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| Ghostface
Killah |
I have
always been mystified by the one they call Ghostface Killah.
I mean, I’ve always wanted to know what was going on
behind those large luminous eyes that seemed to only be telling
you half of his story. And Ghost is quite fine with that.
Being illusive has never been done with so much finesse: he
gives the fans what they want; has them feein for his return, gets
madd respect from everybody and still does “his” thing.
Face it, only Ghostface Killah b.k.a Tony Starks a.k.a Dennis
Coles can flip scripts from the smooth to the grimy, ambiguous to
tactical, mainstream to underground, enlightened to the larger
than life pimped-out persona all in one verse.
Yeah, the bathrobe don is a man of many faces and on the
verge of his upcoming Def Jam debut Pretty
Tony, he evinces another-one that is finally at peace.
I caught up with the Wallabee king on the eve before
shooting the video for his second single “Push,” featuring
Missy Elliot and what I got was straight from the heart.
LJC:
According to some critics you didn’t fully distinguish yourself
until Raekwon’s Only Built
For Cuban Linx, what do you think makes you so unique and has
the fans coming back for more?
GFK:
Probably because I’m not like a lot of other rappers, it’s
like when I do my music, I’m a universal cat, I know how to take
brothers and sisters through different avenues.
I don’t got to just stay on this- I shot you this many
times, or I did this, I robbed you on this and that and the third,
nah I could get on some wildflower shit I could get in that realm,
I could get on some like how I did with Mary J. “All I Got is
You.”
A lot of brothers came at me like ‘yo I
cried off of that right there,’ and that was ill because I made
somebody touch an emotion naw mean? I made water leak out the next
person’s eyes. Then you got “Ice Cream,” I got joints I did
with Carl Thomas, it’s like I could go any way without even
having to play myself. So,
I think that in the way I do my music and my skits and probably
sometimes in my slang too so I think that it’s just everything
all in one, that’s why I think fans sometimes like to check for
a me and shit.
LJC:
What makes your new album Pretty
Tony so pretty?
GFK:
It’s like you know they call me Tony Starks and all that
and at the same time I ‘m a fan of The
Mack and my man Pretty Tony they did him dirty in The
Mack but at the same time he was like the illest nigga to me
in The Mack and shit, but I was watching it and I just kinda like put
two and two together and I was like okay that’s what we gone
name it; we gone name it the Pretty Tony album.
Plus they know how I do, you know I could be anywhere; at
the video shoot or somewhere fly, them niggas know how I come
through, cause my dress code is always, always up to par naw I’m
sayin? So they know me for that, even when I throw my rings and
shit on and get Slick Rick-ed out on these niggas and shit - they
know- the whole game know. So
it’s like it all coincides with each other and that’s how it
came like, f***k it we goin do a Pretty Tony album.
LJC:
What is the Theodore Unit for those of us that don’t
know?
GFK:
That’s my team. That’s my team of MC’s that’s coming up under my belt
from Staten Island; from the same project too.
I came with the name cause you know you got a lot of names
out there that don’t mean shit a lot of the times so we was like
we goin take on the Theodore because the only thing I need around
me is the thinkers and doers.
So, when I came with the Theodore I’m like yo,
’that’s what it’s goin to be,’ just thinkers and doers and
let it just manifest itself.
It’s like you can take Old Dirty Bastard-it’s like your
name becomes you after awhile, I don’t care what name it is.
They call me Ghost, and the more they called me that the
more it’s like yo the nigga is really on some real live other
shit, so you become that after awhile.
So I rather instill Thoedore in em –the thinkers and
doers-so that they can keep shouting that out because I don’t
need nobody else around me that’s not thinking for us, for the
crew, or nothing like that, and if we goin think it, then let’s
do it -if it’s right. So
that’s all I need around the kid.
LJC:
How did the bathrobe become like your signature staple?
GFK:
I’ve been rocking robes since “Criminology” and all
that. Like I said
I’m a fly nigga, it’s like robes and a lot of fly shit has
always been in my realm because it’s like the 80’s was like my
years. It was like it just became accustomed to me. I used to go
outside with my shit on- that was before I even had fly robes and
all that shit. People
wasn’t really understanding until after “Criminolgy” when I
did that video with me and Rae and then after that it was on.
I don’t know that’s just me, people still think I’m
still crazy. I just
have a different style then other brothers out here; I just like
to be me.
LJC: Your second single “Push,”
features Missy. What was it like working with her?
GFK:
I wasn’t there with Missy. I sent the track to Missy and let
Missy do it. It was hard trying to get at Missy. Nobody would give
me no numbers on her and then finally my man got a number to
somebody and I just left a message on there on some like yo just
let her just hear the joint, if she don’t like it, just say I
don’t like it, and that’s that, at least I know I got a
response from her. They called back like alright she just want to hear it- that
type shit, so they got it to her, she heard it, and she just loved
it. So she gave me
back my shit with her verse on it like the next day.
I wrote it with her in mind that’s why I didn’t want
nobody else on it but her, and that was it and she did it.
Yeah, she rocked it.
LJC: Spiritually where are you now and
how has that helped you deal with your life?
GFK:
Spiritually I’m at peace with the Father.
Because I know that he exists and I know that I’m not
here just to be here, there’s a reason for everything.
I used to be wild back then doing a bunch a shit, but I had
to learn. I
guess as you get older and being closer to Father you humble
yourself to certain situations in life. So, that is what I did;
humbled myself to a lot of things.
I don’t react as fast as I would back in the days.
You got to think if I’m trying to walk the righteous
path, there’s a lot of sacrifices I gotta make weather that
calls to swallow my pride or whatever.
Don’t get me wrong someone might press the wrong button
here and there and it might got to jump off like that, but 97% of
the time I might just chill or let it slide, or tell my man just
leave it alone. Just
becoming closer to the Father, knowing who is, the reason why
I’m here, and what he has given me and blessed me with, I am so
grateful for knowing all that. That is what humbles me because I don’t take nothing for
granted.
LJC:
Where do you find your peace?
GFK:
Writing rhymes, being around my family and my kids.
I like to watch movies, try new things, like walk the beach
at night with my headphones on when I’m in Miami and chill. Just
walking where its open, no buildings, no nothing, you just looking
at the sky, and the water and you just talking to yourself,
sometimes you have a
talk with God when things is free like that . I might come back
with an answer that I have been searching for the longest, that
gives me that peace of mind.
I wrote a lot of music on the beach like that with nobody
around, just me and my radio…yeah that right there is the best
ever. If nobody ever tried that shit, they need to try it.
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