The first Twelve Reasons to Die scanned like gangster fan fiction. It's Wu-Tang revisionist mob history, the rap equivalent of retroactively inserting Captain America into the World War II timeline. Longtime Ghostface Killah alter ego Tony Starks—Marvel's Iron Man, repurposed—acts as the enforcer for the DeLucas, a Cosa Nostra-esque crime family terrorizing 1960s Italy. He decides to set off on his own, falling in love with the boss's daughter in the process, and he is subsequently murdered by his former employer for his perceived treachery. Starks' ashes are then pressed into a dozen records, and when they are played he is resurrected as Ghostface, an embodiment of the departed's thirst for vengeance.
It sounds like something out of a comic because it is—this is the same rapper who named his debut after an Avenger and commissioned a Marvel artist to ink the artwork for Wu-Massacre. Ghostface has always been enamored with the medium, and his colorful storytelling lends itself well to sequential framing. But Twelve Reasons to Die was rough around the edges, trying to fit too many moving parts into its ambitious conceptual framework. It was limited by obtuse exposition and lazy transitions as transparent as a strip's "meanwhile…" panel. The second installment in the saga, Twelve Reasons to Die II, hits the reset button, hopping decades and time zones, recycling the original blueprint but recasting Ghostface as an anti-hero.
If Twelve Reasons to Die is a comic, then its sequel is the cinematic adaptation or a reboot of the franchise; the source material is the same, but the execution is tightened in places. It has a bigger-budget feel—stronger guests, better pacing, and a more careful consideration for its audience. RZA narrates the passages too tricky to rap. Adrian Younge warps thick '70s soul sounds into a concrete jungle. But mostly, T**RTD II is simply able to succeed where its predecessor failed with the benefit of hindsight. With a proper framing device, more capable bit players (Scarub and Chino XL), and closer attention to detail, Ghostface and Younge do a better job sketching out an alternate universe.
The key to TRTD II is Raekwon, who stars as Lester Kane, an upstart New York City kingpin at war with the DeLucas in the mid-'70s and a foil for Ghostface's Starks. Here, unlike on his recently released gaudy solo album, Fly International Luxurious Art*,* he is noticeably comfortable, penning engaging underworld scenes. He remains an asset to modern Ghostface, whose yarns don't string quite as far these days.
Peak Ghostface could tell an entire story in footnotes; this Ghostface is less subtle. But something happens to him rapping next to Raekwon: On "King of New York" he is as graphic as ever describing Kane ("the New York mob scene is just scared of his suits"). Seconds later, Rae chimes in as Kane, and the exchange breathes real life into the character, who plays a pivotal role in the plot. Raekwon's dense, barreling lyricism is perfect for the action sequences of "Return of the Savage" and "Blackout," where gunfire is exchanged in flurries. Ghostface is still sometimes hilariously literal on TRTD II ("Bash him with a disco ball/ It's the '70s!"), but when challenged, like on the Vince Staples-assisted "Get the Money", he still comes up with great writing.
Ghostface is the visible star at the center of the production, but he is backed by Adrian Younge, the silent star who stitches TRTD II together at the seams with his evocative soul instrumentation. His murky production does a lot of the heavy lifting dramatically: He creates the worlds in which these characters interact, and his work gives everything that happens texture. He chops sequence amplifiers all the way through the finale.
At the end of TRTD II (spoiler!), Ghostface Killah is reborn as a mortal man in the body of Lester Kane, opening the door for a potential third and closing act to this trilogy (RZA: "This is not the last we'll ever hear of Tony Starks/ In actuality, this is just the beginning"). If there is to be a TRTD III, hopefully it embraces the format and flow of this record.
