Obviously constructed with the same bricks if not from the same blueprints, Hip Hop and poetry contain the same elements. Maya Angelou, Amiri Baracka, Ghostface Killah. All tell stories of woe, success, experience lifestyle and culture with the fluidity and contained urgency of true craftsman. With his latest solo effort, Ghostdini: The Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City Ghost aka Tony Starks has bridged the gap of greatness by fusing the willing partners of Hip Hop and R&B.

The touch of Emerald City gives thoughts to a world of proverbial Hip Hop utopia. A place achieved through certain steps, sacrifices and ultimate gain. Sex, love, money, and all of the above, are present and gifts from the wizard in this place of perfection. With this new project, Ghostface aims to bring description and lure to a world un-moved by substitutes.

Creating art that focuses on the interruption of the lyrical abstract, the MC waters the metaphorical earth of Hip Hop Soul.  Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City will be released September 29th and boasts guest appearances from Raheem DeVaughn, John Legend, Estelle, Lloyd, Fabolous and others. You've never heard the Staten Island born, Stapleton projects bred MC like this.

Ghostface Killah chops it up with Yo! Raps about the new album, beat selection and the art of storytelling.

Ghostface: It's called the Wizard Of Poetry. It's a mature album. I call it an R&B Hip Hop album. There's a lot of different kind of songs. Different from your average crack spot and talking about your guns type of songs. We have John Legend on it, Estelle, Raheem DeVaughn, Lloyd, Fabolous, Adrienne from 3LW, it's a nice album.

I just saw the Stapleton Sex video, one of the songs on the album. It's really...sexual. You were going in huh?

Yeah, you gotta go in. It's one of the situations I wrote about. It's just one song that's like that and then I keep it moving. The beat made me do it really. I had no idea, I just came into a beat and then went ahead and wrote it.

Considering you've never done a full R&B album before, what was beat selection like?

I just go through a lot of music. I tell people I'm looking for R&B tracks and then they say, "I got it, I got it, I got it" and I just go through and choose what I think would feel good to me. I didn't want to go overboard. If you listen to a R&B album you would get the impression that I'm singing. I wasn't careful on what I chose, I know what R&B I like and I did what I had to do and it was over with. The beat chose themselves really, I just did my thing. I like R&B a lot so I know what I think it should sound like.

What do you think about Hip Hop being considered poetry?

Poetry is more or less when you describe a topic, for example, when I did All That I've Got with Mary J. Blige that's like some real ass ghetto poetry. When I'm telling my stories, that's more or less where the gap is bridged. If you can talk about your jeans and cars and how much money you've got you should be able to talk about anything. They don't know how to come out of that. You've got to be able to do it the same way. I don't care if I'm at the beach in Cancun somewhere, you gotta keep it street and abstract. That's where the line is drawn. People have to lean over and get to that other place. If you tell someone to write about how they think the world was built or, I don't give a fuck, being in a CVS or Walgreens, they should be able to do it. If they don't know how to juggle and go there, they're not very descriptive. It's about telling a story and I know how to do that.

You've done a few tracks of this nature but really, this is a new venture you. How do you think this album will be received?

I'm not really too sure. Right now I'm just doing what I gotta do, being Ghostface, you know, Tony Starks. This album is not for the fans. Yes I did have fans that say, "I like more of those other songs," I mean, not a lot of them but you know, there's a lot of female songs. I always wanted to do this project. Now that I get a chance to do it, this is where I'm going with it.

When showing a lot of diversity with the subject matter, it opens doors to a whole new demographic of people don't you think?

I mean yes it definitely opens the door. It gives more insight into people that have never heard of me and even people that have heard of me, they never knew I could come in this lane. It's definitely going to open the door. It's good because now I can balance out the scale. Even if people aren't appealed to it, it's something that I like to do anyway. It's like someone telling me, "Don't wear that." If I'm a grown ass man I'll wear whatever the fuck I wanna wear. This album is a bunch of songs that's like, Back Like That with Ne-Yo. Fabolous does it, a few other artists try and do it, this is my interpretation of it.  The way I'm doing it, no one else is. I hope people like it, it's fresh, it's new, it's a whole other level.

Then what's your perception of the music climate, not even sales based, but music content in general?

I mean I feel that it's lost. I feel like there's no creativity or content. It's the same old shit, nothing that inspires you to write. There's no inspiration behind none of this shit. It's just music that's out there. You got dance records and the jerk, shake, I'm A Jerk whatever the fuck all that shit is but there's no content or inspiration behind that shit. There's nothing out that that makes me want to go out and buy somebody's album. Nothing that makes me excited about music in terms of content.

Can you remember the last album you bought?

It wasn't no rap album, I'll tell you that. It was probably some old music Stylistics or something at a truck stop that I've found. I don't buy music like that you know? Unless it's old music or what I really wanted to hear but I don't buy music like that. That's why I'm excited about this project, to be inspired by music again.

Ghostdini: The Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City drops September 29th.

Exactly. I'm good, you can check me out on YouTube, Twitter, all of that. Wizard Of Poetry on September 29th, it's a good look. I'm on the road so will be on tour soon and in your city real soon, Tony Starks.

- By Maxine Ross.