Title: Supreme Clientele
Release Date: January 25, 2000
Producers: RZA, Mathematics, Inspectah Deck, et al.
Review: While most Wu fanatics were probably still absorbing the eight Wu-family albums released in 1999 - including two on the same day - Ghostface dropped one more at the beginning of the following year. Supreme Clientele was his sophomore release, and it's so near perfect that some have said it saved Wu-Tang after the lukewarm receptions to some of 1999's releases, like Immobilarity and Bobby Digital in Stereo. Along with Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah managed to make lightning strike twice for his first two albums - more so than any other members of the Wu.
Supreme Clientele kicks off with "Nutmeg," a classic Wu-sounding track produced by Black Moes-Art with a guest verse by RZA. The old-school treble-stinging strings, bass-free bass and Ghost's slang-happy tight lyrics ("Lightnin' rod fever heaters, knock-kneed her Sheeba for hiva / Diva got rocked for the receiver bleeder") make the album kick off like an instant classic. But the real lyrical star on the album's first half is "One." On "One," most of Ghostface's second verse sticks to the same rhyme, which is amazing. This is the first time in four months of Map of Shaolin that I've felt compelled to link to the full lyrical transcript of a song. Read along right here for the full second verse (and the much-needed slang translations), but here are a few lines to pique your interest:
"Crash through break the glass, Tony with the goalie mask
That's the pass, heavy ice Roley laying on the dash
Love the grass, cauliflower hurtin' when I dumped the trash
Sour mash served in every glass up at the Wally bash."
Interestingly enough, "Saturday Nite" offers an extension of the typical Wu sound - further exaggerating the artificial strings and making subtle changes to the usual piano and drum-machine instrumentation - that I've found represents the 21st-century Wu pretty well. The pitch-raised "Got to Have It" on Method Man's 4:21 The Day After and many of the songs on 2005's Think Differently: Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture are subsequent examples, as are Wu-Tang's "Hollow Bones" and Masta Killa's "E.N.Y. House." It's a subtle but definite shift from the deep and grimy beats RZA provided for Tical to a different but compelling sound from dozens of other producers.
RZA does produce "The Grain," "Buck 50" and "Child's Play" on this record, but the consistency of the album's production overall is one of Supreme's many, many high points. Whether on Mathematics's infectious "Mighty Healthy" or "Ghost Deini" by The Blaquesmiths (who produced Inspectah Deck's "Show n Prove"), it's just an incredibly listenable album, musically. However, it's right here that I also have to level my two incredibly minor complaints about Supreme Clientele. For starters, despite the many producers I've already mentioned (leaving half out), the album credits contradict the shit out of themselves. On the back of the case, text reads "All songs arranged by The RZA & Ghostface Killah," and credit for most of the tracks is given to individual producers: Juju of the Beatnuts on "One," Inspectah Deck on "Stay True," etc. However, in the ending liner notes, one line states "Album produced and arranged by The RZA & Ghostface Killah." So who really made which music? A nearly-reliable Wikipedia page for Supreme Clientele splits the blame for this confusion between 1) the flood at RZA's studio that claimed the beats for Deck's Uncontrolled Substance and 2) an ambiguous statement about RZA "needle-and-threading" the album together. Clarity would go a long way here, as some tracks (including the awesome turntable-based "Stroke of Death") have no in-book credits whatsoever. "Buck 50" even credits Masta Killa as a guest and I'm 99% sure it's a typo. It's a minor beef, but I wish it were just a bit more clearly laid-out.
The other beef I have - which is so common a complaint of mine with hip-hop that it barely warrants repeating - is the amount of skits. Between "Woodrow the Base Head," "Who Would You Fuck" and the two versions of "Iron's Theme" (which only needs one appearance), there's close to eight minutes that could be shaved off to make Supreme Clientele airtight.
Anyway. The guest spots here are all top notch as well, feeling more like a classic Wu album than anything since 1996's Ironman. After Ghost's absence from Raekwon's Immobilarity, The Chef guests on "Apollo Kids" and "Wu Banga 101." It's a huge relief to hear the two gelling so well after their less memorable track "The MGM" three years prior on Wu-Tang Forever - their last collaboration before here. Out of context, "Apollo Kids" could do just as well on Ironman or Cuban Linx, further testimony to its classic sound. "Wu Banga 101" lives up to its name as well, with a mysterious Mathematics beat and terrific verses by half the Wu: Ghost, GZA, Masta Killa, Raekwon and Cappadonna. Method Man, Cappadonna and Redman share the mic with Ghost on "Buck 50," RZA has verses on "Nutmeg," "Stroke of Death" (uncredited) and "The Grain," and 60-Second Assassin appears on "Stay True." RZA even borrows some lyrics from ODB's "Don't U Know" and fits them into "The Grain" very well. U-God appears on "Cherchez La Ghost" (uncredited) and Inspectah Deck lends Ghostface the music from his track "Elevation," so Ol 'Dirty Bastard is the only Wu general who doesn't appear on the album in some form.
Finally, Superb (aka Lord Superb) is featured on "Ghost Deini" and "We Made It." There's nothing wrong with his verses, but ultimately he'll be remembered for his subsequent claims that he ghost-wrote Supreme Clientele in its entirety and had a falling out with Wu-Tang, leading to his release of an album called Superb Clientele. This is pretty ironic, because Superb and Polite were both members of Raekwon's American Cream Team (as mentioned last week) and they released a song called "Small Change (Who the Fuck is 50 Cent)," which is as much a diss as Raekwon's spoken track "Clyde Smith" here on Supreme Clientele.
Legacy: Ghostface Killah's sophomore release is one of the strongest Wu-Tang solo releases since his debut Ironman in 1996 until at least Inspectah Deck's The Movement in 2003 or Masta Killa's 2004 debut No Said Date. Some skeptics even say it's the best Wu release until Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. 2 nearly a decade later. Out of the 10 Ghostface albums to date, it's inevitably in the top three for most fans.
Recommended Tracks: One, Mighty Healthy, Wu Banga 101.
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