Like the Genius' Liquid Swords, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx takes a few listens to reveal the full scope of its lyrical complexities, but it's immensely rewarding in the end, and it stands as a landmark in the new breed of gangsta rap.
RAEKWON: When we sat down and did 'Striving for Perfection', we knew how important the intro to an album is. There are plenty of highlights along the way - the singles "Criminology" and "Ice Cream," the gentle "Rainy Dayz," the influential posse cut "Wu-Gambinos" - and everything culminates in "Heaven & Hell" and its longing for redemption. On the 10-year anniversary of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.s release, we spoke with Raekwon and his collaborators for their reflections and insights on the creation of this hard-boiled hip-hop classic. Cuban Linx's first-person narratives are filled with paranoia, ambition, excess, and betrayal, fast rises and faster falls. If you haven't listened to said classic, check it out now. Like most classics in rap or hip-hop, Raekwon's fist joint ages like fine wine. ' Only Built 4 Cuban Linx ' is still an amazing album. The album was loosely composed to play like a film with Raekwon as the star, fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah as the guest-star, and producer RZA as the. Behind them, RZA contributes some of the strongest production work of his career, indulging his taste for cinematic soundscapes in support of the album's tone his tracks are appropriately dark or melancholy, shifting moods like different scenes in a film. After several years (and delays) Raekwon the Chef (along with Tony Starks) releases his second masterpiece. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released on August 1, 1995, by Loud Records and RCA Records. Cuban Linx's portraits of big-money drug deals and black underworld kingpins living in luxury had an enormous influence on the new New York hardcore scene, especially Mobb Deep and Nas, the latter of whom appears here on the much-revered duet "Verbal Intercourse." The fellow Clan members who show up as guests are recast under gangster aliases, and Ghostface Killah makes himself an indispensable foil, appearing on the vast majority of the tracks and enjoying his first truly extensive exposure on record. Last year she opened a permanent location in Petworth, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and later leased a permanent location in Silver Spring. Raekwon wasn't the first to make the connection between gangsta rap and the Cosa Nostra ( Kool G Rap pioneered that idea), but he was the one who popularized the trend. Depp’s pop-up shop opened during the Raekwon only built 4 cuban link rapper shirt moreover I love this 2018 holiday season in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland.
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If the Genius is the Wu's best overall lyricist, Raekwon is arguably their best storyteller, and here he translates the epic themes and narratives of a Mafia movie into a startlingly accomplished hip-hop album. A serious contender for the title of best Wu-Tang solo album (rivaled only by the Genius' Liquid Swords), Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is also perhaps the most influential, thanks to Raekwon's cinematic imagination.