Banana Nutrament: The Genius Of Ghostface Killah’s Pre-Verse Ad Libs
The beat to “Biscuits” drops and we hear Ghostface Killah angrily exclaim: “Yo… Who the fuck brought me this chocolate shit, man? I said Banana Nutrament!”
As Ghostface ad libs go, this is typical. Humor and irony expressed at once through his trademark inflection. And while Ghostface is known for his humorous ad libs just as much as his own distinct brand of Wu-dialect, it’s his ad libs that offer the most insight to his performance method.
Verse intros have long been an important component in the art of rapping. How a rapper begins a verse, especially the first verse, is critical. And sometimes, the ad lib before for the verse intro is even more critical. Depending on the complexity of the verse to come or the mood and persona that a rapper wants to establish, the ad lib can be a simple word, think “Yo!” or a four-count of “Yo’s” like “Yo…Yo…Yo…Yo,” or even just “Ungh…” Ad libs can also be lead-in conversations or brief skits.
The purpose of intro-verse ad libs is mainly to set the persona, mood, and pace of the rhyme to come. Ghostface also uses intro-verse ad libs for the same reason. But he also uses his conversational-style ad libs as a means for converting humor and irony into a special performance method, a method that allows him to maintain the same conversational authenticity in the verses that follow. And not only that, as a performance mechanism, Ghostface’s conversational-style ad scheme helps him establish an uncanny sense of timing and a high level of consistency with his tone.
Lots of rappers actually rhyme off beat; and the best rappers know how to rhyme to two beats at once: the instrumental beat and the beat (rhythm) in their head. For those rappers in the latter category, rhyming to two beats at once requires a system. For some, this system is verbal dexterity with superb breath control; think Black Thought and Nas. For others, it’s patience with the natural flow of words; think Mos Def and Da Baby. Still, others bend and highlight their unique voice; think Guru and DMX. While Ghostface, just like all skillful lyricists, uses all of these subsystems to a larger or lesser degree, his sense of humor is actually one of the primary ways that he manages his overall rhyme flow. A flow, mind you, that often contains inside Wu-language and slang, along with ruptured phrases that make you laugh while seeing the imagery he that recounts:
“Heavy Rain fucked my kicks up/ Wasn’t looking, Bitch was laughing/.. My first thought was to beat the bitch up/Moseyed off gracefully/New York’s most wanted cheeba hawk/
Seen the yellow brick road, I stole the pastries/Same Ghostface, holy in the mind Last seen Manhattan Chase/Withdrew the six-eight digit in the briefcase/Rawness, title is Hell-bound
Quick to reload around faces, surround look astound…”Ghostface Killah – “Apollo Kids”.
To get a better understanding of Ghostface’s ad-lib scheme, how he uses it, how dominant it is, and why it’s so effective, I have included four of my favorite Ghostface per-verse ad libs below.
The music and videos below are presented here for the purpose of scholarship.
Ghostface Killah feat. Trife Da God — “Biscuits” (prod. by True Master)
Ghostface Killah feat. Raewkon — “Apollo Kids” (prod. by Hassan)
Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon – “Kilo” (prod. by MoSS)
Ghostface Killah feat. Black Thought – In the Park (prod. by Frank Dukes)