Raekwon Explains How "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" Is A "Gift And A Curse"

Fat boy always had mad slang. GZA's liquid swords is my favourite of their solo albums,but Cuban links is such a dope,and conceptual masterpiece in it's own right. Wu-tang's vibe,and contribution to the culture will never be duplicated again. A truly unique brand in hip-hop.

Wu has been doing good these past couple of years. All of Rae's shit has been hot and Wu Massacre was very underated, but a good album from the three members...Chamber music let us know that these individuals ain't going knowhere anytime soon

With the exception of Supreme Clientele and Cuban Lynx... pt II, there haven't been many classic post Wu-Tang Forever Wu projects. I think Cappadonna's Pillage is underrated and probably went under radar because listeners had Wu fatigue in the late '90s. RZA being at helm of so many seminal albums was a huge reason to their early success,so when his beats were jettisoned for ersatz version on subsequent albums, they underwhelmed. The Heist, Sneakers, Above the Clouds and True Master showed Wu members need to fuck with legendary beat-smiths, and got that workin' the old masters; Extra P, Premo Chocolate Boy.

One of my favorite rap albums ever, 2nd favorite in the Wu-Tang catalog, behind 36 Chambers. The album was so revolutionary on so many fronts. A lot of rappers make classics off of just hot beats and sick rhymes, but when you can do all of the above while also completely changing the game from top to bottom, you have something immortal. That is what OB4CL represents to me.

In 95' when OB4CL dropped I was 18 yrs old young and dumb...lol...2011 I am grown ass man 34 yr old with a kid so its funny to adapt to the younger generation that was in diapers or 4th grade I was getting in , ya know? I feel Rae he is like 40+ and can only give you so much coke stories, but for so long. For ever a WU fan!

No question the kid is nice and no doubt he gets busy- I'm not talking about him but Ali Lafayette Rhea. One Love

Great comment. It's so hard to produce a classic album in the first place. But then people expect you to do the same thing again. Cuban L1nx summed up what a lot of us were going through in our late teens to early-to-mid twenties. I personally was in the joint when the album dropped, so tracks like Spot Rusherz, Guillotinez, and Incarcerated Scarfaces were especially timely to me. Now I'm 42, and I'm not doing the same shit with 3 kids in 2011 that I was doing in '94, '95... and if I am, I'm doing it a lot smarter and more discreetly. Honestly, I haven't listened to much of Rae's music since the first Cuban L1nx cause that album perfectly captured a time and place for me. I overstand where Rae is coming from, though, so I will check out the new directions he's travelling in.

That is true but most niggas when the switch up their style become real corny

Damn, Rae lookin' lean. I never seen him like that.

Thats the thing about Hip Hop, and in some ways Heavy Metal as Well, progression and diversity are frowned upon If you make an album everybody likes, it destroys your shit because you'll never be able to make people happy again Do summin diffrent and you'll get this: "Man, fuck is this shit, I dont wanna hear this, what happen to that street shit Rae use to do, I wanna hear them coke raps, that dope boy music, fuck outta here with this bullshit!!!" On the flipside, you do that same thing over and over and you'll get this: "Fuck is this nigga doin, how many times you gonna say the same shit over and over, I already heard this on the last album, you out of ideas or what nigga, how many times you gonna sell me the same album, find some new shit to say or shut the fuck up!!!" So, one way or the other, somebody is miserable and bitching at you, no way to make everyone happy, thats why artist should just ignore the fans and the internet and do what they feel, cause regardless of what it is somebody gonna be left standing to cry about it anyway and going out of your way to make other people happy is gonna leave you unsatisfied