Ghostface Killah

Ghostdini is a collection of collaborations with modern R&B superstars (John Legend, Lloyd, Raheem DeVaughn). While this may sound like a deal-breaker for Wu-Tang loyalists who like their hip-hop rugged and raw, Ghostface carries it off with all the absurdity, charm and comedy we've come to expect from him. "Stapleton Sex" is a raunchy sex narrative, and "Guest House" finds Fabolous on the business end of a Glock, but the best songs here ("Baby," "Paragraphs of Love," "Do Over") are genuinely sweet and surprisingly romantic. Sure, this is a detour, but it's an enjoyable one.

Can the silliest album of the year also be the smartest and the sexiest? On his eighth solo
disc, rap's most brilliantly wigged-out poet steeps his songs in louche production, enlists R&B
crooners and jettisons the coke-trade tales to focus entirely on romance. There are
lovelorn laments ("Do Over") and raunchy boudoir play-by-play ("Stapleton Sex"). Ghostface
remains an unusually charismatic MC, never afraid to make himself the butt of th... More >