The Big Doe Rehab (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

The Big Doe Rehab builds on the blueprint of Fishscale, the popular 2006 album that reignited Ghostface’s career by focusing on his strengths: in-depth, stream-of-consciousness storytelling overlaid on beats built from vintage soul songs. A good chunk of the album was produced by the Hitmen, who oversaw Jay-Z’s similarly-conceived 2007 album American Gangster. Every song here is based on a lick, rhythm or vocal line cribbed from a dusty slab of R&B vinyl. Music fans might recognize Aretha Franklin on “Yolanda’s House,” Johnny “Guitar” Watson on “Supa GFK,” or Isaac Hayes on “Rec-Room Therapy,” but a larger number of songs rely on long-forgotten gems by the Originals, the Independents, and Soul Generation. The consistency in production inspires some of Ghostface’s most precise storytelling. “Yolanda’s House” begins as a fugitive chase, turns into a sex romp, and finally ends as multiple crimes converge at one address. “Walk Around,” on the other hand, is a lucid portrait of a man haunted by the murder he committed. The Big Doe Rehab shows Ghostface's art deepening as he ages.