In three weeks, Ghostface Killah’s 36 Seasons will be released by Tommy Boy Records. With AZ, Kool G Rap and Pharoahe Monch in the supporting cast, this is a lyrically-driven LP on paper. Similarly, with Lil Fame, 45 King, and The Revelations on the boards, beats appear to have a high pedigree.

Today, Tommy Boy unleashed a generous sampler, complete with six minutes of scratches and prolonged offerings of LP moments. Therein, Heads can hear Dennis Coles talk about the inside of jail walls, street ills, rival gangs, confrontations, and growth. With all of it, intricate instrumentation, hard drums, and interesting beats drive the car.

Wes Mingus of The Revelations (Wu Chamber Music, Cormega), had this to add about 36 Seasons:

“From the beginning, it was obvious that 36 Seasons was no ordinary Hip-Hop project. The initial meeting of the minds was not one that discussed producers, MC’s, or beats. Rather, the table was set for the album by Matthew Rosenberg, a comic book writer whose story would become the narrative backdrop of 36 Seasons. The Ghostface Killah had been re-imagined as a sort of Hip-Hop superhero for the 21st century–a Staten Island vigilante inspired by a quest for personal retribution and bent on saving his community from the grips of crooked authority and urban decay. This story, told in 15 stanzas, became the lyrical and musical backdrop for the songs on the album.

Musically, it was decided at the beginning that this would be a very non-traditional, more organic hip-hop album– one where all of the sounds created would be by real players, on real instruments, while still maintaining the spirit and boom-bap purity of classic hip-hop. No digital keyboards or samplers were used. Everything would be analog. All “samples” would be extracted from original music performed by live musicians–Brooklyn soul band The Revelations. While the natural performance and fluidity of a live band is evident on songs like ‘It’s A Thin Line Between Love and Hate’ and the curtain-closing ‘A Love For All Seasons,’ the beats of the other songs adhere more closely to the traditional sound of producer’s machine-derived beat. Only in this case, The Revelations become the beat machine, capable of creating an infinite amount of sounds or ‘samples’ to be used as the sonic tapestry for the song at hand. The result is a unique, organic sound that owes greatly to traditional, sample-based beat making, but with the warmth and humanity of a crack musical, ensemble cast. Just as the rappers play characters in this story, The Revelations set the stage sonically to reflect the given musical journey that is 36 Seasons.”

Related: Ghostface Killah To Drop A Hardcore Hip-Hop Album Really Soon, Unearths First Single (Audio)