Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...: Difference between revisions

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| genre = * [[East Coast hip-hop]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theboombox.com/50-greatest-east-coast-hip-hop-albums-1990s/|title=50 Greatest East Coast Hip-Hop Albums of the 1990s|date=October 20, 2017|access-date=September 14, 2024|website=[[The Boombox]]|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918073741/https://theboombox.com/50-greatest-east-coast-hip-hop-albums-1990s/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[mafioso rap]]

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'''''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...''''' (commonly referred to as the '''''Purple Tape''''') is the debut studio album by American rapper and [[Wu-Tang Clan]] member [[Raekwon]], released on August 1, 1995, by [[Loud Records]] and [[RCA Records]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=March 2006|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CYEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA84|title=What's Love Got to Do With It?|journal=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|___location=New York|access-date=September 23, 2013}}</ref> The album was loosely composed to play like a film with Raekwon as the "star", fellow Wu-Tang member [[Ghostface Killah]] as the "guest-star", and producer [[RZA]] as the "director".<ref name="WP1">Ma, David. [http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/ ''Cuban Linx'' Revisited (page 1)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206005821/http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/ |date=December 6, 2010 }}. ''[[Wax Poetics]]''. Retrieved 2010-07-27.</ref> It features appearances from most members of the Wu-Tang Clan. The album also features debut appearances from affiliates [[Cappadonna]] and [[Blue Raspberry (singer)|Blue Raspberry]], and an acclaimed guest appearance from rapper [[Nas]], which marked the first collaboration with a non-affiliated artist on a Wu-Tang related album.

Upon its release, ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' debuted at number four on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] chart, and number two on the [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]] chart, while selling 130,000 copies in its opening week.<ref>DeRosa, robin. "Toppin' the Charts". [[USA Today]]. August 10, 1995.</ref> The album was certified [[RIAA certification|gold]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) on October 2, 1995, and later platinum on February 24, 2020.<ref>{{certification Cite|region=United States|type=album|artist=Raekwon|title=Only Built 4 Cuban Linx|access-date=2010-07-28}}</ref> According to [[Nielsen Soundscan]], it has sold 1.1 million copies in the United States alone as of 2009.<ref name="Concepcion">Concepcion, Mariel. [http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/268596/raekwon-announces-linx-2-date-says-budden-copied-method-man Raekwon Announces 'Linx 2' Date, Says Budden 'Copied' Method Man]. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. Retrieved 2010-08-28.</ref> Although it failed to acquire the same initial sales success as previous Wu-Tang solo albums, ''Cuban Linx'' achieved greater critical praise, with many complimenting its cinematic lyricism and production.

''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' has received acclaim from music critics and writers over the years, with many lauding it as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. With its emphasis on [[American Mafia]] insinuations and [[organized crime]], the album is widely regarded as a pioneer of the [[mafioso rap]] subgenre. It is considered to have been highly influential on hip hop music over the next decade, being heavily referenced and influential on acclaimed albums such as [[Jay-Z]]'s ''[[Reasonable Doubt (album)|Reasonable Doubt]]'' (1996) and [[The Notorious B.I.G.]]'s ''[[Life After Death]]'' (1997). Along with [[GZA]]'s ''[[Liquid Swords]]'', ''Cuban Linx'' is the most acclaimed solo Wu-Tang work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/wu-tang-clan-mn0000959876/biography|title=Wu-Tang Clan : Biography. AllMusic|access-date=2016-04-20|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|work=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine placed it at number 480 on their [[The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]] list in 2012, and at number 219 in the 2020 reboot of the list.<ref name="rollingstone.com">{{Cite magazine|url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-3-1063014/|title = The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|magazine = [[Rolling Stone]]|date = September 22, 2020|access-date = June 6, 2021|archive-date = June 6, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210606212847/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-3-1063014/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="RS">The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Page 113. Special Collectors Issue (2012). Retrieved 2012-04-24.</ref>

== Background ==

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In regard to his and Ghostface's partnership, Raekwon later commented "Ghost and me, especially at the time, had this identical-twin effect on each other. We would joke about the same things and laugh at the same shit. We were into the same clothes and shit. We were like the [[EPMD]] of the crew."<ref name=WP1/> Producer [[RZA]] also commented on the duo's congruency:

