Ghostface Killah Is the Ultimate ‘Rap Kingpin’ on First ‘Supreme Clientele 2’ Track

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Ghostface Killah has announced the long-awaited sequel to his 2000 classic, Supreme Clientele, with the album slated to arrive Aug. 22 via Mass Appeal.

The Supreme Clientele 2 announcement was accompanied by the release of a first single, “Rap Kingpin,” which features some characteristically dense, over-the-top, and reference-stuffed Ghostface bars (e.g. “Ghost is global, classic, soulful/Teddy Pendergrass on wax with the nasty vocals”). The track also incorporates samples of Eric B & and Rakim’s “My Melody” and Ghostface’s own “Mighty Healthy,” a highlight off the original Supreme Clientele.

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“Supreme Clientele was a frame of mind and era in time,” Ghostface said in a statement. “You could never duplicate that feeling, but you can tap back in. We dug in the files from years ago and pulled together a Clientele that is Supreme! Get ready, Supreme Clientele 2 is now.”

While it’s been 25 years since the rapper dropped the original Supreme Clientele, the sequel is set to arrive fast on the heels of the Wu-Tang rapper’s 2024 solo record, Set the Tone (Guns & Roses). The new album will feature an array of guests, too, including Nas, Raekwon, Method Man, GZA, Redman, Conway The Machine, Styles P, M.O.P., and Dave Chappelle.

Speaking with Rolling Stone last year, Ghostface revealed that he’d been working on Supreme Clientele II for years, saying some tracks are 16 or 17 years old. “Every track is jewelry. It’s rare pieces of art,” he said, adding: “It’s vintage, but it sounds spanking new when you catch it. I think with that right there, we going to stamp hip-hop from what my generation know it is, know it to be, and just put the nail in the coffin with that. I don’t think there might ever be one of those kinds of records [again].”

Earlier this summer, Ghostface reunited with the Wu-Tang Clan for what was billed as a farewell tour marking the last time all eight living members of the hip-hop crew will hit the road together.

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