It seems it took Nas to drag Ghostface across the finish line and set us up with a release date for Supreme Clientele 2: Blue & Cream: June 19th. An album that was announced over a decade ago, and which history I previously covered here. Honestly, I am a bit stunned that it is actually coming.
The album is set to be part of the Legend Has It… album series by Mass Appeal. A series which includes releases by his co-host Raekwon, Slick Rick, Mobb Deep & Big L. Nas really has been doing his thing with Mass Appeal, and it might just be the right home for Ghostface and his Blue & Cream. Last year we already saw the first collaboration between Ghost and the label with the release of Set The Tone (Guns & Roses). In my opinion a flawed album that was okay at best. Curiously enough that album was kicked off with the same 6 minutes track which was previously featured on his exclusive Stem Player EP. [mfn]The Stem Player page seems to be offline as of writing, and I have heard nothing about that EP since, nor did it surface. Which begs the question if it was ever actually released. [/mfn] This fact makes one wonder if more tracks from that venture ended up on this project.
What was on point for Set The Tone, was the marketing. Mass Appeal knows how to do this, and had a release party set up, a video for Pair of Hammers with Meth with proper production. And some special stuff on their website for sale. (Personally, I forgot about the album just as quick as it was announced.) Shit, just now I even discovered there is a video for Scar Tissue with Nas.
So what can we expect? It has been said that there are tracks that are over 10 years old. That would mean that this really could be a real musical odyssey of what Ghost has been doing in the last 25 years. Couple years ago it was mentioned that Kanye West & Mike Dean were executive producing the album. This was mentioned alongside the name Producer Plug Uni (whom produced 6 Minutes on Set The Tone and has a credit on Shots) were supposed to be exec producing. As it is a sequel I would also look back at Supreme Clientele itself. This album was loaded with tracks which were used by other people. From G-Dini using the Bastards beat, to Stay True being called Deck’s Beat on the Canadian version of the album.1The Canadian version of Supreme Clientele is infamous for having a different sequencing and some huge differences. First being the inclusion of the track In The Rain (Wise), second is the Ghost Deini using the Bastards beat, third is having his Impossible verse on there. If the original is any indication, we might be hearing some beats that were used elsewhere before., if only the Wu was as tight as they were back in the day.
Now I would be a miss if I did not mention Lord Superb.2I have to make a quick note here that Lord Superb is not without his problems. He was in jail for a while, convicted twice of sexual abuse charges involving a minor. Originally he was part of the American Cream Team with Raekwon, but showed up on Ghostface his sophomore too, as well as on Bulletproof Wallets. He died in 2014 at the age of 41. His presence on Supreme Clientele is undeniable. Whether it be his verses or his appearance as Woodrow. Matter of fact, it was so undeniable that in the early 2000s Superb actually claimed that he was responsible for a lot of Supreme Clientele, in writing and style.3This all started with the 2004 mixtape Bynoe (Of Tha Riot Squad) – Pain & Muzik 3 (Hosted By DJ Semi) which included a prison phone interview with him. Ever since there have been some discussions about this, and even 50 Cent & Tony Yayo referenced it. I for one would not be surprised if Superb was indeed helping Ghost out a lot during this period. Also for the simple fact that in later years it became more obvious that Ghost was being helped out by Trife, and later again by Sean Wiggs. Heck, it might be stretch, but even Rae had a solo song on Ironman. Who is to say that Rae did not throw some verses and such at Ghost during the Ironman process. Because later interviews due make it look like recording that one was a hard. It could also be that even Cappa helped him out at this point. All begs the question if we are going to hear the real Dennis Coles, or will it be a Ghostface Killah again. In light of all this, the mask makes a lot more sense.
In the end it has been 25 years since Supreme Clientele was originally released. In the absence of a sequel, they decided to release a Blue & Cream edition, bloggers dedicate an annual post to the influence of the album, there is a documentary in the works on the making of a Nutmeg by his barber, Black Moesis Art, and the album has been analyzed to death and then some. When it was released it was seen as Ghostface saving the Wu brand after solo albums underdelivered, especially compared to the first round. Nowadays the flag is just a legacy act, and one could argue that there is nothing to be saved this time around. But Supreme Clientele was also a very personal album about those years prior. With a timespan of 25 years, it’s going to be anybody’s guess what we will end up with next week. One thing I do know is that people stopped holding their breath for this album some time ago.
- 1The Canadian version of Supreme Clientele is infamous for having a different sequencing and some huge differences. First being the inclusion of the track In The Rain (Wise), second is the Ghost Deini using the Bastards beat, third is having his Impossible verse on there.
- 2I have to make a quick note here that Lord Superb is not without his problems. He was in jail for a while, convicted twice of sexual abuse charges involving a minor. Originally he was part of the American Cream Team with Raekwon, but showed up on Ghostface his sophomore too, as well as on Bulletproof Wallets. He died in 2014 at the age of 41.
- 3This all started with the 2004 mixtape Bynoe (Of Tha Riot Squad) – Pain & Muzik 3 (Hosted By DJ Semi) which included a prison phone interview with him.
