 tracks, but in this case quantity equals quality. From start to finish there are few dull moments. The entire lineup is great but "Malcolm," "Apollo Kids," "Child's Play," "Cherchez LaGhost" and "Wu Banga 101" stand out above the rest.
Throughout the album Ghostface employs some excellent samples on the tracks, including on the first single released "Apollo Kids," which has a sample of "Cool Breeze" by R&B singer/songwriter Solomon Burke. The track also features Raekwon and has one of the most gangsta music videos of all time. The video was directed by Chris Robinson and showcases Ghostface as Tony Starks CEO of Starks Enterprises, located in the heart of Staten Island.
The beat, produced by Hassan, is hard biting and non-stop and is one of the best on the album. Ghostface is equally as intense as he raps on the track: "Yo, check these up top murderous/Snowy in the bezzle as the cloud merges/F.B.I. try and want word with this/Kid who punked out bust a shot uip in the becon/Catch me in the corner not speakin/Crushed out heavenly, U.G. rock the sweet daddy long fox minks/Chicken and brocolli, Wally's look stinky/With his man straight from Raleigh Durham, he recognized Kojak."
RZA produces numerous tracks on the album, my favorite of which is "Child's Play." The beat is fantastic (as usual from RZA) and has an old school-style, piano melody to it that is hard to forget about. The beat fits in perfectly with the track which is a sort of retrospective on the past and childhood itself.
Ghostface spits some of his best verses on the track, including towards the middle of the track as he spits: "Beautiful in lightshows, having no intentions on love/But having strung eyes of oppose, here we go/It's not the way she bubbed the gum, shooked her ass/I'm not the one, double dus, waiting for the bus/The faggot Nore son, now year later/Lady 7th floor, building 7-80/Fancy fox, booties for her socks, nothing else can change me/Young Nefertiti, knowledge seed with no jewelry on/Tahitian fresh berry tree, she's a Capricorn/I really liked the girl, had dreams about her."
"Malcolm" is one of the more serious tracks on the album, but it's also one of the best. The track has two of the most perfectly placed samples on the album in "Going In Circles" by Isaac Hayes and also Malcolm X's "After the Bombing" speech. Ghostface proves on this track how he can turn from something silly or less serious on the album (like "Child's Play) and then take on something that's more significant here.
The track is very symbolic and Ghostface has a flow on this track almost better than any other on the album as he spits: "Yo he sucked his thumb smooth for the kid laced with the big guns/Stain to my Baltimore niggas that he on the run/Plus he ill in the drums, heartburn for life, calcium man/Watch him grab the Tums, he's a front/Pigeon totalist sister with the fat ass/Show hash behind up the block plus he smashed her/Big Bub did him somethin deadly, act premedidtated/Buck 60 strike was the medley/Nice like Van Halen, seen him at the tunnel with his skin peelin/Did two days thought he was jailin."
With all its guest stars and producers one might mistake this album for a Wu-Tang one, but at its core it truly is Ghostface's show. Lyrically he is a force on every track, using some fantastic imagery and his dense rhyming skills to give the album an energetic, almost cinematic feel to it.
"Supreme Clientele" has a distinct sound and feel to it and emphatically proved that Ghostface Killah and the Wu-Tang Clan were forces to be reckoned with. The album was some of Killah's best work and is definitely a classic.
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