Rating: NNNNN
Ghost appears
While some crybaby rappers whine to the press when the release date of a new album gets pushed back a few months, not Ghostface Killah . If Def Jam wants to bump his highly anticpated Fishscale disc to sometime in 2006, that’s no problem. He just added a few of his own tracks to what was going to be the debut of his sidekick Trife and put out the Ghostface Killah and Trife Da God collabo project Put It On The Line on his Starks Entertainment imprint. Smooth. In addition to Trife’s drug-slangin’ boasts and Ghostface’s regular gangsta biz, there are three dope bonus cuts, including the sought-after throwdown with Slick Rick and Raekwon called The Sun. For added value, Ghostface has thrown in a pro-shot concert DVD from a hot show in New York City in October with cameos by Wu -crew Killah Priest , Cappadonna and Masta Killa . So why wait for the new album?
Fab Far Out
The two latest limited-edition 7-inch singles in the UK-based Far Out label’s new Serie 171 line probably won’t be that easy to find, but they’re well worth tracking. Democustico ‘s slinky nu-bossa joint Vaga Lume, which greatly benefits from the vocals of Gabriela Geluda , comes ready for the dance floor (with an instrumental flip), and so does the Fela-inspired Afrobeater Pembe from Finnish crew Future Warriors , who are shored up by the hard-blasting Iron Horns . Look for the stylish Swifty -designed sleeves. www.faroutrecordings.com
Breakin’ In
Over the past five years of running the popular Crate Digging Revealed message board, Raj Mahal at soulstrut.com has amassed a large collection of sample-based instrumental hiphop jams submitted by aspiring producers in bedrooms around the world. He’s sorting through them all for a forthcoming compilation, Breakbeatraer, due out in early 2006. In the meantime, there’s a four-track Breakbeatraer sampler 12-inch EP out right now on Melting Pot , with two funky head-nodders from Germany’s Hawkeye and another wickedly tight slammer from A-Ko. Based on the quality of Dizzy Bull ‘s bonus track, Soul Connection, which didn’t make the cut, Breakbeatraer seems very promising.
