Metal Lungies

(… to echo Lethal’s sentiments from yesterday, we’re obviously pretty big Wu heads ’round these parts.)

In a recent 50 Cent interview with Spin Magazine (a great read, by the way), Tony Yayo, the talking head of 50’s “peanut gallery,” claimed that Ghostface Killah did not write his highly-praised sophomore album, 2000’s Supreme Clientele. The topic came up of hip hop artists that, though widely recognized for their artistic qualities, are not big sellers, and interviewer Charles Aaron brought up Supreme Clientele (which actually sold a solid 700,000+ copies) as an example. Yayo, in between using his blasphemous mouth to finish twisting up a blunt, chimed in with the following:

“He didn’t even write that album, man… That kid from Far Rockaway — Superb — he wrote that record.”

Not to question Yayo’s credibility (that is, if he has any), but there’s only 2 people whose opinions matter as to this claim — Superb, and Ghostface himself. Superb had already spoken on it (props to Nah Right for the link, and here’s a transcript, too), and his claims are in line with Yayo’s, that he, and not Ghost, wrote Supreme Clientele. Ghost hasn’t commented on it, but I’d guess that he’d disagree with Superb — I doubt highly that Ghost would come out and say, “Yea, Yayo’s right, I didn’t write that album. Sorry, everyone!” Personally, I have a hard time buying Yayo’s, and Superb’s, claims… and it’s not just because of my Ghostface-fan bias.

For one thing, Superb is claiming that he wrote only Supreme Clinetele. Consider that Ghostface has 6 solo albums to his name, in addition to countless appearances on Wu-Tang Clan albums, Wu-member solo albums (including roughly half of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx), and Theodore Unit releases; it seems rather odd that Ghost would use a ghostwriter for only one album, especially an album that came nearly half-way through his career. Where was Superb before Supreme Clientele, back during the days of 36 Chambers and Ironman? And how about after Supreme Clientele, like on Pretty Toney or Fishscale (which, from a purely-lyrical standpoint, might be Ghost’s best work to date)?

Furthermore, Superb may sound like Ghost (or vice versa, if you like), but other than the voice, there’s not many similarities between them on record. Superb’s flow is fairly scattered, and his rhymes are often not really in sequence. As an MC, he reminds me more of Masta Killa, except that Masta’s approach sounds more calculated and fine-tuned, while Superb’s is a bit sloppy. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Superb’s wack — I actually thought he kind of ripped “The Juks” off Bulletproof Wallets — but I don’t think I’d check for a solo album from dude unless it had a dope list of producers and guest rappers. Judging from the little bit of material that has been commercially-released with Superb’s name on it (links below), I’d say that, on the mic, Superb couldn’t hold Ghost’s Wonder Woman bracelet.

However, that does provide a point of intrigue in this whole situation. Perhaps Superb just doesn’t possess the physical qualities — like breath control and timing — to be a rap star, but he could just write like crazy? Maybe Superb could think up shit like “Crash through, break the glass, Toney with the goalie mask”, but when it came time for him to get in the booth, everything that came out sounded like “If you don’t bring me some muthafuckin’ Cognac, I’ll kill you! I can’t feel you!” Or, perhaps Superb is just bitter at how his career has turned out — he did make that earlier-linked phone call from jail — and he’s looking to take shots at Ghost. Like I said before, only 2 people know the truth: one has spoken, the other one hasn’t. And Tony Yayo is neither one of the 2.

Like Gillie Da Kid before him, Superb appears to be suffering from something I like to call “Unknown Comic Syndrome”. For those that forgot/never knew, the Unknown Comic was a character on The Gong Show whose bit was to wear a paper bag over his head as he told jokes. I’m sure it made for a nice career for the guy, but I highly doubt it helped him much in his personal life as a so-called celebrity. I could imagine dude trying to pick up a girl at the bar… “Hey there, babe. I’m on television… Yeah, that’s because I wear a bag over my head… Oh, well, it was nice to meet you anyways.”

When your whole claim to fame is based on the fact that no one is supposed to know who you are, how can you expect the public to really listen when you come out of the woodwork to slander people? If Superb really did write Supreme Clientele, then he wrote it with a bag over his head, hypothetically speaking. (Or made Ghost really made Superb wear a bag over his head in the studio? That’d be strange.) If your supposed writing of another person’s album only occurred because you agreed to be publicly non-existent in the process, then you have no one else to blame but yourself when someone takes your persona and runs with it… that is, if that even is the case here.

Download: Ghostface – “Ghost Deini” featuring Superb (off Supreme Clientele)

Download: Superb & Masta Killa – “The Man” (off ’00’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai soundtrack; produced by RZA)

Download: Ghostface – “The Juks” featuring Superb & Trife (off ’01’s Bulletproof Wallets; produced by Alchemist)