Twenty-five years ago today, on Nov. 13, 2001, Ghostface Killah released Bulletproof Wallets, his third solo album, through Starks Enterprises and Epic Records, per Wikipedia.
It had a tough job. It arrived right after Supreme Clientele (2000), the album a lot of Wu heads still call Ghost’s best. Instead of trying to remake that record, Tony Starks went somewhere warmer.
What Made It Different
The lead single, “Never Be the Same Again,” put Ghost and Raekwon next to Carl Thomas for a smooth, grown R&B record. “Love Session” with Ruff Endz kept that lane open. AllMusic’s John Bush went as far as calling it basically a party album compared to the usual Wu-Tang darkness.
But Ghost never went soft. “Maxine” and “Flowers” (with Raekwon, Method Man and Superb) brought the RZA-produced grit, and The Alchemist handled “The Forest” and “The Juks.” Mathematics produced “Theodore” and “Strawberry,” and “Ghost Showers” became the second single. The samples are a soul crate on their own: the O’Jays, Bobby Womack’s “Across 110th Street,” Donny Hathaway, Ann Peebles and Michael Jackson’s “Maria” on “The Hilton.”
The Numbers
Bulletproof Wallets debuted at No. 34 on the Billboard 200 with about 76,000 copies in its first week and climbed to No. 2 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Critics were mostly into it: Vibe gave it 4.5 out of 5, Spin an 8 out of 10 and Robert Christgau an A-minus in The Village Voice.
The IAHHM Take
This is the most underrated album in Ghost’s catalog. It sits between Supreme Clientele and The Pretty Toney Album (2004), so it rarely gets its flowers, but it showed something important: a Wu-Tang MC could make records for the ladies without losing an ounce of his voice. You can draw a line from “Never Be the Same Again” to Ghost’s later soul-heavy work and to every street rapper who learned to love a good R&B hook.
The Wu family is still moving, too. Method Man just showed up in Kash Doll’s “I’m the Prize” video. And if you’re on an anniversary kick this week, check out our look back at A Tribe Called Quest’s final album.
So where does Bulletproof Wallets rank for you in the Ghostface discography? Top three, or nah?
Sources: Wikipedia | AllMusic | XXL
