Hip-hop album of the week reviewed...
Raekwon
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt II
Ice H20 ****
They say you can't go back, but Corey Woods thankfully didn't pay any heed. The Wu-Tang Clansman's 1995 solo release was a seminal underground collection of hard- knock narratives about characters in his hood and their feats of criminal derring-do. This sequel has the same perps, now older and wearier, as they ponder staying in the game or heading for the retirement home. The details are mapped out in Rae's complex, dense and compulsive rhymes. The album's squad of producers – among them the late J Dilla (taking things to another dimension on the fantastic
House of Flying Daggers), Pete Rock, Dr Dre and even RZA (
Black Mozart) – respond well to Raewkon's tales of street hussles and hassles. Chalk this one up as another Wu-related classic.
www.myspace.com/raewkon
Download tracks: House of Flying Daggers, Black Mozart, Kiss the Ring
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