2006 studio album by Ghostface Killah
More Fish is the sixth studio album by American rapper Ghostface Killah, released on December 12, 2006 through the Def Jam label. The album's name derives from Ghostface's earlier 2006 release, Fishscale. The track "Good", featuring Ghostface's fellow Theodore Unit member Trife Da God and Mr. Maygreen, and produced by Kool-Aid & Peanut, was the first single. It contains one track, "Josephine," which was originally featured on Hi-Tek's Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, but all other tracks are made of previously unreleased material.
The album features several appearances from the members of Theodore Unit (Cappadonna, Shawn Wigs, Trife Da God and Ghostface's teenage son, Sun God), as well as from Redman, Sheek Louch, Killa Sin, Kanye West and singers Amy Winehouse, Eamon, Ne-Yo and Mr. Maygreen. Production comes from Jim Bond, Hi-Tek, Kool-Aid & Peanut, Madlib, MF Doom, Mark Ronson, Lewis Parker, Xtreme, Fantom of the Beats, and Ghostface himself.
Critical reception
More Fish received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 77, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 21 reviews. Andy Kellman of AllMusic said, "Loosely speaking, More Fish is to Fishscale what Theodore Unit's 718 was to The Pretty Toney Album, albeit with more focus on Ghostface. While the title of this disc seems synonymous with Have Some Leftovers, it's not at all stale, if not nearly as spectacular as its precursor."[2] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said, "More Fish's lively assortment of odds and ends contains a few Fishscale-worthy gems, like the continental sophistication of the Mark Ronson-produced "You Know I'm No Good" and the MF Doom-produced "Alex," where Ghostface spins a head-spinning narrative so complex and detailed that it takes several listens to just to process everything. Fishscale was named after a particularly expensive and pure form of cocaine. More Fish's sonic fix is of a lesser quality, but it still packs a potent punch."[3] A. L. Friedman of PopMatters said, "Like any compilation, More Fish doesn’t make much of a statement, except maybe that Ghostface is prolific, and that similar collections may have been left on the cutting room floor from his earlier work. And that’s just frustrating. But all told, there’s enough to make this little Def Jam tax write-off worthy of a listen for anyone that liked Fishscale, not just Ghostface completists."[7]
Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media said, "Tucked away beneath the label's fourth-quarter heavy-hitters, More Fish is, appropriately, a fraction of the event Fishscale was. And while new material from one of the most consistent rappers of all time is always welcome, the new album's stealth release doubles as an admission of Ghost's limited commercial potential. The redundant title alone-- here ya go, More Fish!-- goes lengths to lower expectations."[6] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly said, "The Wu-Tang Clan’s most reliable warrior extends his string of triumphs with More Fish, the sequel to his March release, Fishscale. Six discs into his solo career, Ghostface Killah handily delivers everything that his fans expect: nostalgic soul samples, richly detailed scenes of street life, and an abundance of inventive wordplay (”A shark’s teeth ain’t sharp enough/I’m like Mount St. Helen when the god erupt”)."[4] Amanda Diva of XXL said, "Sometimes leftovers can be just as good as the original meal. Such is the case with Ghostface’s latest offering, More Fish. At first glance, this follow-up to last year’s Fishscale seems like nothing more than a Theodore Unit compilation, as names like Trife Da God and Sun God (Ghost’s son), as well as Wu-Tang affiliates Cappadonna and Killa Sin, flood the guest list. Despite the extra weight, Ghost still manages to pull off a surprisingly focused project."[11]
