The Making Of Only Built 4 Cuban LinxThe Documentary:Ten years ago, some men with rhymes changed the face of hip-hop music. In the shadow of fellow Wu-Tan Clan stars Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard, Raekwon and his lyricalaccomplice, Ghostface Killah created Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... a criminology rap classicthat hustlers worldwide relate to.BUILDERS:Raekwon the Chef a/k/a Lex DiamondsRZA a/k/a Bobby SteelsGhostface Killah a/k/a Tony StarksMethod Man a/k/a Johnny BlazeInspectah Deck a/k/a Rollie FingersMasta Killa a/k/a NoodlesGZA a/k/a Genius a/k/a MaximilianU-God a/k/a Golden Arms a/k/a Lucky HandsCappadonna a/k/a CappachinoBlue Raspberry, guest vocalist Nas, guest rapper INTRODUCTION TO 'THE PURPLE TAPE'Hov and Kris can claim albums they've christened as blueprints. But if any recording fromrap's modern age has earned the title, it's Raekwon the Chef's colossal Only Built 4 CubanLinx... released on August 1, 1995, behind solo efforts from Method Man and Ol' DirtyBastard, the Chef's showcase broke new ground, deviating from past Wu-Tang efforts, whichemphasized nimble verbal jousts, and bringing something completely unexpected: a narrative- driven concept album that followed two ambitious street hoods (Rae and in a star making perfomance, partner-in-rhyme Ghostface Killah) along their rough road the riches. Cinematicin structure, infused with Rae's personality and humor and Ghost's indelible worldplay, andsupporrted by some of Clan svengali RZA's finest production work, Cuban Linx inspired hip-hop hustlers everywhere to chronicle their own grimy paths to glory - from Jay-Z withReasonable Doubt to 50 Cent with Get Rich or Die Tryin'. ."I was straight up into a drug zone

vibe," raekwon recalls of making his autobiographical opus. "It was like a tablet of my life,where I wanted to go, and all thihs shit I seen. We was just showing niggas that we master allsides of the streets when it comes to trying to get to the top." Although East Coast rapgangstas like Kool G. Rap and Mob Style (the late 80's Harlem outfit that included PrettyTone Capone a nd famed crime lord the original AZ) had covered similar subject matter,Cuban Linx's gritty vignettes elevated such storytelling to another level, potraying a slice of underworld life where Five Percent Nation theology, gangland robberies and recreationalcocaine bumps commingled freely. The album also kick started several trends withing the rapgame. Cuban Linx was the first instace of rappers adopting mafia-inspired aliases (Wu-Gambinos), songs like "Incarcerated Scarfaces" and "Ice Cream", initiated slang like "politic"and "butter-pecan Rican", into the hip-hop vernacular, and Cristal became the bubbly of choice for the ghetto fabulous set, thanks to Rae and co.'s endorsement in various song lyrics. Nothing, however was more indicative of Raekwon's allegiance to the street soldier aestheticthan the LP's intended full title, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Niggaz - as much a declaration of itsmusical potency as a forewarning to those not perpared for the uncut raw contained within,(Eventually and understandibly, the N-wordr was dropped). Rae also cosmeticallydistinguished his product from those of other artists, insisting on a purple-tinted cassette andCD case instead of a conventional clear version. "I wanted to potray an image that if I wasselling cracks or dimes in the street, you would recognize these dimes from other niggas'dimes", he explains "recognize that I'm putting myself in another class, where this might notreach everybody table, but for the niggas who table it do reach, it's like, Yo, that's some hiphop bible to the streets." Ultimately, this uncompromising approach remains Cuban Linx'smost enduring legacy. Raekwon and Ghostface would create their own slang, devote skits toWallabee Clarks, use entire dialogue passages from their favorite films as interludes, andinvite just one guest star to their coming-out party (Nas), because they didn't give two shitsabout fitting in with what other rappers were doing. As the duo spelled out on thecontroversial skit "Shark Niggas (Biters)", the whole key was to "be original". In this spirit,XXL alslo breaks form - from devoting our expanded Classic Material tributes togroundbreaking works of the dearly departed. On the 10-year anniversary of Only Built 4Cuban Linx...'s release, we spoke with Raekwon and his collaborators for their reflections andinsights on the creation of this hard-boiled hip-hop classic.01: Striving For PerfectionRAEKWON: When we sat down and did "Striving for Perfection", we knew how importantthe intro to an album is. We were comming in as young, scrambling niggas. We had visions--goals and dreams. And when we was saying certain things, shit was relating to niggas' livesfor real. But at the end of the day, we was just trying to let it be known that, Yo, we gonna dothis and we ain't gonna stop. If we fall off, we fall off. But if we get on, this is only the