Review – Raekwon’s Only Built For Cuban Linx PT II

Where do we begin? I will take it back to ’95. My favorite CD/Tape of 95 is Only Built For Cuban Linx. Classic!!! One of my top five hip hop CD’s of all time. So for Raekwon to name his latest CD Only Built For Cuban Linx PT II set the bar very high for himself.

Fast forward to 2009. I pop in my early copy of the CD on a road trip. It opens with the last song on PT I “North Star” Featuring Papa Wu. “The Return Of The Northstar” puts you right back in the feel of PT I.  I can’t go from track to track because there are 22 tracks on the CD. That is one of my biggest complaints. It’s a lot of great music, but too much to digest in one sitting. The highlights on the CD are songs like “Pyrex Glass”, where Rae takes you to the stove and tells you about that cook up. Another stand out is “Have Mercy” which is outshined by Beanie Sigel, who delivers what may be the best performance of the CD. “New Wu” Featuring Method Man and Ghostface is a track that has been floating around for a few months. It has a more polished version which appears on the album.

Just like the first CD, Ghost delivers several hot performances. Raekwon is still dropping that gritty heat with very descriptive stories about the drug game.

What I felt is missing from the CD is commercial joints like “Ice Cream”. The content was a little too montonous. Rae went a little too dark for too long. I like almost all of the songs. It is missing balance. I would like to have heard more of the banter between him and Ghost. A good CD without a doubt. You definitely hear the need for a good impartial producer who could’ve have edited this project down to the classic that is hidden in there. Overall you get your money’s worth, but I wish he would’ve release this through a label. They could’ve have made it the Purple Tape all over again. Close, but not a classic. I give it a B+.

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Posted by Jay Billion on 09 07 09. Filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry