Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City

Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
Studio album by Ghostface Killah
Released September 29, 2009
Recorded 2008–2009
Genre Hip hop, R&B
Length 56:09
Label Def Jam
Producer Sean C & LV, Mahogany, Scram Jones, Xtreme, Clyde & Harry, Ant Acid, Austin "Watts" Garrick, Rashad Smith, Skymark, L.T. Moe, The Kaliphat
Ghostface Killah chronology
The Big Doe Rehab
(2007)		 Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
(2009)		 Wu-Massacre
(2010)
Wu-Tang Clan solo chronology
Raekwon:
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
(2009)		 Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
(2009)		 Inspectah Deck:
The Manifesto
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The A.V. Club(B)[2]
Robert Christgau(A-)[3]
Pitchfork Media(5.1/10)[4]
PopMatters(7/10)[5]
Rolling Stone[6]
Spin(7/10)[7]
Sputnikmusic[8]
The Village Voice(mixed)[9]
XXL (XL)[10]

Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City is the eighth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan-member Ghostface Killah, released September 29, 2009 on Def Jam Recordings in the United States. He first announced the album in a May 2008 interview, describing it as an R&B-inspired album, similar to his previous work with such artists as Ne-Yo and Jodeci.[11] The album spawned four singles; "Baby", a slow-tempo R&B song with auto-tune vocals by Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn, "Forever", "Let's Stop Playin'" featuring John Legend, and "Guest House", featuring Fabolous & Shareefa. Upon its release, Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City received generally positive reviews from music critics. As of December 12, 2009, the album has sold 64,000 copies in the United States.

Reception

Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City received positive reviews from most music critics.[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 13 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[12] Allmusic editor David Jeffries gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and called the album an "oversexed, always fun, and occasionally hilarious effort", commenting that "Nasty as he wants to be, Ghostdini is nothing more than the Face and friends having a good time. The results are as improper as they are infectious".[1] The Smoking Section wrote that "makes its mark as Ghostface’s most idealistic album furthering its distinction against Ghost’s previously renowned offerings".[13] Delusions of Adequacy's Bryan Sanchez commented that "Forever flourishing, there is so much to love about an album as playfully awesome as this one".[14] Time Out writer Jesse Serwer gave it four out of five stars and complimented Ghostface Killah's "risqué approach" to R&B, calling the album "unique among efforts by rappers to reach into such territory: It’s in no way soft".[15]

However, Larry Fitzmaurice of Tiny Mix Tapes gave it one-and-a-half out of five stars and disliked the album's subject matter, stating "as an album, it’s complete shit, but at least there are a few tracks to listen to when you’re driving".[16] Jon Dolan of Spin gave the album a seven out of 10 rating and wrote favorably of Ghostface Killah's lyrics, stating "Even the raw stuff has the humanizing detail that keeps Ghost interesting years after we've grown accustomed to his imagesplaying Joycean flow".[7] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A- rating.[3] Christgau commended Ghostface's "potentially ridiculous switch to love man" and commented that "rhymewise, this is original work. Eschewing oily sexual details, luxury purchases, and vows of generalized devotion, Ghost mines the same kind of specifics that juice his gangsta repertoire".[3]

Track listing

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "Not Your Average Girl" (featuring Shareefa)Scram Jones 3:48
2. "Do Over" (featuring Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn)Mahogany, The Kaliphat 4:35
3. "Baby" (featuring Raheem "Radio" DeVaughn)Austin "Watts" Garrick & Rashad "Ringo" Smith[17] 4:12
4. "Lonely" (featuring Jack Knight)Sean C & LV 4:34
5. "Stapleton Sex"  Sean C & LV 2:33
6. "Stay"  Skymark 2:56
7. "Paragraphs of Love" (featuring Vaughn Anthony & Estelle)Bei Maejor & Tim Bosky 3:53
8. "Guest House" (featuring Fabolous & Shareefa)J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League 4:29
9. "Let's Stop Playin'" (featuring John Legend)Sean C & LV 4:23
10. "Forever"  Clyde & Harry 3:41
11. "I'll Be That" (featuring Adrienne Bailon)L.T. Moe 4:09
12. "Goner" (featuring Lloyd)Sean C & LV 4:54
13. "She's a Killah" (featuring Ron Browz)Anthony Acid 4:03
14. "Back Like That (Remix)" (featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo)Xtreme 4:02
Sample credits

Personnel

Credits for Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City adapted from Allmusic.[19]

  • Anthony "Acid" Caputo – Engineer, Mixing, Producer
  • Ed "Wolverine" Goldson – Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
  • Brian Herman – Engineer
  • Ken Ifill – Mixing
  • Scram Jones – Producer
  • Justice League – Producer
  • Jack Knight – Vocals (Background)
  • James Lewis – Bass, Guitar
  • Mela Machinko – Vocals (Background)

  • Bei Maejor – Producer
  • Mahogany – Producer
  • Shareefa – Vocals
  • Skymark – Engineer, Producer
  • Rashad Smith – Engineer
  • Mike Tocci – Engineer
  • Doug Wilson – Engineer
  • Kristen Yiengst – Photography
  • Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – Engineer

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[20] 28
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[21] 6
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[22] 3

References

  1. 1 2 Jeffries, David. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  2. ↑ Rabin, Nathan. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  3. 1 2 3 Christgau, Robert (January 2010). "Inside Music: Photo Gallery". MSN Music. Archived from the original on 2011-04-22.
  4. ↑ Breihan, Tom. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  5. ↑ Miller, Michael. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  6. ↑ Rosen, Jody. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  7. 1 2 Dolan, Jon. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Spin. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  8. ↑ Abdul-Rakhman, Sobhi. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  9. ↑ Fennessey, Sean. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  10. ↑ Garraud, Tracy. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. XXL. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  11. ↑ Yee, Angela. Angela Yee Speaks to Ghostface Killah. NahRight. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  12. 1 2 Ghostdini: Wizard Of Poetry Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2011-04-22.
  13. ↑ Dennis Jr., David. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. The Smoking Section. Retrieved on 2009-10-01.
  14. ↑ Bryan Sanchez. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Adequacy.net. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  15. ↑ Serwer, Jesse. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Time Out. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  16. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Larry. Review: Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  17. ↑ Universal Music Group on Youtube - Ghostface Killah - Baby on YouTube. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  18. ↑ Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City (Edited). Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-08.
  19. ↑ Ghostdini the Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City - Ghostface Killah | AllMusic: Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-04-22.
  20. ↑ "Ghostface Killah – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Ghostface Killah. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Ghostface Killah – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Ghostface Killah. Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Ghostface Killah – Chart history" Billboard Top Rap Albums for Ghostface Killah. Retrieved December 20, 2014.

External links

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