Ghostface Killah Bulletproof Wallets Lyrics

As the only Wu-Tang MC (outside of the GZA) to not record a lackluster solo release, Ghosface's third album comes with sky-high expectations. Ghostface continues to flow out of a sense of urgency, his cadence dripping with emotion on hot RZA-produced numbers like "Maxine." Ghost's exceptional storytelling abilities are intact; on "Never Be the Same" he confronts a former lover with Carl Thomas crooning on the hook. Likewise, on the awesome Alchemist-produced "The Forest" he builds a rhyme around popular fairy-tale characters. While sloppy hooks plague tracks like "Theodore" and "The Jucks" (pop your collar, huh?), it's the inane interlude skits and wildly uneven production that bogs down this release. By album's end you get the vintage Wu sound on "The Hilton"--grimy beats matched by Ghost's intense flow--and "Street Chemistry" boasts a remarkable piano loop mixed in with a sampled female voice, but it all comes a little too late. --Dalton Higgins