The needle just dropped on Ghostface Killah No Face and it just came through the speakers on Hoodz Radio. A soul loop opens it up, the drums knock, and two voices from different corners of the culture share one record. It is in rotation now, so let’s break down what you are hearing.

Ghostface Killah No Face: The Story Behind the Record

“No Face” is a track on Ghostface Killah’s 2024 album Set the Tone (Guns & Roses), which came out on Friday, May 10, 2024, through Mass Appeal Records. The record features Kanye West, and the two trade verses over an EZ Elpee-produced beat.

The album is a 19-track project and Ghostface’s twelfth studio album. It was his first for Mass Appeal and his first full-length since 2019’s Ghostface Killahs, a gap of nearly five years. It landed on his 54th birthday.

The album was conceived after Ghostface’s prominent guest spots on Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers and Westside Gunn’s 10. A Wu-Tang veteran got on the mic, the culture took notice, and he went back to the lab.

Who Made No Face: Producers and Credits

EZ Elpee produced “No Face.” The single’s credits list EZ Elpee and Backpack as producers. On the album track, David Kim handled mixing, Mike Bozzi handled mastering and Ray Scavo handled recording.

The record runs 4:35 and sits at track 7 on Set the Tone.

No Face Samples: Delfonics and Melvin Bliss

The foundation of this record is crate-digger business.

  • The Delfonics, “Delfonics Theme”: From the 1972 album Tell Me This Is a Dream on Philly Groove. Multiple elements are sampled directly, and they run from the opening seconds and throughout the song.
  • Melvin Bliss, “Synthetic Substitution”: From the 1973 release on Sunburst. The drums come from this record and enter at 0:17.

That is the formula: a Philly soul sound for the warmth, and break drums for the knock. It is a pairing that fits Ghostface’s world, where soul samples and hard-hitting drums have always sat side by side. The station’s take: that mix gives both MCs a lane to move in, with the melody pulling you in and the drums keeping it grounded.

Ghostface and Kanye: The Third Link

This is not the first time these two have shared a record. “No Face” is the third Ghostface and Kanye West collaboration. The first two were 2006’s “Back Like That (Remix)” and 2012’s “New God Flow.”

Those records span almost two decades. Putting Ghostface and Ye on a beat again in 2024 is a reunion that people notice, and the record carries that history with it.

Release and Rollout: Where No Face Fits

The rollout moved quickly. The album was announced May 1, 2024, and the cover art and tracklist followed on May 6. Ghostface announced it with two pre-album singles: “YUPP!” featuring Remy Ma and “Scar Tissue” featuring Nas. “Scar Tissue” dropped May 3, 2024, and marked his first collaboration with Nas since 1995’s “Verbal Intercourse.”

“No Face” arrived as a standalone single on May 31, 2024, the album’s second single after “Scar Tissue.” Both the album and the single came out on Mass Appeal. Ghostface also promoted the project on Instagram and thanked the guests who helped put it together.

The guest list on Set the Tone runs deep:

  • Nas on “Scar Tissue”
  • Method Man on “Pair of Hammers”
  • Raekwon on “Skate Odyssey”
  • Fat Joe on “Cape Fear”
  • Ja Rule on “Bad Bitch”
  • AZ on “Locked In”
  • Busta Rhymes on “Shots”

Nas and Kanye are the two names that moved the conversation, so “Scar Tissue” and “No Face” carried much of the album’s early buzz.

How No Face Landed

Opinions are split, and that is part of the story. Critic Brad Callas called Kanye’s contribution “one of Ye’s best featured verses in years” and named the Ghostface and Kanye pairing a standout on the album. Kanye’s verse was also singled out among the album’s highlights at release.

Not everyone was sold. Some critics pushed back on Kanye West and Ja Rule being part of the album when it was announced. Listener scores reflect a divided room: the single scored a 53 from 492 ratings, and the album track scored a 64. Some listeners heard the sample-driven beat and the pairing as a highlight, and others did not connect.

This is hip-hop. People argue about records, and we like it that way.

Why It Stays in Rotation on Hoodz Radio

Here is the station’s take. “No Face” represents what this station is built on: a golden-era voice who is still active in 2024, meeting a modern figure over a beat rooted in soul and break-beat tradition. It honors the sample sources while sounding current.

Respect to Ghostface for continuing to put in work, to EZ Elpee and Backpack for the sound, and to the Delfonics and Melvin Bliss for the source material. The legacy is still being written, and records like this prove it.

Sources

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