In 2000, Ghostface Killah was riding high as one of the best MCs on the planet. He was an integral member of the Wu-Tang Clan, a group who were once to hip-hop what Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan were to football: fearsomely intense, fearlessly innovative and utterly dominant. Four years earlier, he released Ironman, a debut LP that had established him as one of the pre-eminent storytellers of his age. His next record would surely be another album in that same vein, a winning blend of killer slang and thrilling anecdotes.
Right? Wrong. Because Ghostface made a significant change to his style and got even better.