RZA and Raekwon are set to perform Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… in its entirety with the Colorado Symphony orchestra.
According to Hypebeast, the performance will take over the Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, Colorado on February 16 and February 17.
“Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… is a landmark hip-hop album released by rapper Raekwon who rose to prominence as a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Produced by fellow Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA, this record is a cornerstone of East Coast hip-hop and a quintessential piece of the genre’s golden era, thanks in part to RZA’s extraordinary beats and the introduction of Raekwon and Ghostface Killah as a legendary rap duo,” the event announcement read.
In two weeks experience the RZA, @raekwon and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra perform Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Get your tickets now to witness this legendary event on February 16 & 17, 2024 at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver, CO.
Years and years after Wu Tang Clan changed the game, its top-tier MCs like Raekwon the Chef are still getting their flowers from hip-hop’s current elite. Or links, in this case. Atlanta icons Quavo and Takeoff referenced The Chef in the title for their upcoming albumOnly Built For Infinity Links, set to drop on October 7th, and Quavo recently told TMZ that they were blessed by the New York native himself.
The Migos members now known as Unc and Phew announced their album’s release back in September, a few months after dropping the single “Hotel Lobby” in May. The title is a reference to Raekwon’s classic 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, which is considered by many to be one of the best hip-hop albums of the ’90s and the pinnacle of the era’s mafioso rap. With all of Migos’ bars about whipping in the kitchen and putting masks down, it’s not hard to see the lineage that Unc and Phew are honoring.
“We most definitely hollered at Raekwon,” Quavo told TMZ at Los Angeles International Airport. “It was all love. We gave him respect. We told him it would be an honor, and we’re dropping this album called Only Built For Infinity Links, and it’s inspired by y’all. So we just wanted to let you know we respect the OG’s and we most definitely love Wu-Tang, got respect for Wu-Tang, but right now this is what it’s about.”
He also proclaimed the project to be “the greatest album of all time.” The duo dropped the tracklist for the presumed masterpiece in early September, and it boasts 21 tracks and features from Young Thug, Gunna, NBA YoungBoy, Summer Walker, and more. Despite stirring some pots when he posted a picture kicking it and smoking with Quavo back in August, the Wu Tang clansman is unfortunately not on the album.
As for the missing third of Migos, Offset is unsurprisingly not on Infinity Links, but will be dropping a solo project of his own on November 11th. We’re still not super sure if the rap trio had a falling out or not, but some comments that Quavo made to GQ don’t indicate any bad blood.
“It was all about Migos, Migos, Migos. The three of us,” he said about the group’s early career. “I feel like every group member has to establish themselves. Their own body of work. If not, you start losing members.”
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All the Migos have done so, with solo projects being celebrated parts of their respective trajectories. It’s similar to how Raekwon carved his name into the hip-hop books beyond his contributions to the Wu and continues to work on new material. Cuban Linx went platinum in February, its 2009 sequel was also well-received, and teases of a third installment are practically integral to Raekwon’s social media presence at this point.
“Right now, I’m going to give you another project before we actually give you the III,” he told HipHopDX back in November. “Because the III, we’re still curating that to make it strong. But being that time is really moving, I already have something else on deck that’s going to open up the vessel for Cuban Linx III to come out down the line. So, just get ready though.”
History’s repeating in the hip-hop game. WIth this cosign, Quavo and Takeoff are poised to deliver one of the most notable hip-hop releases for the rest of the year.
Twenty-seven years ago today, one of the greatest conceptual albums in the history of Hip Hop was released. Raekwon The Chef released his debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, guest-starring his right-hand man, Ghostface Killah aka Tony Starks.
Released on the Loud/RCA imprint and produced exclusively by The Abbott himself, Only Built For Cuban Linx was available on cassette, which was manufactured and distributed in a violet casing, thus, spawning its nickname. The album’s influence was tremendous on other landmark LPs of that era including Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and Nas’ It Was Written, with heavy mafia references, the introduction of Cristal to the hood, and constant usage of the 5% Nation’s language of Supreme Mathematics and Supreme Alphabets in the lyrical content. The album also introduced the other WTC members via their aliases i.e. RZA is Bobby Steele, Ghost as “Tony Starks”, Deck is “Rollie Fingers”, Meth is, of course, “Johnny Blaze”, Masta Killa as “Noodles”, the Genius as “Maximillian” the Chef as “Lou Diamonds” and all together known as the “Wu-Gambinos”, which is the 16th track on the journey.
The Four and a Half Mic Classic’s(writer Nicholas Poluhoff) storyline plays out as a film, using many samples of John Woo’s Killer as an interlude between several tracks. The album contained several classic singles that had lives of their own in others spaces. The platinum-selling album yielded legendary hits such as the radio/female friendly “Ice Cream”, the inspirational “Glaciers Of Ice”, the genre sparking “Criminology”, which gave birth to many “Shark N****s”, which was an ode to biters and commanding them to “be original”. Ghost even shot a dart at the late B.I.G., accusing the slain legend of biting Nas’ pre-adolescent album cover concept. The album concludes with a positive build from the late Popa Wu aka Freedum Allah, which reminisces about the past life of a young, crime Raekwon who evolved into the multi-faceted individual seen today, which ironically is called “North Star(Jewels)”.
This platinum-selling time capsule is a must-have for all real Hip Hop fans, aficionados, critics, and historians. Salute to the entire Wu, especially Rae, Starks, and the RZA for this gem. We will forever be in debt to you guys for the “Purple Tape”.
On this day in 1970, rapper/actor Dennis Coles aka Ghostface Killah was born. The chamber of eccentricity comes almost exclusively from Tony Starks, who has been compared to the likes of Slick Rick with his signature, six inch high eagle bracelet and other excessively gaudy jewels.
At the foundation of the Wu saga, Ghost’s face was unseen and wasn’t revealed until the Chef’s Only Built For Cuban Linx classic “Purple Tape”. With ten solid solo albums under his belt, Ghostdini continues to impact the game along with his WTC family.
The Source Magazine would like to send a super shout out to the “Ironman” of Hip Hop on his degree day! Enjoy!
On Monday night (April 11), a classic hip-hop album showcased its bind to longevity. Wu-Tang Clan legends Raekwon and Ghostface Killah took to the stage of Sony Hall in New York City and performed an array of hits from the Chef’s classic solo debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, also known as The Purple Tape, with a band in live form.
The ensemble included two electric guitar players, two keyboard players, and one drummer. Aside from the two iconic emcees, there was another vocalist who carried out the majestic harmonies of the album, as heard on “Can’t Be All So Simple (Remix)” and “Rainy Dayz,” Bobbi Storm. Together, the troupe fervidly enacted a symphonic expression of The Purple Tape, a spin in favor of the era-defining album’s reigning legacy as a game-changer.
The Purple Tape, or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, is among the pioneering works for narrative mafioso rap and ultimately catapulted the style into a subgenre of hip-hop. Nearly three decades later, the Chef remains in awe at the album’s well-known repertoire but, in solid humility, commemorates the gem, representing a defining period.
“When I did that album, I felt personally that it was something great, but the commemoration that its given is undeniably awkward to me because I’m just a kid from the street that tried to do something that I felt was genuine to me, and the world looked at it as a blessing.”
The performance is a part of Ja Rule’s VIBES Concert Series, where artists tailor a routine after their journeys in a storytelling fashion. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah’s concert was the first to kick off the series as the experience plans to take on a roster of class acts. The event was streamed exclusively on the ICONN LIVE app.