beginning. It was just something like, Yo, if this shit don't work right there, gotta go another route. Probably gotta go get on some robbin' some bank shit. Some ol' other shit. So, we feltlike we was just striving to get recognized in the game as those dudes that really repped thestreets hard. And basically let niggas know: We will be rich in the next year - I guarantee youthat.RZA: The theme of the album is two guys that had enough of the negative life and was readyto move on, but had one more sting to pull off. They're tired of doing what they doing, butthey're trying to make this last quarter million. That's a lot of money in the streets. We gonnaretire and see our grandbabies and get our lives together. Being that Rae and Ghost was twoopposite guys as far as neighborhoods was concerned, I used John Woo's The Killer. (In thatmovie) you got Chow Yun Fat (playing the role of Ah Jong) and Danny Lee (Inspector Lee).They have to become partners to work shit out. Mostly everything (of the spoken interludes)

is from The Killer on that album, that or personal talking. I met John Woo that same year. Hesent me a letter. He was honored that we did it. I felt confident we could settle anything thatcame up. You can usually settle that shit. It's part of the budget, man. But John Woo didn'twant nothing, never no money for that. We actually became friends. He took me and Ghost tolunch and dinner many times. He gave me a lot of mentoring in film.METHOD MAN: In RZA, you got a guy that watched karate flicks most of his childhood. Hehas that type of mind; his imagination is crazy. So when he put those (early Wu) albumstogether, he was like a kid in a candy store - like, Now I can finally make my own karatemovies. So when the solo albums dropped, mine took up where Wu-Tang left off, so it wasgood for me to come then. Dirty's still had the kung fu element, but it was more twisted; itwas like screwed music because it was seen through Dirty's eyes this time. When Raekwon'salbum came, since he was on some mobster shit, that's how the nigga structured his album.Every gangster movie he could find, every quote - it's like the way he put that album together.02: KnuckleheadzRAEKWON: That's a track where we runnin' around. We doing what we do, getting paper.We smackin' niggas up. The beat just had us feeling like, Who the knucklehead wantingrespect?! That was just one of them tracks where we felt like we just got finished robbing a bank and we got hohme and broke that money up. See this knucklehead nigga try to get slick with that paper; "One for you, two for me". It's like "What are you stupid? Tom-and-Jerryin'me, nigga?"RZA: My idea was besides them rapping the verses, afte they talking all this brotherhoodshiht, they splitting the money up and he cheating them. The idea is that U-God gets killed in"Knuckleheadz." It's like a movie. One dies, two others go on. To me, the album is a movieand shit. You get to hear U-God come in. After that song, I had to give Rae a few back-to- back solo joints.U-GOD: I was like two days out of prison. I just came out the penitentiary. Id' just come homeon Wu-Tang's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang, 36 Chambers, too. I did two years in prison. Icame home on paorle - work release right before the first album was done. That's why I'monly on two songs on the first album. Then I got violated. Knucklehead cats out in the world,you know how we d o. So I got violated for another eight more months. Then I came back home and got on Rae and Ghost's album. When I did my verse for Knuckleheadz, it was acome up time, everybody trying to come up and get into the game. I ain't get a chance to domy vocals over. When I did that, I got locked up again.03: Knowledge GodRAEKWON: Knowledge God was a serious story that I wrote. It's like I'm sitting down andwriting a letter, but it folded out into the crime scene of what he was gonna do. I was talkingabout going to go hit up a real nigga, a store owner like Mike Lavonia - them niggas that behaving money in the hood and they be trying to stay out of the way of the tough guys. But atthe same time, he still hold his ground because he got business out here in these streets. He'sthinking, I"m not gonna be intimidated by yall young boys, but at the same time I know someof yall young boys might be scheming. That's where that character came from. In them ealry'80's, cocaine was a rich nigga high. So if you was doing that back in the day and you hadknowledge of self, you was a sharp nigga to us, cause that was the sign of the times then. Butnobody neve r said nothing about it. The sniffing at the start of the song just happened. Thatwas a part of the take. When I did it, it wasn't like we knew that was gonna be ba part of thetrack.... I just did it on some (makes sniffing sound). You know , a nigga don't gotta yell tohear the mic. A nigga could do another sound to hear the mic. So that happened to come out. Ifelt when I was sitting down writing that drug pararphernalia rhyme, that I could've been a