{{blockquote|Rae and Ghost together, those two right there were notorious kids from two different [[Public housing in the United States|projects]]. ''Cuban Linx'' was an opportunity for Rae and Ghost to give us the street side. When we did it, I said, "yo, it's gonna be a very dangerous album; it's gonna change the game. We gonna invite those demons, every negative stereotype, and deal with them." It's like the shit was lived; a lot of it was lived or experienced in one form or another. It's so natural, it don't feel like songs. It was a chance to show the world not only how New York lived, but also how [[Staten Island|Shaolin]] preserved New York. An older generation was leaving and getting older. We're from the [[Crack epidemic (United States)|crack generation]] - that real gritty, rough project shit. We was on corners at 15, 16, doing shit you couldn't imagine.<ref name=XXL>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=39731|title=The Making of 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx'|author=Arnold, Paul W.|magazine=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]]|date=May 2005|access-date=2009-12-31|display-authors=etal|archive-date=July 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713012946/http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=39731|url-status=live}}</ref>|RZA}}

''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' features a wide array of Wu-Tang members, as well as Wu-Tang affiliates [[Cappadonna]], and [[Blue Raspberry (singer)|Blue Raspberry]]. It also features a guest appearance from rapper [[Nas]], making this the first collaboration with a non-affiliated artist on a Wu-Tang related album. Regarding this event, Nas later recalled "Rae would come out to [[Queensbridge, Queens|Queensbridge]], I would go to [[Staten Island]]. We'd just ride and hang out all night. We didn't call each other to work. We called each other to hang out. Somehow we wound up in the studio. RZA had a couple of beats. He played them for me. I got on both of them. The other one never came out. I was honored to be asked to be on the album. Raekwon was ahead of his time. I knew Rae was a classic artist and the album was going to be a music classic."<ref name=XXL/>

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|filename = Criminology.ogg

|title = "Criminology"

|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>

}}

Though several songs, such as "Glaciers of Ice" and "Incarcerated Scarfaces", received radio play and music video treatment, only four official singles were released for ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...''. The first of which was "[[Heaven & Hell (Raekwon song)|Heaven & Hell]]", released October 24, 1994. Aside from being the album's first single, it was also the first song recorded for the album, serving as an installment to the soundtrack for the movie ''[[Fresh (1994 film)|Fresh]]''.<ref name=XXL/> The song features the second recorded appearance of Wu-Tang affiliate [[Blue Raspberry (singer)|Blue Raspberry]], who provides backing vocals. In 1994, "Heaven & Hell" reached number 32 on the [[Hot Rap Tracks|Hot Rap Singles]] chart, and number 34 on the [[Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales]] chart. One year later, it re-entered the Hot Rap Singles chart, peaking at number 21.<ref name="singles">[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r218513/charts-awards/billboard-single|pure_url=yes}} ''Billboard'' singles chart positions]. [[AllMusic]]. Retrieved 2010-09-05.</ref>

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With "Glaciers of Ice" as its [[A-side and B-side|B-Side]], the album's second single "[[Criminology (song)|Criminology]]" was released June 26, 1995, almost one year after "Heaven and Hell." It had notable chart success, as it peaked at number 43 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], and number 5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.<ref name=singles/> 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]]" was released September 25, 1995, with "Incarcerated Scarfaces" as its B-side. This proved to be the most successful single off the album, as it reached the 37th spot on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and the fifth spot on the Hot Rap Singles chart.<ref name=singles/> The song uses different flavor variants of ice cream as a metaphor for different races of women. 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>Ma, David. [http://www.waxpoetics.com/2009/07/cuban-linx-revisited-interview-with-raekwon/3/ ''Cuban Linx'' Revisited (page 3)]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. waxpoetics.com. Retrieved 2010-07-27.</ref> The song marks the second appearance of Cappadonna on the album, and serves as his break-through performance, as it would give him commercial exposure. In regard to his guest spot, Cappadonna later recalled "I had heard Rae's and Ghost's verses on there. And I had made a joke about me getting on the track, and RZA took it seriously and was like "Yo, go ahead. Lace that."<ref name=XXL/>

