Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II Drops August 11

Just like how Francis Ford Coppola waited a full decade and a half before producing the highly anticipated third installment of The Godfather, Wu-Tang member Raekwon is finally releasing on August 11 Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, the follow-up to his 1995 masterpiece Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, an album often cited as the birth of the divisive crack-rap genre. But unlike The Godfather, Part III, let's hope this sequel doesn't feature a convoluted narrative, hinge on the performance of Raekwon's non-rapper daughter, or generally suck.

To the frustration of fans, the album has been on the cusp of a release over the past few years: it reached #6 on XXL Magazine's most-anticipated albums of 2007 (note the date) and was referred to by Raekwon in an interview with HipHopDX.com as being "damn near 200 percent done." So, maybe the man has put in about 342% by now. Cuban Linx has since its release gone platinum, but its successors have been released to more diminishing returns -- Rae's 2003 album The Lex Diamond Story only sold 150,000.

Ghostface Killah, The Game, Bun B, Method Man, Dr. Dre, and Wu producer RZA are slated to appear on Cuban Linx II. Even (ugh) Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has been rumored to appear! EMI will release the record under Raekwon's ICEH20 Records. The album's first single, "Woo Oh (The New Wu)," features Ghostface Killah and Method Man.

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