Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2

The pioneer of Mafioso rap offers some sage advice to the aspiring gangster on “Black Mozart.” “You better get that money, no matter what you do.” Setting the lyric to the ominous theme score from The Godfather, Raekwon makes an announcement—he is Michael Corleone, and he’s going to the mattresses. Nearly 15 years after his explosive solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx,  Wu-Tang Clan’s most powerful storyteller returns with the much-anticipated Pt. 2. The gangster motifs that appeared on the original record are all here: drugs (“Baggin Crack”), crime (“We Will Rob You”) and the trials of street life (“Mean Streets”). The production cast is an all-star team of rap: RZA, GZA, Dr. Dre and the late J Dilla are all credited. The beats draw from R&B and soul, Wu’s characteristic cinematic samples and claustrophobic bass rhythms that resonate with the stories of dark crime. The somber subject matter of OB4CL, Pt.2 directly challenges the decadent “Good Life” themes of modern hip-hop giants like Kanye West and T-Pain. Raekwon’s persona still resides in the ghetto, and he delivers a message to the freeloaders of rap on “Surgical Gloves,” “We’ll blow you out your pea coats.” Rae’s distinct narrative lyrics are most lucid on “Ason Jones,” a tribute to the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard. He remembers O.D.B. as, “The lover, the father, the hustler, rap professor/Now he’s with the Lord and that’s a blessing.” Luckily, Raekwon’s social messages never dull the quality of the music, a pitfall of many of his contemporaries. True rap fans have relied on Wu-Tang since 36 Chambers, and as Rae, Method and Inspectah Deck declare on “House of Flying Daggers,” they will “fight to the death” for the future of hip-hop.