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''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' is often commemorated for its introduction to a distinctive [[slang]] individual to Raekwon and Ghostface;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wutang-corp.com/news/article.php?id=302|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810201754/http://www.wutang-corp.com/news/article.php?id=302|archive-date=August 10, 2007|date=October 2, 2003|title=Raekwon @ Apollo Theater|url-status=dead}}. wutang-corp.com. Retrieved on 2010-03-01.</ref> heavy use of the [[Supreme Alphabet]] and [[Supreme Mathematics]], as often used by the Wu-Tang Clan, blended with terms picked up on the inner-city streets of New York, as well as several songs based around detailed, loosely-connected stories.<ref>{{cite web|url=
In keeping with this loose storyline, the album opens with the introduction track "Striving for Perfection", in which Raekwon and "co-star" Ghostface converse about visions and goals.<ref name=XXL/> On the proceeding track "Knuckleheadz", Raekwon and Ghostface divide money in the song's intro, and then engage in a [[robbery|heist]], with [[U-God]]'s character being killed off at the end of his verse.<ref name=XXL/> The reason for this elimination is because U-God was sentenced to serve several months in prison, which prevented subsequent participation on ''Cuban Linx''.<ref name=XXL/> U-God, however, recruited his lyric mentor and childhood friend [[Cappadonna]] to take his place later in the album.<ref name=XXL/>
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|description = The RZA-produced track has an uptempo beat and features a verse by Ghostface Killah, the album's "co-star".<ref name="RapReviews">Mr. S (February 3, 2001). [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_cubanlinx.html Raekwon the Chef :: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... :: Loud/RCA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408023522/http://rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_cubanlinx.html |date=April 8, 2016 }}. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2011-05-31.</ref>
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Though several songs, such as "Glaciers of Ice" and "[[Incarcerated Scarfaces]]", received radio play, only three official singles were released for ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...''.<ref name="singlesrap">{{cite
"[[Criminology (song)|Criminology]]", along with "Glaciers of Ice" as the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]], was released on June 26, 1995, bringing notable chart success, as it peaked at number 43 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], number 34 on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs]] chart, number 5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, and number 2 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.<ref name="singles100"/><ref name="singlesR&B"/><ref name="singlesrap"/><ref name="singlesdance"/> Producer RZA later illustrated, "That was me trying to produce like a DJ, produce a breakbeat. Ghost actually asked me to make one of those beats. You listen to old DJ tapes. That's how I made that song, and he wanted this shit to sound like a breakbeat. He had a rhyme that he knew was going to change the game - that was the verse that got him recognized. [[Cypress Hill]]'s [[DJ Muggs]] called up and was like 'Yo, he killed that shit. He ripped that shit.'"<ref name=XXL/>
Serving as the album's most radio-friendly track, "[[Ice Cream (Raekwon song)|Ice Cream]]", the album's third and final single, was released on September 25, 1995, with "Incarcerated Scarfaces" as its B-side. This proved to be the most successful single off the album, as it peaked at number 37 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, and number 5 on the Hot Rap Singles and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales charts.<ref name="singles100"/><ref name="singlesR&B"/><ref name="singlesrap"/><ref name="singlesdance"/> The song uses different flavors of ice cream as a metaphor for various racial groups of women.<ref name="raekwonicecream"/> Raekwon later commented, "we wanted to reach out and let the women know that we respected them as queens. And queens, much like ice cream, come in all different flavors."<ref name="raekwonicecream">
== Commercial performance ==
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Ironically enough, despite Raekwon and Ghost's warning on "Shark Niggas (Biters)" to "be original", ''OB4CL's'' influence spawned a countless number of albums with many of the adopted principles that it set in place. The year following its release, in 1996, [[Jay-Z]] released his debut album ''[[Reasonable Doubt (album)|Reasonable Doubt]]'', which describes a lavish, Cristal-drinking mobster persona and deals with the subjects of street crime and getting out of drug-dealing and into the rap game, much like the topics covered on ''OB4CL''.<ref name=XXL/> Raekwon later commented in an interview, "Jay was a student of our shit and what we accomplished in those days. He'll tell you that himself."<ref name=WP1/>
