Wu Gambino
Steve Lalla
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Raekwon: We'd like to see you one-handed on a skateboard, if you don't mind
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Wu-Tang MC Raekwon shows he's built to last at rare Montreal appearance
Legendary Wu-Tang Clan MC Raekwon, hard at work on the sequel to his groundbreaking 1995 LP Only Built for Cuban Linx, makes a rare, eagerly anticipated appearance on Canadian soil this weekend. Arguably the game's best lyricist and an undoubted rap legend, Raekwon dropped street knowledge on me over the phone from NYC. THE CRACK'S BAGGED UP
Ten years on, his cocaine-rap masterpiece - Only Built for Cuban Linx, Raekwon's visceral depiction of a metaphorical Mafia hip-hop underworld replete with mob movie samples and interspersed with the now-infamous use of seemingly real drug trafficking skits - remains an imposing blueprint for much East Coast gangster rap to follow, hence excitement has brewed speedily since the announcement of a sequel, which is now nearing readiness.
"I got two masterminds involved with it, the RZA and Dr. Dre," he says heartily, "and the project is coming on beautiful 'namean? We gonna take it back for real to the first one. When I sit here and I think about how long I've been working on this project, I feel so good about it, me knowing that I got two super-producers involved with it that respect the origin of where I came from. I'm in a good situation right now. I try not to give out a lot of the secret doses of what we dealing with 'cause this is confidential... We don't have a release date right now."
With full-lengths Immobilarity (1999) and The Lex Diamond Story (2003) under his belt, Raekwon is nonetheless best known
- and perhaps unfairly so - for the gritty cocaine-laced street stories of his 1995 debut, a palette he consciously returns to for the sequel."What the deal with my album Only Built for Cuban Linx Part Two? It's self-explanatory. It's only built for those that know and understand the chain that I got, and understand what I did," asserts Rae. "I'm not here to act like I'm looking for five million sales, I'm only here to attract to the people that been attracted to me for the longest with this kind of a record. When I first came out I rhymed for the criminals, the drug dealers, the motherfuckers that were going through problems, but as I got popular, I rhyme now for the world. But just on this particular album that's coming out I went back and did something that I love to do, that I can do no problem. I can do this standing on one hand on a skateboard, namean?"
Implicit in Rae's attitude is a willingness to forgo the path of the conventional mainstream hip-hop MC who may see his partners, sound and public image fluctuate to meet the market's needs. Much has changed in the last 10 years: gritty, dark, sample-based East Coast raps no longer top the hip-hop charts, but Raekwon steadfastly refuses to kowtow to commercial interests.
"If you choose to listen to the stuff that's on the radio right now, and you're looking for that out of me, you're not gonna get it. So if you not gonna buy my shit then don't buy it, namean? 'Cause I'm telling you now it will not be that. When I made this record my whole thing wasn't to get caught up in the radio, or caught up into a hook, it was to give a picture of what people recognized me for at one time. That's what people want, they want that Wu-Tang similar sound but at the same time they want to see Rae's growth and development as an artist."
INCARCERATED SCARFACES
The announcement of a Wu show invariably sets off warning bells. As recently as last May, the Clan's Inspectah Deck failed to make it across the border, and the entire Wu-Tang Clan have never made it up here.
"You gotta remember we have a past about us that they still trying to bring to the forefront when we come into different countries," explains Rae. "A lot of us is felons you know. Every time I come to Canada I gotta sit in customs for at least an hour and a half, and unfortunately everyone don't have that kind of energy to put in just to get knocked down.
"The only reason I'm really able to get up there is because I got a clean record, knock on wood, I never really got in trouble like that in my life, namean? But other dudes is three-time felons, probation, some cats got caught with drugs and guns, so... It's nothing personal towards the fans or towards Canada as a whole, but the customs, they being real meticulous about who they want to let in nowadays, namean? All this fucking shit going on in the world made everybody more nervous about letting people in regardless of if they stars or not. Canada is just on some other shit though, their customs want to know everything, they ask you everything," reassuring me not only that Rae will make it here, but that our country's doing a good job on the frontlines.
THE WITTY UNPREDICTABLE LIVE SHIT
Live rendering of hip-hop often proves to be disappointing, whether due to inappropriate venues, bad sound, or MCs that use backing tracks or perform surprisingly short sets. With a prolific portfolio of classics that prominently feature other MCs - and not only from the Wu - a solo show from Raekwon has many obstacles to overcome.
"I get around that by getting up there and giving the people what they want. If they want Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit, I'm singing Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit the same way they want to hear it, know what I'm saying? So if I do C.R.E.A.M. and I do Inspectah Deck's part, that's cause that's what's pumping through my veins. Wu-Tang Clan is one, regardless of whatever we go through we always gonna be one, so when people see one of us on stage it reminds them of all of us. If I get up there and do Protect Ya Neck I gotta start with 'I smoke on the mic like Smokin' Joe Frazier' because that's what they know - I can't just jump into my verse or Meth's verse. I'll get up there and do nine verses, namean?"
WU GAMBINOS
Which leads to the inevitable question: Will there be a forthcoming album from the Wu-Tang Clan as a whole?
"Right now that's not solidified," responds Rae cautiously. "I would just say it's about everybody having the proper energy to get that. One thing about us that we always talk about is that we could easily put out a record, but promoting it and giving it the proper love it needs, and being there for the fans is so important. I can't really give up too much information on that but when we get it right the people is definitely gonna know, we feel like we can't do it halfway, you gotta give 200 per cent, namean?"
Raekwon
w/ Team Canada
At the Just For Laughs Museum (2111 St-Laurent), Sept. 23
I am Raekwons favorite female fan. I feel he's always been hot, & his second album will prove that. Of course I haven't heard it yet but I know it will be a headbanger. The Wu is my all time favorite music group ever. There isn't enough words to express the pleasure I get lookin' at 'em and listening to their hypnotizing lyrics. I was there In Aug. at the dedication concert in Denver. I can't even describe the ora it was.........unexplainable. & meeting them face to face including my man Raekwon....let's just say i wanted to finish on tour wit 'em......They are all & more RIP ODB
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Tiffany Wright
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I first started getting into rap/hip-hop in the 90s and like many Wu-Tang's 36 Chambers was on the top of my list. Amongst the clan, Raekwon, Ghostface and Method were my favorite. Only Built for Cuban Linx was arguably the Chef's best album with dope beats, lyrics using coded language and street slang to talk about drug deals and great cameos (Ghostface). But since then Rae's career has rollercostered, with more downs than ups - if you ask me. I think this album is going to be a make or break situation for Rae. Making a sequel to his best album is a bold move, can he do it again? Rae tries to deliver messages through his music, he did it well with the first album, what message is he planning to deliver with this one? Have the streets, the hood, the projects really changed in the past 10 years? I guess we'll find out soon.
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Chet Soni
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