The Classics #2: Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…
A Cuban link is a style of interlocking chain jewellery, in this context worn around the neck, a magnetic piece in hip-hop music not only for its show but also for its association with drug related crime in 80’s Miami. Chains were an important part of hip-hop since the beginning (who can forget the massive gold medallions and Flava Flav’s truly legendary timepieces), but the Cuban link became a hallmark of the genre after the release of the album next up in my Classics series, an album that taught us that life is ruthless, and is only built for the toughest of chains...
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is the debut album of Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon (known back then as The Chef), and the third Wu-Tang solo album following the groups debut in ‘93, 36 Chambers. After this release, the Clan hit the game hard and quick, releasing solo albums one after the other, each one building upon both the mythos of the clan and the skills of its Abbot, the RZA. Method Man swung with moderate success on Tical, Ol’ Dirty did his thing on Return to the 36 Chambers and was even nominated for a Grammy, but both albums felt more like an extension of the chaotic, dark, cipher-like feel of Enter the Wu-Tang. Raekwon and the RZA completely changed this with Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., combining the martial arts aesthetic with the high-class coke kingpin life of a Miami druglord, cementing the influence of 5 Percenter ideology and vocabulary on the Clan, and introducing truly cinematic elements into both the lyrics and instrumentals.
Within the first few tracks you can already feel the scenes playing out. The intro is a spoken skit between Rae and Ghost, one final score, that transitions into said score with Knuckleheadz and Knowledge God, both dark piano-driven tracks that immediately establishes the themes of the album; violence, death, drug-dealing, and a larger connection to the Nation of Gods and Earths. Criminology, Glaciers of Ice, and Guillotine are classic Clan boom-bap, featuring blistering flows from all involved, but Incarcerated Scarfaces and Rainy Dayz are deep, nocturnal cuts with some amazing street imagery. After a short interlude, where Ghost and Rae directly address people who have changed up their styles in response to the Clan, Ice Water hits you with its tight-looped sample and it’s futuristic zips and bops sitting in the back of the mix.
And here I must devote time to one track specifically and that is Verbal Intercourse. This track is so very important to the Wu-Tang Clan’s progression, as it serves as the first time ever that the Clan collaborated with an artist outside of the Clan, and it just so happened that it was with none other than Nas, who drops one of the best hip-hop verses ever recorded. Ghostface and Raekwon kill it too don’t get me wrong (and RZA on the beat; good god when that horn kicks in), but Nas flows so well over this instrumental, and every lyric carries weight. It’s just the perfect feature in every way, I can’t say enough about it.
Wisdom Body, Spot Rusherz, and North Star are the only three solo tracks on the record, but only one is a Raekwon track, as North Star is an extended outro that serves as a closing credits, and Wisdom Body is a Ghostface Killah solo track. This may seem unusual, but it wasn’t uncommon among the earlier Wu-Tang solo albums to include tracks like this. To contrast these, the album closes out with two posse cuts, Ice Cream and Wu-Gambinos, the former being a major radio hit back in the day and being an overall fun but punchy track, and the latter being another important track in Wu-Tang history. The Wu-Gambino aliases serve as another addition to the Clan as an image, for while they all had their traditional Wu-Tang names and usually one major nickname, now all members of the Clan have new mafia-inspired personas to rap under. The final full track, Heaven and Hell, is done with Rae and Ghost, reminding the listener of how important Ghostface Killah was to this album, being featured on 13 out of the 18 tracks.
The mind that ties this all together is the RZA, the leader of the Wu-Tang and the producer of this album in its entirety. The three previous projects he produced were all classics for sure, and proved the RZA to be a skilled producer, but this project put him 10 steps ahead of any producer at the time. Every cinematic element he incorporated into this project, from the direct samples, to the off-the-cuff skits, to the luscious strings, even the pacing of the project and track placement, showed the RZA as a true genius. But this album was just the beginning: he would latch on to another motif, 70’s blaxploitation, for Ironman with Ghostface, and he would continue to improve upon his utilization of tight vocal sample loops well into the 90’s and early 2000’s.
While 4,5,6 from last week was an excellent album that represents this subgenre of hip-hop, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… *is* this subgenre. From the subject matter to the instrumental palette, this album was heavily drawn upon in the years and decades to follow; Coke rap was essentially given a blueprint with the release of this album (sorry Jay 😂😂).
Here’s a link to listen to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…:
