Sound Colour Vibration (Music | Art | Film | Technology | Science | Culture)

Twelve Reasons to Die tells the story of a 1960’s superhero played dirty. It is the story of vengeance, love, power and metaphysical mysticism. The story is placed inside of a noir horror Italian film with Ennio Morricone doing a B-side black exploitation soundtrack…oh, and all of it somehow remains raw hip hop.

The plot and vision are a lot to take, and respectfully, a lot is given. It is clear from its cinematic beginning that Adrian Younge plays the role of the heavily knowledgeable director while Ghostface is the definitive All Star actor who makes Younge’s vision congruently possible. Younge is no newcomer to soundtracks. He did the incredibly soulful Black Dynamite Soundtrack in 2009. If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend “Jimmy’s Dead”. Younge is known for his Curtis Mayfield psychedelia and strategic compositions. Ghostface hardly needs an introduction as he is one of Wu-Tang Clan’s most prolific and emotive MC’s. The chemistry is nothing short of progressive brilliance and the result is a masterpiece that will most likely not be credited as such for years to come.

Pretty Toney’s emotional poetry is fueled by his signature spice and rawness. But this time, his lyrics are clearer. They are direct and informative rather than metaphorical. He walks us through the rise and fall of the Ghostface Killah. The love of his life betrays him to the kingpin of the mafia he used to work for. See, Ghostface was growing too fast, his vines spreading too far on their own, so the mafia family decided to cut them off before he’d become larger than the mafia that birthed him.  Ghostface is murdered and then plastered onto twelve different records that are given to the twelve different members of the family. Unknown to these soon to be doomed souls, when the records are played, Ghostface rises from the death and claims his revenge, clutching his broken heart while wielding a dirty butcher knife spilling foul blood all over an Italian cobblestone street. On Twelve Reasons, the story comes first.

You can separate the pieces that make Twelve Reasons a success fairly easily. For starters, you have RZA, the producer. He brings his classic kick upon the audio film, dosing it with Shaolin. You have Tony as the lead role. You have supporting actors Mastah Killa, U-God, Cappadonna, William Hart, Killa Son and Inspectah Deck.  You have the director, Adrian Younge who orchestrates sounds from his immense library around these colorful characters. Together, you have an amazingly original movie.

While Adrian Younge is more concerned with the composition, Ghostface is submerged within the story, making its tongue-in-cheek plot emotional and heart felt. Thirst and love for music hold the album together. More importantly than the theory, the feeling and history of music hold up the staggeringly well made treasure. It is rich in artifacts that have otherwise been lost and underrated. As J Dilla has stated, there are so many unknown, great artists that just never had the chance to explode. Adrian Younge is no different. He references occult and obscure movie soundtracks to create, or rather, compose a heavily dynamic album that allows the influences to seep through but not dominate the unique mash up of hip hop and vinyl rarity.

Ghostface has been and will most likely remain my favorite rapper of all time for a number of reasons. Primarily, it is his flow and continual reproduction of incredible, solid albums. The thing with Tony is that he isn’t in it for the hits; he is in it for the entire album. He makes legitimately solid songs that form a beautiful piece of work, a compelling and flow-ridden story. And he does it time and time again. He is consistent, almost impeccable. “It’s the first time in my life I tried something like this,” says Ghostface on NPR about the album. It seems like everything Ghostface does is a first. He is not scared to venture and discover outlandish possibilities within the structure of what makes him so good to begin with.

He doesn’t mind bending around the corners, releasing an album with an ongoing comic book saga, an incredible video referencing occult, satanic witch rituals or a poetic R&B album. Tony Starks is a super hero in a real life setting, venturing into experimental realms of hip hop without flitching. He always comes out shining, his armor red and yellow, a swarm of bees buzzing around him. Together, Ghostface and Younge have generated one of the years best releases, one that will most likely become a hip hop relic. An odyssey in experimentation and class.

In short, “Twelve Reasons to Die” is nothing to fuck with.

-Xavi Vilaplana

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Directed by Adrian Younge

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