Pitchfork

While not quite at Chinese Democracy levels of will-this-record-ever-come-out-and-do-we-still-care like Dr. Dre's Detox, Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 is long-awaited and much-anticipated, to say the least. The two albums he has released since Only Built 4 Cuban Linx came out in 1995 (Immobilarity and The Lex Diamond Story) have been met with relative indifference, and the big question for a lot of people is whether or not Rae still has the stuff that made his solo debut a stone-cold classic.

With OB4CL2 set for a March release on his own Ice Water Records, Raekwon is aware of the pressure to deliver, but confident in what he's created. On the phone with Pitchfork recently, he called the expectations "a gift and a curse," but added, "The record is the shit. It's been getting around [in] my camp. It's another masterpiece ready to be released."

"I got some of the most talented producers in the game for the last 20 years that came up for this project," Raekwon said. "We didn't wanna have RZA be the only producer because we wanna move on, we wanna elevate. Life is about elevating. So we called some of our friends that really get busy in the game to come out, and when I tell you that these motherfuckers went off, they went off. That's why I've been holding shit back. I haven't really been releasing nothing from my album, 'cause I wanna make sure people know that this is the album. Don't get caught up in the single or one record or a mixtape record. Just know that, at the end of the day, you gotta go buy that album and go get the real shit. After you see the artwork and the production and the time invested into it, you're gonna want to have it as one of your top classics in your joint."

In addition to RZA, the list of motherfuckers who went off on the album includes Dr. Dre, Marley Marl, Pete Rock, DJ Scratch, Scram Jones, and the late J Dilla on the production side of things. The record also features appearances by Method Man, Ghostface Killah, GZA, Busta Rhymes, Inspectah Deck, and Travis Barker.

Raekwon understands what worked on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and he's applying that knowledge to its sequel. "When I sit back and look at the first album cover, with me over the stove, knowing that's the shit that people love-- they love the slang and the stories and all that shit-- that made me go into this new project with that same mentality again," he said. "It's like seeing [Robert] DeNiro in a mafia flick, then seeing him doing another project, but then when it's time to do another mafia flick, he comes back up for air. It's like, it may be a different movie, but he's still that same dude from The Godfather. That's what I try to do on my records: Walk down memory lane, proud, with a new vibe and a new movement, but still recognizing the formula. The formula is what broke the mold for a lot of artists, and that's how I went into this album. I didn't go outside my formula or who I am. I made sure I made my beat selection real nice and chunky. My motto wasn't to outdo the first one. If anything, my motto was to make sure that I compliment the first one with the second one. That was the initial plan, to make another classic but basically still look at the first classic. It's like going back to the tapes to know what kind of fighter you gotta be to get back in the ring and do your thing."

But Raekwon doesn't want his fans to get too comfortable. He said, "I'm hoping that everyone really opens their minds up instead of trying to act like, 'Oh, yo, he ain't got an 'Ice Cream' on there.' It's like, 'Yo, you wanna hear 'Ice Cream'? Go back to the first album.' I'm very dedicated to my underground fans, and this record, to me, it's not really about the sales going platinum or whatever. It's just about getting respect. You know what I mean? Complimenting the project. I just wanna show everybody that it's nothin' for me, man. I do this shit like how your moms cook dinner."

The Chef is currently on tour with Wu-Tang Clan. Their next show is Sunday (December 14) in Chicago. Also, congratulations to the man on his well-deserved "Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group" Grammy nomination for Big Boi's "Royal Flush" (also featuring Andre 3000).

Wu-Tang Clan:

12-14 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
12-15 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
12-17 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
12-18 Rochester, NY - Main Street Armory
12-19 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
12-20 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place
12-21 Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
12-23 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
12-26 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Small's
12-27 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
12-31 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
01-01 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
01-02 Providence, RI - Lupo's
01-03 Worcester, MA - Palladium Nightclub
01-04 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
01-07 Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
01-08 Richmond, VA - The National
01-09 Greensboro, NC - N Club
01-10 Charleston, SC - Music Farm
01-11 Charlotte, NC - Amos' Southend
01-12 Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theatre
01-13 Columbia, SC - Level
01-14 Atlanta, GA - TBA
01-15 Jacksonville, FL - Plush
01-16 Tampa, FL - Jannus Landing