CZARFACE & Ghostface Killah – “CZARFACE Meets Ghostface” (Album Review)
This is the highly anticipated collab album between East Coast supergroup CZARFACE & the legendary Ghostface Killah. They first teamed up on the banger “Savagely Attack” off of CZARFACE’s self-titled debut back in 2013 but now almost a year after the trio’s collab album with MF DOOM titled CZARFACE Meets Metal Face, they’re following it up by doing a collab album with Tony Starks himself.
After the “Back at the Ringside” intro, the first song “Face Off” sees CZAR & Ghost really suiting the title over an eerie beat. The track “Iron Claw” tells their competition not to push them over an El-P inspired instrumental while the song “Czarrcade ‘87” is a CZAR solo cut where Esoteric & Inspectah Deck get confrontational over an ominous beat. The track “Powers & Stuff” reunite with Ghost to brag about their skills over an apocalyptic beat while the song “Masked Superstars” continues the lyrical themes of the previous joint over a more boom bap beat.
The track “Morning Ritual” has a somber beat & the storytelling is vivid, but I’m confused as to way Inspectah Deck doesn’t appear on it at all. The song “Super Soldier Serum” gets boastful over an electro-tinged beat while “The King Heard Voices” gets murderous over a perfectly fitting instrumental. The track “Listen to the Color” is another CZAR cut that could’ve been on any of their first 3 albums & before things close out with the “(Post Credits Scene)” outro, the final song “Mongolian Beef” is a lyrical onslaught with a doomsday-sounding beat.
From front to back, it definitely lives up to the hype. It could’ve been a little longer & used a couple features, but the production & chemistry between CZAR & Ghost is almost on par with the DOOM collab that came out 11 months ago.
Score: 8/10