Today in Hip-Hop — November 13: Ghostface’s Bulletproof Wallets Turns 25, and 22 Years Without ODB

November 13, 2001. Ghostface Killah released Bulletproof Wallets, his third solo album, on his own Starks Enterprises through Epic. It turns 25 today. Here’s the first jewel, straight off the CD booklet: the album’s official name is Bulletproof Wallets featuring Raekwon. That’s why Rae isn’t listed as a feature on any song on the back cover. He’s billed on the whole record, and he’s one of its executive producers too.

Shaolin, Recorded in Miami

It was the hardest follow-up assignment in the Clan. Supreme Clientele had landed in 2000 and rewired what people expected from a Wu solo. Ghost answered with a record the liner notes say was cut entirely at Criteria Studios in Miami. Staten Island’s most abstract writer, cutting a whole album in Florida. The soul is up front: the intro flips Gamble & Huff’s “Stairway to Heaven,” the “Teddy” skit pulls from Gamble & Huff’s “Hope That We Can Be Together Soon,” and the second single, “Ghost Showers,” interpolates Browder and Darnell’s “Sunshowers.”

RZA is the anchor on the boards (“Maxine,” “Flowers,” “Walking Through the Darkness”), Mathematics brings “Theodore” and “Strawberry,” and then there’s the credit heads should circle. The Alchemist produced “The Forest” and “The Juks,” and the booklet credits both as “Produced for Al Chemist,” split into two words. One more receipt for the vinyl diggers: the original US LP’s back-cover tracklist is wrong. The correct running order is only on the labels. Ghost’s whole catalog is ranked in our every Ghostface Killah album ranked guide.

The Same Date, Three Years Later

November 13 is heavy for the Wu for another reason. On this day in 2004, Russell Jones, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, collapsed at RZA’s recording studio in New York City and died, two days before his 36th birthday. Twenty-two years later, nobody has come close to sounding like him. We told the stories behind his most iconic graphics in our ODB shirt guide.

Wear It

Bulletproof Wallets had to follow Supreme Clientele, the album that turned Pretty Toney’s stream-of-consciousness into scripture. We made a Ghostface Killah Supreme Clientele tee for the heads who know the run from Ironman to the Wallets by heart.

Also Today in Hip-Hop

• 2001: UGK, Dirty Money (25 years). Same day as the Wallets. It was the Port Arthur duo’s first album in five years after Ridin’ Dirty. Pimp C produced most of it himself, and the Discogs credits put Leo Nocentelli of the Meters on guitar on the opener, “Let Me See It.”
• 2012: Roc Marciano, Reloaded (14 years). Released on Decon. Marciano produced most of it, with Q-Tip, Ray West and The Alchemist (also an executive producer) in the mix, and Ka on the guest list. It’s a cornerstone of the drumless, luxury-noir lane.
• 2015: Redman, Mudface (11 years). Funk Doc put it out on his own Gilla House imprint and executive produced it himself, and his longtime collaborator Rockwilder is on the boards for “Wus Really Hood.”

Stay creative — The Custom Creative Team

Jon Jones