Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

ob4cl

The Wu-Tang Clan enjoyed unprecedented success as a group and as individual members during the early-mid-90s, finding massive success and critical acclaim with their debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and successive solo albums from Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah. Arguably, the album that stands out the most from that group is Raekwon’s debut solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Of all the adjectives that attempt to do the album justice, from haunting to pioneering to grimy, the one word that comes up most often is cinematic, and for good reason. It is hip-hop’s Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas, Casino. RZA scores movies for Quentin Tarantino now, but he cut his teeth on making movie music by handling the production for OB4CL, and directing it like he would a movie in a sense, with Raekwon as its star, Ghostface Killah as its scene-stealing, Oscar-winning supporting actor, and cameos from their Wu brethren and Nas.

RZA brings the listener into a seedy world of drug dealers, mob bosses, and hitmen, complete with audio clips from crime and mob movies mixed with classic Wu-Tang kung fu samples, all layed against orchestral horns and strings. Raekwon and Ghostface play their roles perfectly, the two criminals that the album is centered around. “Criminology,” “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” Wu-Gambinos,” and “Verbal Intercourse” are all perfectly-crafted examples of what “Mafioso rap” exactly is, spawning Reasonable Doubt, Life After Death, and The Firm, among others. And even when the album takes brief departures from the Mafia sound, it still delivers. “Guillotine (Swordz)” would have fit perfectly on the Wu-Tang’s kung-fu-influenced albums like Enter the Wu-Tang or Liquid Swords. Even the song meant for radio, the ode to the ladies “Ice Cream,” comes way harder than your standard mainstream fare. Method Man completely bodies the hook. It’s a testament to how good this album is, front-to-back, that the “radio” song is 10x harder and better than the album cuts on anyone else’s album.

Normally, when an album goes on for 18 songs, it runs too long. Fact is, a majority of artists cannot sustain consistent, dope music for 18-20 songs on an album. The albums that can do this are the exception, not the rule. OB4CL is a glaring exception to this rule. Even with 18 tracks, the listener is left on the edge of their seat, eager and excited for what the next track holds in store for them, like a good movie where you can’t wait to see what happens next. RZA is in rare form, ditching the gritty sound that was prevalent on Enter the Wu-Tang and going for a crisper, cleaner sound. Raekwon and Ghostface don’t waste the heat he brings by lyrically tag-teaming the album. True to Ghostface form, his stories and descriptions are wild and vivid, while Raekwon is just as grimy, with a persona and delivery that defined “hip-hop Mafioso,” as they both dig deep into their vocabularies and present an album with so much street slang and crime lingo that you needed an interpreter from Staten Island to even begin to understand it. A product of one of hip-hop’s most powerful, influential dynasties and an essential album from hip-hop’s Golden Age, the album is a landmark in hip-hop history, introducing a popular subgenre and is deservedly mentioned among the greatest-produced, best-written, most influential hip-hop albums ever.