More Fish

*More Fish* functions as an addendum to its predecessor — 2006’s well-received *Fishscale* — but its fast-and-loose approach suits Ghostface, whose prolificacy is fueled by his stream-of-consciousness technique. If *Fishscale* felt like a marquee concert, then *More Fish* is the after-hours jam session, held in the alley behind the venue. Where even the dirtiest beats on *Fishscale* had an underlying feeling of grandeur, *More Fish* is intentionally quick and messy. “Guns n’ Razors,” “Good” and “Block Rock” are rushed and gritty, and have the cacophonous energy of a foot chase through the inner city. Other parts of the album are more stately: “Greedy Bitches” and a remix of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good” give the rapper the opportunity to lay into some slowed-down, in-the-pocket funk. Throughout the album, Ghostface is surrounded by Theodore Unit, his personal rhyme posse, but rather than detract from the star, henchmen like Trife Da God, Shawn Wigs and Sun God serve to enliven their leader. If spontaneity is the lifeblood of rap music, then *More Fish* shows the essence of Ghostface.

Second record of the year from this Wu-Tang member isn't so much his sixth solo album as it is a glorified mixtape or the follow-up to 2004's Theodore Unit disc, 718.

Def Jam is positing More Fish as a sequel to Ghostface Killah's rapturously received (albeit commercially disappointing) Fishscale. But it feels more like a high-end major-label mix-tape, and not just because it begins with Ghost machine-gun rhyming over a beat made famous by another rapper—Eric B and Rakim's "Juice…

Loosely speaking, More Fish is to Fishscale what Theodore Unit's 718 was to The Pretty Toney Album, albeit with more focus on Ghostface.