Album: Twelve Reasons to Die II
Producer: Adrian Younge
Release Date: July 10, 2015
Review: We'll do a proper entry for this album on Map of Shaolin in a couple more months when we work our way up to it chronologically, but I wanted to give my Wu-Tang fans out there a quick look at the album before it's released this Friday just like we did for Czarface's sophomore release, Every Hero Needs a Villain, a couple weeks ago. But since Twelve Reasons II is pretty short, this review will keep it the same.
First, this is obviously a sequel to the 2013 release Twelve Reasons to Die. On that concept album, Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah raps a story about one of his alter egos (the playboy/gangster Tony Starks) being set up by the Da Luca mob in 1960s New York and being killed, with his body being melted down into 12 vinyl records and distributed amongst the Da Lucas. Somehow (I'm a little fuzzy on that bit) they're reunited and he's reborn as the murderous alter ego Ghostface Killah, seeking revenge on the Da Luca clan for killing Starks. It's a great album and has a sweet vintage grindhouse film vibe to it (the cover is similar to the cover for the sequel).
So it's no surprise that Twelve Reasons II brings back producer Adrian Younge for another story of retro crime and murder. This time it's the 1970s and Ghost's long-time partner Raekwon is featured heavily throughout the album as Lester Kane, appearing first on "Return of the Savage" to describe shooting up a restaurant with a Da Luca eating in it. RZA also returns as our sage narrator to fill in the story gaps not contained in verses: Kane is a power-hungry mafioso vying for control of New York (and seeking revenge) against whichever Da Lucas weren't killed by Ghostface on the first record, and one night after robbing one of the Da Lucas' "social clubs," Kane finds the 12 vinyl records containing the remains of Tony Starks locked in a safe. They decide to finish the job that GFK started on the second half of the previous Twelve Reasons - taking down the Italian Da Lucas one by one.
Most of the songs are rife with keyboards, vibraphones, flanged/slow surf guitar and live jazz drums, almost all of which are performed by Adrian Younge himself, similar to Ghostface's previous outing, the Badbadnotgood-paired Sour Soul. It gives a great "smoky jazz nightclub" feel to the record that could find a comfortable home on albums by eclectic a range as Portishead, DOOM and Broken Bells. Meanwhile Ghost and guests drop very satisfactory rhymes, never sacrificing story nor flow for the other. For example, in "King of New York," Ghost describes Lester Kane in a respectful way, providing imagery like
"A few million-dollar cribs, Liberace jewel box
Gold Ox' ostrich-leather shoes, Egyptian socks
Tailor-made suits built like a brick house
6'9", son, the god had to duck in his own house."
Oxford shoes were a staple footwear, especially in that era and its criminal scene, but it's even more impressive that Ghost uses that soft O and S sound four times in two lines to keep the poetry flowing. Pushing out box, ox, os(trich) and socks in a couplet that makes sense and flows that well shows that Ghost is still at the top of his game - 10 years after people were pleasantly surprised that he was still at the top of his game on Fishscale.
The same can be said for Raekwon, who slays on "Return of the Savage" and "Blackout" especially. His revenge kill on "Return of the Savage" ends with a bit that starts a bit odd but sets up the end fantastically. "The other cocksuckers tried reaching for they handles / But they was slow on the draw so I BLAMmed 'em / Takin' they top off like a convertible drop burgundy Phantom." His verse on "Blackout" is almost too fast to grab hold of, but it contains classic Rae style with lines like "Caught up in my spell, smell exotic blend from different trees / Black gloves, bullets will fly when the nine squeeze."
And like the previously-mentioned Twelve Reasons and 36 Seasons, it's an engaging story with a cast of characters provided by longtime friends like Rae and RZA as well as first-time collaborators Scarub, Chino XL, Vince Staples and Lyrics Born. On first listen, some highlights include "Return of the Savage," "Get the Money" (whose music approaches the intricate guitar lines of prog-rock) and "Death's Invitation" (which earns extra points for being ballsy enough to rock in a fast 5/4 time signature rather than rap's almost exclusive 4/4). The only things this album has going against it are its length and its choice to split the instrumentals up onto a second disc. Let me explain.
Between Twelve Reasons to Die, Sour Soul and Twelve Reasons to Die II, people are paying like $40 for around an hour and a half worth of music. I don't mind the expense personally - and it's all great music - but I can see where some listeners would just want more time with each album for their money. Then with Twelve Reasons II clocking in at 31 minutes, the instrumentals that came with the deluxe edition could've been packed at the end of the CD and still had 10 or 15 minutes to spare on the disc - the same way that 36 Seasons and Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape did. Maybe it was for the packaging aesthetic, but it seems like an unnecessary manufacturing expense to have the second disc, which of course carries over to a higher ticket price.
At the end of the day, though, Twelve Reasons II is already starting to be a welcome addition to Ghost's oeuvre, especially his latter-day jazz-rock-influenced material that he's been developing since 2012. It's a great place for him and Inspectah Deck (whose recent Czarface albums have moved him to similar genre-expanding territory) to have arrived at during a time when people are really doubting the future of Wu-Tang and Twelve Reasons II should be a no-brainer when it's out on Friday.
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