Melodious, blaring and irresistibly confident, Ghostface Killah doesn’t just have one of the best flows in Wu-Tang Clan, but one of the best in US rap full stop. And as he publishes a memoir, Rise of a Killah, and releases new album Set the Tone (Guns & Roses), he’ll be taking on your questions.
Born Dennis Coles in 1970 in Staten Island, New York, Ghostface grew up in poverty with a single mother: “Fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment, roaches everywhere,” as the autobiographical track All That I Got Is You would later have it. He went to prison for robbery aged 15, but after falling in with Robert Diggs, known as RZA, co-founded Wu-Tang Clan – it’s Ghostface’s voice ringing out on the first verse of side one, track one of their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).
Blending street tales of New York City with the iconography and mysticism of east Asian martial arts, the group remain peerless in US hip-hop, and as each member minted their own solo releases alongside the group’s central catalogue, Ghostface’s became some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful. 1996’s Ironman went platinum in the US and reached No 2 in the album chart, while 2000’s Supreme Clientele – released after a four-month return to prison for attempted robbery and a battle with diabetes – is many fans’ favourite Wu-Tang solo release. The Pretty Toney Album (2004) and Fishscale (2006) were also both US Top 10 hits (the latter also featured a number of collaborations with the late MF Doom, though a lost collaborative album between the pair has never materialised).
He’s steadily released solo material ever since, including Ghostdini, a detour into R&B with the likes of John Legend and Ne-Yo, and Sour Soul, a collaboration with jazz-funk band BadBadNotGood. There was discord over 2007 Wu-Tang Clan album 8 Diagrams – Ghostface criticised the release for clashing with his solo LP The Big Doe Rehab – but he has stayed in the fold for albums such as A Better Tomorrow. His reputation as a master of storytelling continued to grow and he was courted by Kendrick Lamar for Mr Morale & the Big Steppers, making the track Purple Hearts an album highlight. Set the Tone (Guns & Roses) is stacked with more legends, from Nas, Busta Rhymes and Kanye West to Wu-Tang compadres Raekwon and Method Man.
It all adds up to an extraordinary life with thousands of bars down the years – so there’s plenty to ask him about. Post your questions in the comments below before 6pm BST on Thursday 6 June, and we’ll publish his answers in the 14 June edition of the Film & Music section in print, and online.