The same year, highly acclaimed rapper Nas released ''[[It Was Written]]'', revising his image to incorporate the Mafia posturing of Raekwon; adopting the Mafioso moniker "Nas Escobar" bestowed upon him by his guest appearance on ''Cuban Linx''.<ref name="Cowie"/> Ghostface Killah's debut album, ''[[Ironman (Ghostface Killah album)|Ironman]]'', also released that year, which loosely covered some of the topics on ''Cuban Linx''.<ref name="Blackspot">{{cite magazine|author=The Blackspot|title=Revolutions: Ghostface Killah – 'Ironman'|url=https://books.google.com/books
=== Sequel ===
After two solo projects that were both critically and commercially unsuccessful, Raekwon announced a sequel to ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' in late 2005.<ref name="AHH1">{{cite web|last=Fresh|first=Remmie|date=March 18, 2005|url=http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2005/03/18/18129838.aspx|title=Busta Rhymes To Executive Produce Raekwon's Album|website=AllHipHop|archive-date=May 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503191051/http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2005/03/18/18129838.aspx}}</ref> The sequel was highly anticipated for nearly four years since its original announcement and fourteen years after the release of the original, appearing in ''XXL''{{'}}s top 10 list of most anticipated albums in 2007.<ref name="xxl2007">{{cite web|url=http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=7288|title=Remedy: The Top 10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2007|website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]]|date=January 30, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216004340/http://xxlmag.com/online/?p=7288|archive-date=February 16, 2007}}</ref> ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II]]'' was released in 2009 to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/only-built-4-cuban-linx-pt-ii/raekwon|title=Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More|publisher=[[Metacritic]]. [[CBS Interactive]]|access-date=2012-07-28}}</ref>
=== Upcoming documentary ===
On June 10, 2025, on its 30th anniversary, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah released a trailer to ''The Purple Tape Files'', a documentary that examines ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...''.<ref name="HOT97film">{{cite web|last=Grove|first=Rashad|date=June 10, 2025|url=https://www.hot97.com/news/raekwon-and-ghostface-killah-drop-only-built-4-cuban-linx-trailer/|title=Raekwon And Ghostface Killah Drop 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' Trailer|website=Hot 97|access-date=July 4, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704145456/https://www.hot97.com/news/raekwon-and-ghostface-killah-drop-only-built-4-cuban-linx-trailer/|archive-date=July 4, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> As Raekwon speaks of the album, "I put myself into a serious mindframe, a serious storytelling album. I had to make this product stand out. I knew that purple represents royalty, and that’s exactly what I was looking for. We had to make a conscious decision, either we want to stay here and keep holding guns and want to run around playing this game, or did we want to go for the American dream and get on this rap shit."<ref name="HOT97film"/> Other music figures such as [[Nas]], [[Kendrick Lamar]], [[Snoop Dogg]], [[Busta Rhymes]], [[The Alchemist (musician)|The Alchemist]], [[DJ Premier]], [[Charlamagne Tha God]], [[9th Wonder]], [[Fat Joe]], [[N.O.R.E.]], and [[Peter Rosenberg]], are confirmed to appear in the documentary.<ref name="BEfilm">{{cite web|last=Thorton|first=Cedric|date=June 17, 2025|url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-doc/|title=TRAILER RELEASED FOR 'THE PURPLE TAPE FILES' DOCUMENTARY ABOUT RAEKWON'S 'ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX'|website=Black Enterprise|archive-date=June 18, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250618041511/https://www.blackenterprise.com/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-doc/|access-date=July 4, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Track listing ==
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|''[[NME]]''
|[[United Kingdom]]
|Top 50 Albums Of The Year 1995<ref>{{cite web|title=
|1995
| align="center" |29
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| rowspan="4" |''[[Rolling Stone]]''
|''The Essential Recordings of the 90s''<ref>{{cite web|title=The Essential Recordings of the
|1999
| align="center" |*
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