Ghostface Previews The Wizard of Poetry

Shortly before hitting the stage at New York City’s Nokia Theater last night (July 30), Ghostface Killah took time to preview his upcoming album, The Wizard of Poetry.

As XXLMag.com previously reported, the album will have an R&B feel to it, honing in on the types of songs that have been some of Ghost’s biggest records throughout his career. That doesn’t mean the Wu-Tang rep will be switching up his signature flow in favor of singing, though. “I just try to rap,” he shared during the listening session, “but I have R&B singers that did they thing [on the album] too.”

Features on the disc will include John Legend, Musiq Soulchild, and Ron Browz, among others. The first single, “Baby,”which became available in July, sees Tony Starks teaming up with Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Raheem Devaughn.

“I love it,” said Ghost of the decidedly different route he took with his upcoming eighth solo effort. In many ways, though, Pretty Toney is coming back to his bread and butter. “It’s like when I [worked] with Carl Thomas, the ‘All I Got Is You’ with Mary, and [working with] Ne-Yo. It’s like an album of that shit. It’s just a nice piece of work.

The Wizard of Poetry is scheduled to hit stands at September 29. -Adam Fleischer