Legendary founding member of Wu Tang Clan Ghostface Killah has penned a graphic novel.
Born plain Dennis Coles, Ghostface Killah took his name from the 1979 film ‘Mystery Of Chessboxing’. Raised in the Stapleton projects in New York the rapper became involved with Wu Tang Clan almost from the group’s inception.
Having a starring role on the band’s debut album ’36 Chambers’ the rapper would go on to have a successful solo career. With Wu Tang periodically re-uniting Ghostface Killah has been a near-permanent figure on the hip hop scene for two decades.
Debut solo album ‘Ironman’ was released back in 1996. Part of a flood of Wu Tang releases, the record stood out from the crowd due to Ghostface Killah’s inventive stream of consciousness style.
Releasing albums intermittently ever since, recently Ghostface Killah has begun experimenting with new sounds. Taking on board R&B influences, the rapper even went as far as dropping ‘Killah’ from his name.
Currently putting the finishing touches to his new album – modestly titled ‘The Wizard Of Poetry’ – the rapper has found the time to collaborate on a new graphic novel. Co-written with Marion Chapman and Shauna Garr, ‘Cell Block Z’ is about a boxer battling for survival.
Here the blurb via Hachette Book Group:
“To his fans, Cole Dennis is a heavyweight contender with a devastating right hook. To a city being held hostage to chaos and terror, Dennis has a grit and charisma that make him the shining hope for justice – until he is arrested for a brutal murder.”
“Framed for a crime he did not commit, he finds himself captive in a foreboding high-tech superprison whose masters secretly conspire to turn inmates into tomorrow’s most terrifying bioweapons – with Cole Dennis as the intended prize specimen.”
“But Dennis is nobody’s lab rat. Reborn as a towering engine of destruction, Dennis will prepare for the fight of his life. He will rename himself Ghostface Killah. And his cry of righeous rage will echo beyond the cold steel walls of Cell Block Z.”
So Ghostface Killah has named a superhero… after himself. Well you would, wouldn’t you?
‘Cell Block Z’ is available in the United States from July 29th.