"[[Rainy Dayz (Raekwon song)|Rainy Dayz]]" was the fourth and final single for the album, released

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''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…'' was well received by contemporary critics. ''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]'' magazine's Nicholas Poluhoff said "Raekwon has always brought his own special flavor to the Wu cipher: he sprays out lyrics like gunfire, forming vivid tales. What truly sets ''Cuban Linx'' apart is the sheer abundance of well-written, complex lyrics." Poluhoff also praised RZA's production, viewing it as his best yet: "The tracks are suited to the distinct flow of the Chef, who weaves in and out between beats."<ref name="Poluhoff"/> [[Cheo Hodari Coker|Cheo H. Coker]] from ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'' magazine found Raekwon to be as vivid a lyricist as [[Kool G Rap]], "so vivid you smell the gunpowder and wipe the blood on your shirt", while crediting RZA for "taking the art form of production to new heights".<ref name="H."/> ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said the songs with other Wu-Tang Clan members are as good as anything on ''Enter the 36 Chambers'' and wrote of the music: "RZA's production sensibilities, sometimes minimal, other times symphonic, pull the listener in despite the chaos. In a genre characterized by [[Single (music)|singles]], ''Cuban Linx'' is a full-blown album where the big picture is just as moving as the compositional stylistic elements."<ref name="Coker"/> In ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]'' magazine, [[Dream Hampton]] was impressed by Raekwon and Ghostface Killah's use of [[cultural appropriation]] (as a type of "sweet vindication") in their lyrics and said they "bring the best in each other."<ref name="Hampton">{{cite magazine|last=hampton|first=dream|author-link=dream hampton|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aywEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA180|title=Raekwon the Chef: ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx''|magazine=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|volume=3|issue=7|date=September 1995|access-date=September 6, 2009|page=180}}</ref>

''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' has since been ranked by critics and publications as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.<ref name="rap.about.com">Adaso, Henry. [http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/ss/Top100RapAlbums_10.htm About.com's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405151731/http://rap.about.com/od/toppicks/ss/Top100RapAlbums_10.htm |date=April 5, 2015 }}. about.com. Retrieved on 2010-03-01.</ref> ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004) called it essential listening for anyone interested in the Wu-Tang Clan,<ref name="Hoard"/> while Steve Huey from [[AllMusic]] said Raekwon is "arguably the Wu's best storyteller", crediting him for "translating epic themes and narratives of a mafia movie into a startlingly accomplished hip-hop album". Huey argued the record was possibly the "best Wu-Tang solo album", along with GZA's ''[[Liquid Swords]]'', and wrote that like that album, "''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx'' takes a few listens to reveal the full scope of its lyrical complexities, but it's immensely rewarding in the end."<ref name="Huey"/> [[Spin (magazine)|''Spin'']] magazine labeled ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx'' as the 83rd-best album of the 1990s, describing it as an "epic, cinema-scale crime drama" that was "far ahead of hip-hop's conceptual curve".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGjsvmNt8UgC&pg=PA162 |publisher=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=September 1999}}</ref>

In 2012, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine ranked the album number 480 on its list of [[The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]], saying that "the best Wu-Tang solo joint is a study in understated cool and densely woven verses" and that "Raekwon crafts breathtaking drug-rap narratives; it's a rap album that rivals the mob movies hip-hop celebrates.<ref name=":0">Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone&nbsp;– Special Collectors Issue&nbsp;– The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. {{ISBN|978-7-09-893419-6}}</ref> In the 2020 reboot of the list, the album's rank shot up to number 219.<ref name="rollingstone.com"/>

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! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1995/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1995|magazine=Billboard|date=January 2, 2013|access-date=May 9, 2021|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511013011/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1995/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums|url-status=live}}</ref>

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|100 Best Albums of the Nineties<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-nineties-20110427/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-19691231 100 Best Albums of the Nineties] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705133213/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-nineties-20110427/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-19691231 |date=July 5, 2012 }}. ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Retrieved 2012-01-03.</ref>

|2011

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