Mafioso rap has been done before and better, and is mostly a thing of the past, (except for almost exclusively Rick Ross). With Cuban Linx two, Rae doesn’t have Ghostface to spit on 90% of the album. We didn’t need Rae to be magnificently lyrical, as the album was so groundbreaking in itself. Not to mention that Ghostface was on nearly every single track, and even had a solo song. In 1995 mafioso mega don rap was new, not to mention the entire album felt as seamless as a cinematic movie. Although this phenomenon occurred on the very first Cuban Linx as well, it wasn’t such a problem as he created the style. Although his words and slang can be aesthetically pleasing at times, he invariably falls short of his own songwriting. While Raekwon is most definitely one of the best in the Wu at putting together an album, he certainly doesn’t rap with a highly developed tongue. And this is perhaps the problem with Only Built for Cuban Linx 2. And also by this time a revelation should be coming to the listener as they think “maybe Raekwon is the weakest link of his own album”.

This is matched flawlessly again with the first three songs as Pete Rock gives Rae yet another smooth soul sample.īy the time the albums gets to the IceWater produced “Cold Outside” featuring Ghostface and “Black Mozart” with Deck and Rza, the listener should be fully intertwined in the story. The best and perhaps more important factor of the original Cuban Linx is its cinematic feel, allowing the album to flow smoothly, coming off as more of an event than an album. The late J.Dilla laces “The House of Flying Daggers” with that old go-hard old school Wu sound, allowing Inspectah Deck to inevitably eat everybody up, as he did on “Guillotine” 14 years prior. “Watch the tricks baby, cuz the trick is a liar, and the liar is a thief…trust me baby.now give me a couple 100” It opens up with Papa Wu speaking knowledge as usual,

So the story continues with part 2 where Rae seems to be more comfortable with his life as a Don. The story comes together once you know that. But apparently the story is that of a Mafioso crime boss struggling to get out of the life. And maybe that’s because it’s perhaps is the loosest storyline structure ever garnered. I think I may be the last person on Earth to find out that the original Only Built for Cuban Linx was a storyline. With the snap and dance stock soaring higher than ever, maybe a little blast from the past is exactly what we need. On the one hand, I thought that maybe Rae had went a little far with the nostalgia, with a Rza beat that sounds like a Wu Tang forever leftover, but on the other hand I felt that that might not be such a bad thing. When I first heard the albums first single “New Wu” I had a slue of mixed feelings. Now don’t jump to conclusions, I’m not suggesting that Raekwon pulled a classic off wit Only Built for Cuban Linx 2, but I must say I applaud his effort. What do you do when you’ve been trying to release a sequel to that album for over 4 years? What do you do when the airwaves are being polluted by music in direct contradiction to everything you stand for as a hip-hip artist? You make a classic. What do you do when you’re Raekwon A rapper who in 1995 released what is largely considered one of the greatest, most influential, and most definitive albums of the golden era.

Only built for cuban links reacwon