(above is a shirt I had made with the album cover on it)I've always read that this album is what they call a "grower", meaning it takes a few listens for the listener to truely appreciate what they are hearing. I can certainly attest to that. In my case it took roughly a half decade to recognize Raekwons "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" as the masterpiece it is.
The story begins sometime around 2001 after I had prematurely retired my career as a high school basketball player, bored, unfocused and newly without any sense of a self identity. I discovered the tail end of the Wu-Tang Clans "Can't Go To Sleep" video on MTV 2. The soulfull samples, the witty consciousness of the rhymes, I was hooked. My collection of Wu-Tang albums steadily grew over the coming weeks and months, grabbing cd's anyway I could.
Back in the day there was a pawnshop my father used to frequent that had a whole wall of the store devoted to used CD's. They ran a deal that was three disc for fifteen bucks and if memory serves my purchases that day were the GZA's "Beneath The Surface" (which I think is better then people give it credit), something else and Raekwons "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" which had almost zero appeal to me that day and was really only bought out of curiousity thanks to the hype surrounding it.
At the time the narrative of the album and the dark, overly gritty atmosphere were completely lost on me. My mind and ears just weren't ready for it. First of all because the street slang and five percent nation talk sounds like a foreign language until you catch a grasp of what they are actually talking about.
Anyways, there the album sat in my collection getting a few listens here and there until about 2006. Around that time I had delved further into my love of old cult flicks from the 70's and developed a insatiable appetite for ugly entertainment filled with profanity, violence and most of all, I do stress most importantly, it must look or sound dirty. Not dirty as in perverted, I mean dirty like scratchy. When I play a record I want it to sound like the speakers are burning and filled with dirt, the way vinyl makes a sound or old film crack on the screen. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx on that scale delivered in spades. The album is so grimy that every time I listen I feel the need to shower and rinse off a layer of filth. When this album finally clicked in my head and hit me, it hit hard like a smack to the face by a shovel.
As they say, the rest is history. Cuban Linx has recieved so many spins from me since 2006 that I had to replace my original copy with a new one because it had become unplayable. Next to Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, this is the most intricately perfect hip hop album ever produced (IMO). It is the standard by which I hold all other albums (hip hop or other) accountable too. Hell, it may even be the standard I hold most movies too. Easily the greatest gangster flick ever put on wax.
By far the most influential piece of art in my own personal life. To say that I love this album is an understatement. It is a testament to the greatness of the Wu-Tang Clan (In this case mainly Raekwon and Ghostface) and the genius of the Rza that 15 years later fans still celebrate the release of the album.
