The Return of the Purple Tape

Thoughts on Raekwon’s classic sequel, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II, ten years later

“Got me behind the pot again”

The odds were stacked against him.

His prior two albums had been decent, but both had paled in comparison to his debut.

His crew, the likes of which had never been seen before, was more than a decade removed from its astronomical height.

The music — the culture — was in the midst of a seismic shift to a new look and sound.

Sequels to rap albums very rarely live up to their name — or hype — and the expectations for this one had been building for more than ten years.

Thus, when Raekwon announced that he would be releasing the long-awaited continuation to his stellar debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, everything was set up for disappointment.

“Tell a friend, it’s that symbol again, that W”

By 2009, the Wu-Tang Clan was no longer seen as invincible.