Shaolin's Finest

The thing that sets Ghostface Killah apart from the rest of his Wu-Tang contemporaries is the amazing versatility he's shown over the years. He's not touting deodorant or making movies, and he most definitely isn't performing surrealist hijinks like Ol' Dirty. What Ghostface has quietly done over the past decade is establish himself as the most mature, suave member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Shaolin's Finest captures the finest moments from his MC solo releases, and the results are nothing short of impressive. Granted, he tackles all of the topics familiar to most rap connoisseurs, but the production of RZA and other Wu-Tang producers makes Ghostface still retain a distinctive quality that separates him from his group. The centerpiece of the album is easily the achingly beautiful yet horrifyingly real "All That I Got Is You." It's such a shocking portrait of inner-city poverty, written so amazingly clearly and vividly, that it could melt the hearts of the hardest people. An extremely thorough compilation and an impressive survey of the most underrated lyricist in the Wu-Tang roster. ~ Rob Theakston