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”
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
this is one GFK lp I’ve never listened to with the exception of the joint w/carl thomas which I liked. I’ll probably buy it today thanks for the review
the forest. word
Many moons ago, after I heard “Never Be The Same Again,” I went right out and picked up the album just off that first track. I was very pleased to discover “The Forest,” which put this, next to Supreme Clientele, as my GFK favs. Very nice review.
Messed up tracklist, uncleared samples, and poor promotion killed this album. If “The Watch”, “The Sun” and “Good Times” were included minus “Theodore”, “Love Sessions”, “Teddy’s (skit)” and “Ghost Shower” this would have been three near classic albums for Ghost. The three not included fit the theme/mood of this album imo.
Not sure why “The Watch” didn’t get cleared…maybe Barry White wanted too much money because Nas used it on his Lost Tapes a few years later. From my understanding RZA couldn’t remember what he sampled for “The Sun”.
Check Goon’s site for additional information about this album.
I Can’t wait for your Pretty Toney review.
The watch, the sun, and good times were classics. I like the other three that was on the joint as well
BONG. this is my fovirite review from you. I like the way you broke the joint down and how you pointed out that it was an experimental album for Ghost. You analyzed all the major details of the joint in a mad flavorful way. Nice pen game. Even though it’s a Raekwon joint i would love to see you break down Cuban Linx cause it’s a Ghost album too.
I still love this album till this day but Thomas was right about the setbacks. The tracks that did’nt make the cut would have taken this album from incredible to flawless masterpiece level. It still bangs retardedly though and it was great to hear Ghost and Rae go in together again. Plus “maxine” is just too sick and one of his hardest songs ever.
Appreciate the feedback yall. I love this album. top to bottom i think its great!
My thoughts on what tracks should have been replaced by the unreleased joints change all the time. There are a solid 8-9 tracks to me.
We used a lot of Ghost’s music for this time frame for the comps. There was a lot of good music from him during this time.
Good review Beads….waiting for the next one.