Album review: 36 Seasons (Ghostface Killah)
SINGAPORE — The follow-up to 12 Reasons To Die, 36 Seasons chronicles the further misadventures of 60s Italian gang enforcer Tony Starks. This time around, Starks returns to Staten Island after nine years to seek a quiet life but he finds this difficult to accomplish. Interspersed with rap narratives like The Battlefield, Love Don’t Live Here No More, Here I Go Again and Loyalty are “proper” tunes that serve as musical touch points, such as a version of The Persuaders’ A Thin Line Between Love & Hate, Bamboo’s Lament and I Love You For All Seasons, where Killah does not even perform. Produced lovingly in the style of ‘70s soul/R&B, much of 36 Seasons comes across like a nostalgic time capsule that reflects poignantly on modern life. Rock equivalents for these kinds of concept albums abound and it is satisfying always to witness how rap/hip-hop can be employed in such a creative fashion.
Ghostface Killah’s 36 Seasons.
SINGAPORE — The follow-up to 12 Reasons To Die, 36 Seasons chronicles the further misadventures of 60s Italian gang enforcer Tony Starks. This time around, Starks returns to Staten Island after nine years to seek a quiet life but he finds this difficult to accomplish. Interspersed with rap narratives like The Battlefield, Love Don’t Live Here No More, Here I Go Again and Loyalty are “proper” tunes that serve as musical touch points, such as a version of The Persuaders’ A Thin Line Between Love & Hate, Bamboo’s Lament and I Love You For All Seasons, where Killah does not even perform. Produced lovingly in the style of ‘70s soul/R&B, much of 36 Seasons comes across like a nostalgic time capsule that reflects poignantly on modern life. Rock equivalents for these kinds of concept albums abound and it is satisfying always to witness how rap/hip-hop can be employed in such a creative fashion.
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