Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II

Here is a review I wrote of the new Raekwon album for Emmie. It will be in the Fall issue.

RAEKWON
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II
[Ice H2O Records]
7,987

As hip-hop manages to survive in spite of a stagnant record industry, “true fans” often complain about derivative musical content rife with hyperbole. It seems to be a growing trend where a questionable number of major-label rappers also just happen to be the heads of their own personal drug cartels. On Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II, Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon continues the crack-rap tradition without fail, but does so with precise execution. Each song’s careful construction and contribution to the cohesion of the album prove that while Rae hasn’t changed much in terms of style since the first Cuban Linx, the Brooklyn MC has noticeably honed his craft in the last fourteen years.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II is rich in detail. Production credits vary from the late great J Dilla to Wu-Tang beat exemplar RZA, and even includes a contribution from gangster maestro Dr. Dre. This assortment creates a sonic patchwork that is hemmed by Raekwon’s fluid and effortless flow. The 24-track strong album fields a veritable army of lyricists that predictably includes the greater part of the Wu-Gambinos (the mafioso aliases of the Wu-Tang Clan) and is further bolstered by heavy-hitters such as Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, and Styles P.

The assortment of beats and rhymes on Cuban Linx II seems occasionally crowded, but for the most part Rae steadfastly saunters through the album, forging a solid base off which other MCs create a lyrical counterpoint. On the fervent “House of Flying Daggers,” he coolly boasts “my resume is straight-up live, I shank niggas for larger E’s/ and speak with the youth in the spot, eat the fresh fruit in the crop”. Raekwon’s delivery is forceful, but not ferocious. It lends credence to his Wu-Gambino namesake of “The Chef,” which Ghostface Killah references during his verse on the same track: “Rae job is to make sure the coke is fluffy/ While I politic his birthday bash with Puffy.” All of the MCs on Cuban Linx II understand that they are only part of a greater whole, Raekwon included. It appears that teamwork is the secret ingredient in the recipe for a classic hip-hop album.