Ghostface Killah: Bulletproof Wallets

A true sign of a great artist is when you go through their catalog of releases and you realize it is almost impossible to rate the work in order of greatness. Most artists who are fortunate enough to release three albums often have one standout of the three. However, Ghostface does the impossible once again. Bulletproof Wallets is a hard album for me to review. It puts me in an awkward position. Personally, it is my favorite GFK release but I don’t think it is his strongest work, especially when compared to the first two albums. For some reason I feel like this album gets overlooked by a lot of people because it is different from the first two albums. It tends to be more on the commercial side of things, yet he keeps the same cast of characters in the loop on this album.

Bulletproof Wallets starts off hard. “Maxine” hits you right upside the head if you are not prepared for it. This is storytelling at its finest. This is proof that GFK could quite possibly be your favorite rappers favorite rapper. With songs like “Maxine”, Ghostface should be the envy of a lot of rappers. “Never Be The Same Again” was the single off of the album. Amazingly enough, the lyrical content of the track should be the furthest thing from a mainstream single. But that is one of the gifts Ghost has. When you think of an album’s lead single you usually think of two things; a love song or a song about flossing and showing off. But Ghost hits us with the complete opposite and shows us a side of him that we may not have seen before. He’s letting us hear his pain and anger he has towards his ex-girl that cheated on him and really messed with his head. “The Forest” is a trip, to say the least. Drugs and cartoon characters in one track and Ghost really shows his range and his strengths with this song. This is a track that you could listen to 20 times and find something new and interesting with every listen. But in the midst of Ghost’s experimentation and singles, “The Juks” brings you that vintage Ghost you are always looking for. Classic hood track and it shows why Ghost isn’t one to be fucked with lyrically.

This album goes in a different direction than other Ghostface albums. A lot of people don’t when artists stray from their typical set-up but I think it takes more for an artist to do something different. And its not to say that Ghost comes close to selling out with this album. He keeps the lyrics real street and clever. But Bulletproof Wallets has many more up-tempo tracks and Ghost expands his content just a little bit. Raekwon is a staple on this album, once again, and he shows us why The Chef and Ghost are possibly Hip-Hop’s deadliest combo.

Overall score: 4/5

Standout Tracks:

“Maxine”

“Never Be The Same Again”

“The Forest”

“The Juks”