Album: 36 Seasons
Producers: The Revelations
Release Date: Dec. 9, 2014
Review: Much like last week's coverage of A Better Tomorrow (and every step on The Map to follow), I did a quick review of 36 Seasons when it came out. Here's a more thorough look at the record.
36 Seasons is Ghostface's second concept album following his previous outing in 12 Reasons to Die. This album is unrelated though he keeps his alias of Tony Starks to portray the main character. This time around, Tony comes home to New York after an unexplained nine-year absence. He doesn't like what's happened to his neighborhood of Stapleton: nobody remembers him, his old familiar faces are gone, kids are standing on the corner smoking pot and there's a drug cartel pushing blow and lowering the quality of life of the hood. Tony, the drug kingpin Future (portrayed by Kool G Rap) and Tony's childhood friend Rog (AZ) introduce their sides of the story on "The Battlefield," which is a killer opening track with a lively beat by The Revelations (Chamber Music, Legendary Weapons). Kool G delivers my favorite metaphor of the album when he talks about dealing coke, calling himself "the neighborhood blizzard flooding the streets with snow." AZ also turns the image of "joining the life of crime out of desperation" on its ear, explaining that when he was a kid the cops stole his stash and threatened jail time for him so he decided the best way to keep making a crooked living was to become a cop. "Salute to the enforcer, call me an officer now / Supporter of paraphernalia, I toss it around / The link to the cartel, the costs is down / It's that Denzel in Training Day shit, caution my grounds."
"Love Don't Live Here No More" follows with a lovely hook by Tony's past love Bamboo (Kandance Springs). Tony stops by her house expecting her to drop everything and come running, but she tells him nine years was too long and she has a new man. They leave on peaceful enough terms despite both being a little disappointed in the other's attitude about the situation - a progressive step for Ghost's usual objectifying lyrics. Tony decides to visit his old friend Rog who tells him they could clean up the 'hood and make some cash to boot if Tony could handle the illegal/murderous side of taking down Future's gang. Tony agrees while Rog promises a low-risk, high-reward end. Both songs have soulful music, with "Love" leaning more towards R&B but more successfully than Ghostdini.
As Tony rides to take out Future's gang, he searches on the car radio and finds "It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate," covered beautifully by The Revelations. And I mean they really do a hell of a job with such this classic by The Persuaders. In terms of story, it's pretty cool that the last symbol before the boys face likely death is Tony's love for Bamboo. He and his young friend Mig (Shawn Wigs) go in and ice Future's gang in "The Dogs of War," but Tony takes a chemical burn to the face and Mig gets him to a private physician, the mysterious Doctor X (Pharoahe Monch in "Emergency Procedure") to perform a life-saving operation on Tony. First, Ghost describes the situation well, balancing narrative with evocative rhymes like "The mask release the gas that simmers the soul / So my adrenaline stays level, not out of control." Second, Pharoahe Monch builds dramatic images and mad scientist fervor with his Wu-esque verse about the mask and its purposes ("The brilliant Doctor X, no scientist is colder / The mask'll specifically protect ya from Ebola / Its destruction is impossible, totally irrelevant / The compounds are not found on the periodic table of elements").
For a while, Tony will need a gas mask to breathe through a la Bane in Dark Knight Rises (see the cover for this album posted above) but he's barely back on his feet before the cops arrest him and throw him in jail ("Double Cross"). Kandance Springs returns for "Bamboo's Lament," wondering if she made a mistake not waiting for Tony - could she have saved him from his cell, his mask, his return to a life of crime? Meanwhile, in jail ("Pieces to the Puzzle"), Tony bides his time and realizes Rog set him up to clean out Future's gang so Rog could be the new kingpin who runs - and ruins - Stapleton while letting Tony take the blame for the gang war. He also clarifies at this point that Rog is Bamboo's new man, although Rog had said so earlier to himself while implying he's abusive towards her ("Where's Bamboo? She needs an ass-whoopin'").
Things come to a head in "Homicide" as Mig is killed by Rog's gang as a warning for Tony to leave them alone, but Tony avenges Mig and himself in "Blood in the Streets." AZ has some really tight lines once his verse gets going here, angry at what happened to their friendship but ready to kill or be killed to end this feud - "You grew a lot but I schooled you how to do drops / In my tube socks spraying from the rooftops, '92 props / Banging for my blue tops / It's you and me, Biggie versus Tupac / You forgot I'm the one who let you rock." Tony lures them all into one spot and blows them up, the sole survivor of the massacre. 36 Seasons winds down with "Call My Name," in which Tony and Bamboo make amends as he takes up residence in Mig's house and explains that he has to clean up all of New York and stop the drug flow destroying the city. The Revelations perform an instrumental cover of "I Love You for All Seasons" and the album ends.
Since the album's release last December, I've really been impressed with the balance of narrative and rhyming. The first few times you hear it, you'll want to make sure you give it your full attention to soak up the story and the plot points, but once you know what it is and where it's going, it's easier to lean back, relax and enjoy it as a solid rap album with infectious hooks, high energy, sweet rhymes and gorgeous music.
Legacy: Between both Twelve Reasons albums, 36 Seasons and Sour Soul, Ghostface proved four times in about two years that the Wu-Tang sound can successfully evolve and sound groundbreaking and unique without relying on the mid-'90s sound of the first wave of Wu albums. RZA remains one of the all-time great music producers, but by working with live bands and sounds that are less immediately hip-hop, Ghost has been vital in helping develop the Wu sound of the 2010s. Of course The Revelations were brought in by RZA for Chamber Music and Legendary Weapons initially, and Ghostface Killah worked with Badbadnotgood and Adrian Younge, so they're both due plenty of credit for where the Wu seems to be going. Critics received 36 Seasons well, some calling it a superior album to A Better Tomorrow. GFK is continuing to spread his wings and try new sounds and ideas and this recent iteration of his (his last four albums) is a great fit, experimented with initially on Twelve Reasons and cemented with 36 Seasons.
Recommended Tracks: The Battlefield, It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Blood in the Streets.
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