Ghostface Killah

Wu-Tang Clan has always been "nothing to fuck with." The Staten Island, New York hip-hop collective formed in 1992. The group's ringleader, The RZA, promised then that if the group was to break through commercially, each member would be able to establish a solo career. The group did break through commercially, as well as critically, and its influence and magnitude on hip-hop worldwide is unspeakably large. Some of the nine members (sadly now eight) went on to successful solo careers, while others still languish in the background, waiting for their moment to shine.

One member, Ghostface Killah, has led a rich solo career with seven albums of wildly imaginative raps and tricky tongue-twisting delivered with effortless ease. Though now a family man well into his 30s, the man of many aliases still writes the same hardcore street rhymes that disappeared from rap when it went big boasts and even bigger business in the late '90s. His critical acclaim resurged in 2006 when he released Fishscale, an album featuring those hard rhymes backed by booming Philly soul-sampled production. He has released two albums since - the most recent being December's The Big Doe Rehab - to equal acclaim.

Rap shows can sometimes be an aggravating affair with late starting times, a crowded stage filled with entourage members, and a hype-man growling over the performer, but it's all worth it when Dennis Coles steps out. Bounding from one end of the stage to the other, inviting girls to dance with him and waxing vulgarly about the state of the music industry, he has as much unbridled energy, if not more, than the average rock band that graces the stages of Athens every night. Ghostface Killah is without question a natural-born performer.

Scott Reid