Superlatives
A Vulture series in which artists judge the best and worst of their own careers.
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Ghost has a way with words.
Favorite Ghostface song
I dont really have a favorite song that I made.
I got so many records.
I did a lot of other new features for people that I really, really like.
Favorite Ghostface guest feature
Its a lot if you look at the catalogue.
Its things all over the place, like the Kanye West remix, New God Flow.
I got records I forgot I did.
My DJ was playing mad, mad, mad, mad records.
We had to go through a few albums, and Im like,Oh, I forgot about that.
Thats hard when you ask an artist that been in the game for 27 years.
I dont remember probably 80 percent of them, because I just do them and I leave it alone.
I leave them alone.
I dont never sit back and listen to my music.
I did it, you know what I mean?
Because Ive got a thing with me where its like …
I know I couldve did better.
It just bothers me.
Thing youre most proud of aboutGhostdini: Wizard of Poetry
The writing.
Im a pure writer, so when I write, I like to write, like, a Scorsese.
I like to paint pictures.
When I write, a lot of the time, its like books or movies.
I get very descriptive.
Thats my main element in rap besides the abstract stuff.
Id rather take the movie route or paint-the-picture route before I give you a bunch of street raps.
It was a line where they had me say [Our host and curator Beth Martin is getting engaged?
], and I kept fucking up.
At that time, I wasnt used to saying curator and stuff like that.
Never really heard of it back then.
It was like thatcommercialwhere somebodys like, Yo!
Time for a Snickers.
It was one of those.
When it comes toClarks, you gotta have a crispy pair, an all-suede crispy pair.
You cant really, really, really go wrong, just as long as the sole is gummy.
Dont give me a black sole.
Especially the new ones now.
The old ones was made in Taiwan and China.
They didnt fit right.
Thats why I stopped playing with them for a minute.
Then my man [Felippe Santos a.k.a.
SYC] came in.
He made them over, on the real, with ostrich and alligator skin.
He fixed the gummy sole to be like the softness that the Yeezys got.
Other than that, its a dark blue, a nice navy blue, or a nice red.
A watermelon or a Chevy red might stand out.
It depends on whats your color, and what stands out on you.
I know blue stands out on me.
But I dont wear brown.
When I throw on brown clothes, something always happens.
I dont care if its a Cleveland Browns T-shirt, something is bound to happen.
I dont even feel right wearing brown, Id rather skip to black.
If I did a video with brown on, I didnt even look right.
Every time I wear brown, I always get into a fight.
I broke my ankles in brown Wallabees.
Its too many things that be showing me,You know what?
So I leave it alone.
In life, [listen to] every sign thats thrown at you, every voice.
We ignore the signs of life, and thats why we end up in jail, paralyzed, dead.
All this glitter and other shit dont mean nothing.
I dont give a fuck how much money you got, how much jewelry you got.
If you get sick, it dont mean nothing.
You cant fix it, and you cant take it with you.
But something said,Make a record.
Write a verse real quick just putting words together, whether they mean something or not.
Just put them together.Thats what I did with Nutmeg and One.
But it was Nutmeg that set it off.
Standout memory of a rapper you influenced
I didnt know whoMF DOOMwas at first.
I got a CD during the [2002] Projekt Rev tour with Linkin Park.
I put it in, and he had a lot of sounds that I like.
So I told Mike, my manager, Yo, find this dude right here.
It turned out to be MF DOOM.
From there, we got together.
He came down to the studio and played mad beats.
We in there vibing.
One thing just led to the next, and he did a bunch of tracks for me.
And then we started working on our own stuff, and that was it.
I bumped into him a few times out in Europe.
Im like, Oh, word?
Hes like, Yeah, yeah.
Thats on the low, though.
I got that from you.
When he told me that, it brought me back to Nutmeg because everybody was trying to decipher.
DOOM came after that, and he had fat beats.
He put all that together, and he was in his own lane.
New music that excites you most
I dont discriminate, but I like what I like.
I even like a few young guys thats out there right now.
People get it twisted, like, Oh, this new rap generation is garbage.
But you know what?
You gotta have the ear to understand whats going on.
Some of them really got talent.
It took me a while to start to understand these kids and their sound.
I had to ask some of my young guys, Yo, is that hot?
You gotta really get into it.
The Quavos, the Migos.
Its different, but you got to find their wave, and theres something nice in that.
But those little guys, they sound the same because theyre not thinking of new shit.
I aint sound like Nas.
Nas aint sound like us.
Mobb Deep sounded like Mobb Deep.
Biggie sounded like Biggie.
Now, when you put [some of] these guys together, they sound a lot alike.
Im not putting them down, but musically, everybodys riding the next mans wave.
Thats why I respect Kendrick and J. Cole, because they in they own lane.
Grand Puba, all these guys.
you gotta know these people.
You gotta add to that.
We got bodies of work.
Mobb Deep, Nas, Wu-Tang, Jay-Z, we got bodies of work.
These days, you might hear one record and dont even care about the rest of the album.
Only reason you heard that record is because its the single, and its what was hot.
But, wheres your body?
How many bodies you got?
To these guys, you Screech.
Like my man Jim Jonessaid, Its not about talent.
Its about coming up with a gimmick and going viral.
Then youre a star.
Its a money thing, bro.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
