Latest Release
- 17 NOV 2023
- 1 Song
- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Deluxe Edition) · 2010
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Kanye West Presents: Good Music - Cruel Summer · 2012
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... · 1995
- Ironman · 1996
- Legend Of The Wu-Tang: Wu-Tang Clan's Greatest Hits · 2004
Essential Albums
- It isn’t often that an MC can use the fact that he’d appeared on another MC’s album to big himself up, but that’s exactly how it worked for Ghostface Killah when he rapped, “The world can’t touch Ghost/Purple Tape, Rae co-host,” on “Mighty Healthy” Ghostface’s sophomore album, 2000’s Supreme Clientele. The “Purple Tape” he refers to is Raekwon’s debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, released in 1995 as a special purple-tinted cassette. Co-host is an accurate depiction of Ghost’s role here, the guesting MC appearing on 14 of Cuban Linx’s 18 tracks. “Me and Ghost, we was doing a lot of writing together,” Raekwon tells Apple Music. “One rhyme said something about ‘only built for Cuban links n***as who pull strings,’ so right there, it hit me. I'm like, 'That shit sounds like the biggest chain of them all.' It can't be broken. It’s the most gleamingest chain that comes in the party, and you know when you see n***as with those on, those ain't your everyday n***as. Those n***as is different.” Different is exactly what Wu-Tang were—a prodigious nine-member kung-fu-film-influenced rap group forged in New York City’s least recognised borough, Staten Island. The impact of their Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) album and the first of the crew’s critically and commercially successful solo outings (Method Man’s Tical and Old Dirty Bastard’s Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version) set the precedent that Rae made sure to uphold. “You got some dudes that got a lot to say, but don't really be passionate about what they feel and where they want to go in life,” Raekwon says. “When I made my solo album, I wanted to be one of the greats. Because I studied, I did my homework, I lived it.” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is the by-product of collaborative brain trust Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and producer and creative mastermind RZA. The album delivered the Abbot’s most dynamic and ornate production to date, over which Rae and company delivered immaculate tales of hustling and the goods and experiences people with an elevated taste level lusted after. Songs like “Wu-Gambinos”, “Criminology”, “Incarcerated Scarfaces” and “Glaciers of Ice” defined the lifestyle, while selections like “Ice Cream” and “Verbal Intercourse” positioned the MCs as the penultimate storytellers of their era. There are additional guest spots from Clan members Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, RZA and a fresh-out-of-jail Cappadonna, as well as a single non-Wu MC, Nas. According to Rae, this was all an extension of the mission to present the very best of everything and everyone he knew. “For us, it was like everything had to be silk,” Raekwon says. “It had to be perfected, from titles to the way we set off on the mic, the skits, to outfits, clothes, colours. All of these things was something that I was passionate about, because I wanted to win.”
- 2018
Artist Playlists
- Listen to the Lex Diamond story.
Compilations
- 2009
- Don Blake
- Lyrikile Trife
- Emilush, Dogge Doggelito & Raekwon
- DrunkenLover
- Yahhmon
More To Hear
- Raekwon links with Ghostface, Nas, and Ebro to tell the story of his seminal solo debut.
- Havoc, Raekwon and Q-Tip celebrate Mobb Deep's The Infamous.
- Havoc, Raekwon and Q-Tip look back on the seminal hip-hop album
- The Memphis teen is in studio with Steve Stoute, plus LION BABE.
- From Houston, getting inspired by music.
- Continuing a wide-ranging conversation.
- On rap, fashion, Wu-Tang Clan, and more.
More To See
About Raekwon
Legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon has spent decades serving up novelistic story songs rooted in the criminal underworld of his native New York. • Raekwon attended middle school with future Wu member Ghostface Killah and high school with future bandmates Method Man and Inspectah Deck. • In 1992, he joined Wu-Tang Clan, the Staten Island collective whose landmark 1993 debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), would change the face of rap. • Riding the wave of success, Raekwon signed a solo deal with Loud Records in 1994. The following year, he released his first solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and was dubbed an instant classic. • In 2009, after years of delays, Raekwon released Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II, a critically acclaimed sequel to his masterpiece. • On 2017’s The Wild, Raekwon attempted to blend his classic flow with modern production elements. It was his first album without any features from Wu-Tang members.
- HOMETOWN
- Brooklyn, NY, United States
- BORN
- 12. Januar 1970
- GENRE
- Hip-Hop/Rap