Ghostface may not have been the best MC the Wu-Tang Clan produced (the owner of that title passed away last November), but he's well on his way to becoming the most reliable. He rebounded from 2001's dismal Bulletproof Wallets with last year's magnificent Pretty Toney Album, a record that paid tribute to classic soul by copping tracks whole and leaving them virtually unaltered. He's also steadily toughened and honed his delivery; his voice was fierce and steely on Supreme Clientele, but these days, he raps like he's being chased. He seems constantly out of breath, hollering syllables like the bridge is collapsing out from under him. Witness "The Mask," his collaboration with MF Doom on the latter's DangerDoom project. Doom maintains his stoner bark — charming in its own right — but Ghostface seizes the track out from under him, his voice stretched so hard so fast that at certain points you can practically hear it snap. Crowned with superhero fanfare and gilded with curlicue spy guitars, "The Mask" is the theme song for 21st-century espionage.

"The Mask" is one of the best songs on The Mouse and The Mask by DangerDoom — which is saying a lot. If he feels like it, Ghostface will play the TLA on Friday.