Music

Ghostface Killah fires back at Martin Shkreli with 11-minute video

by Richard Howard

Martin Shkreli is succeeding in his quest to become “the world’s heel.” Following his company’s well-publicized price increase of the toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim by over 5,000%, Shkreli then unleashed his villainy on the music industry.

We first found out that the pharma-bro was a silent partner in Thursday frontman Geoff Rickly’s label, Collect Records. He was then revealed to have purchased the Wu-Tang Clan’s single-copy, $2 million album and subsequently threatened to destroy it.

Incredibly, when Wu member Ghostface Killah called Shkreli a “shithead” (that part wasn’t surprising at all), Shkreli came back at him hard (that part was). The pharmaceutical executive and alleged securities fraudster released a ludicrous video where he dismissed Ghostface as “washed up”, threatened him with masked “goons” and promised to erase Ghost off the album if he didn’t apologize.

Everyone’s been waiting with bated breath for the rapper’s reaction, with many guessing it would just be in the form of a straight-up physical beatdown. Turns out Ghost had a far more measured response in the works, and it’s glorious:

This is no hastily put together web video – with a loose script, cutaways and superimposed graphics, this thing has production value. But don’t worry – Ghostface goes in as only he can, calling Shkreli “the fake Peter Pan” and “the man with the 12-year-old body” while surmising he “must be on Ritalin” all before we’ve hit the one-minute mark. The rapper then gets serious, admonishing Shkreli for the Daraprim price increase.

In fact, his laser-focus on the topic and the fact that it’s “not right” seems a little odd. That is, until we cut to Ghost standing behind a display of his ‘Wu Goo’ CBD oil. Yep, much like the completely insane must-watch mock infomercial for Wu Goo’s far less legal THC cartridge, this video eventually turns into a promotional opportunity. It’s complete with an emotional testimonial and an invitation for Shkreli to join Ghost in helping “the people” (CBD is known for sharing THC’s medicinal properties without the psychoactive side effects).

Still, remembering this is a beef between a rapper and a guy nicknamed “The Pharma-Douche,” it doesn’t seem particularly in bad taste. Make sure to check out the three ‘goons’ Ghostface Killah chose to take on Shkreli’s crew.