Ghostface Killah Celebrates 25 Years Of His Debut Solo Album "Ironman"

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Ghostface Killah unleashes the 25th-anniversary edition of his solo debut album, "Ironman."

Wu-Tang Clan members have been celebrating several milestone anniversaries in recent years. In 2020, Raekwon and GZA celebrated the 25th anniversary of their solo debuts, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and Liquid Swords, respectively. The year before that, it was the 25th anniversary of Method Man's TICAL. Ghostface Killah is now celebrating the 25th anniversary of his 1996 debut album, Ironman. The debut from GFK was re-released on streaming services and includes a remix of the hit record, "All I Got Is You" ft. Mary J. Blige.

Ironman remains one of the most pivotal albums to be released in the 1990s. Ghost's vivid, and often amoral, storytelling helped bring RZA's cinematic production to life, with the help of Cappadonna and Raekwon, of course. During a recent interview with Billboard, Ghost explained how he was coming off of the success of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx while dealing with health issues, both physical and mental.

"Ironman was dark to me. The cover is colorful, but as far as the music, there was something going on there -- it was wrong," said Ghostface. "That's why I didn't get on a few of the records, like 'Assassination Day' [with RZA, Inspectah Deck and Raekwon] or 'Fasta Blade.' I couldn't write to those records. Rae did what he did on 'Fasta Blade' -- I couldn't come behind that, not feeling how I was feeling, so I left it there like that."

Check out the 25th-anniversary edition of Ironman below.


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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