Fishscale

Released

Tony Starks’ career could be wildly unpredictable post-Supreme Clientele, whether it was through bad luck (Bulletproof Wallets and its butchery at the hand of sample clearance issues) or just overloaded expectations (like every album that followed this one). But Fishscale holds a place in the Solo Ghost Holy Trinity because it finds him in this odd space between mainstream and underground that the Wu-Tang in general and Ghostface in particular always felt comfortable in. The de rigeur coke-trade chic and luxury-brand-name exotica of the ’00s are run through with more idiosyncratic reflections on childhood beatings (“Whip You With A Strap”) and Motor Booty Affair-goes-spiritual below-sea epiphanies (“Underwater”). And the producers on this — Just Blaze, Pete Rock, J Dilla, and a litany of jaw-droppers from MF DOOM — are brought into a world that Ghost made nuanced and experienced enough to have it all make sense.

Nate Patrin

Suggestions
Old cover

Old

Danny Brown
The LP cover

The LP

Large Professor
Revolutions Per Minute cover

Revolutions Per Minute

Reflection Eternal, DJ Hi-Tek, Talib Kweli
King of Rock cover

King of Rock

Run–D.M.C.
Haram cover

Haram

Armand Hammer, The Alchemist
1st Infantry cover

1st Infantry

The Alchemist
Piñata cover

Piñata

Freddie Gibbs, Madlib