Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II is the fourth studio album by American rapper and Wu Tang Clan member Raekwon, released September 8, 2009, on Ice H2O/EMI Records in the United States. The album experienced numerous delays to its release due to Raekwon's approach of continual re writing, as well as distribution issues with his record labels. Serving as the sequel to his critically acclaimed debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995), Pt. II maintains many of the themes covered on its predecessor, and features guest appearances from several Wu Tang Clan members, as well as Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss and Beanie Sigel. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and at number two on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, while selling near 68,000 copies in its first week. Upon its release, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II received widespread acclaim from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 88/100 from Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim", and was ranked number 45 on the site's list of best reviewed albums. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II was included on several publications' year end album lists, including Rolling Stone, which ranked it the twenty fifth best album of 2009, and Time, which named it seventh best.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II was originally announced in late 2005, when it was stated that Busta Rhymes would be executive producer on the album. Although Raekwon would spend several years re working and writing the album, it was announced in January 2006 that it was finished, with production being largely credited to RZA, with RZA and Busta Rhymes as executive producers. Later in 2006, it was revealed that Wu Tang Clan members GZA and Inspectah Deck would be featured, returning with their Wu Gambino personas. Busta Rhymes' influence on the project became more solidified when it was announced that Raekwon had signed a contract with Dr. Dre's label Aftermath Entertainment, to which Busta was signed. The deal was structured so that the release would be a joint venture between Wu Tang Records and Aftermath Entertainment. After a period of time and reported delays in the recording process, the two parties eventually separated from the original agreement. The decision came after it was revealed that Dr. Dre had reportedly become creatively tied up with his personal Detox record. Raekwon revealed in an interview that Cuban Linx Pt. II would not be released on Aftermath, stating "Dr. Dre is a busy man and may not have the time to give the album his full attention." An insider from Aftermath spoke on this matter, stating "The Raekwon album came in done. It’s finished! It’s a finished record. Dre did two records. We were doing the deal, and during the deal the Christmas break came. We took a break for two weeks—came back—Dre acted like we never spoke! I was like, ‘All right, this Raekwon thing,’ and he's like, 'Nah, I ain’t fuckin’ with that no more.' In a Complex track interview, Raekwon revealed that a third Dr. Dre track was made for the album that did not make the final cut, but wishes to possibly put it on one of his future albums. By 2007, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II had still not been released, and was ranked the sixth most anticipated album of 2007 by XXL magazine. The album would be pushed back several more times, and numerous changes would be made to its release date. By mid 2007, the songs "Baggage Handlers" (produced by J Dilla) and "State of Grace" (produced by RZA) were leaked on the internet. Although they were originally intended to be included on Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II, they were cut from the final version. Near the end of 2007, the Wu Tang Clan began writing and recording their fifth studio album 8 Diagrams, which slowed the recording process even further for Cuban Linx II. Wu Tang group leader RZA came under attack from members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon over 8 Diagrams production, with Raekwon going as far as to say that he would not include any of RZA's production on the album. In an interview with AllHipHop, Raekwon commented "(On 8 Diagrams), whatever else he wanted to grow on, we weren’t crazy over it. And that’s the whole thing people took out of context. No one tried to take anything away from RZA as a producer. It was more or less you can’t be selfish, and have to work with everybody’s ears and eyes on something. Him being the dude that he is with mad platinum albums, some niggas be super cocky. ‘I don’t wanna hear nothing, I got this.’ That's what happened in that situation." The album's first single, originally entitled "Wu Ooh" and later retitled "New Wu", was released for playback on various radio mixshows, including New York's Hot 97, with an official video being released on the internet in May 2009. The video features Ghostface Killah and Method Man, who rap their verses respectively, as well as guest appearances from The Alchemist, RZA, Cappadonna, Inspectah Deck and other Wu Tang affiliates such as Popa Wu. Around this time, Raekwon announced that the album would be released through his own label, Icewater Records, with him later confirming EMI as another label that the album would be released on. According to an April 2009 report by XXL on Busta Rhymes leaving Aftermath and the album project, Busta Rhymes "was originally slated to executive produce the project, although he no longer holds the position". Raekwon said in an interview for XXL, "Busta left after our situation was already not gonna happen. Busta might have felt like he was getting the proper energy he needed to get, so really one ain’t have nothing to do with two, but you never know at the end of the day, you know what I mean. I don’t know, I can’t call that". Expectations grew high for the album as music writers reported various guests and producers to the project. An all star cast of rappers and producers appeared on the record, but several of these reported collaborations did not come to fruition or did not make the final cut. Among these are the Bun B collaboration "Never Used to Matter," and also, guest appearances from The Game and Travis Barker. Erick Sermon, Mathematics; Marley Marl, Scram Jones, Pete Rock and The Alchemist. Initially, there was speculation as to what RZA's role would be on Pt. II, being that he was the only producer and executive producer on the first Cuban Linx album. Raekwon had commented early on that the sequel would be different in this light, stating "(RZA) definitely put his two cents in and made his elements, and that’s what it’s about. But I can’t allow one man to lead my destiny no more." Raekwon spoke on the difficulties of working on the project with the legendary producer:

blockquote|One thing about RZA is he’s like the Wizard of Oz. He’ll give what he feels like giving you, but he has other shit that he doesn’t really admire too much because it doesn’t represent his growth and development process. I knew he already had it; it’s just hard to get him to go back into his bag of goodies because he’s so used to dealing with another bag right now. I felt like ‘yo, I want this sound.’ But he was like ‘this is going to be the new sound!’ So now it happens to be a want situation. RZA is the type where you’ll ask for this, and he’ll give you something else. But he always has what you want. You may have to search for a little bit, do some soul searching, but you’ll find what you need. That’s what happened on Cuban Linx II. I got what I needed from him for my shit. Raekwon spoke on what it was like getting the opportunity to rhyme over the late J Dilla's production, commenting "He's like a Dre and a RZA, like a combo. You know what I mean and I think that he didn't really get the full fledged support that he's supposed to get. But, in my book, he's that Nigga. And he came with the flamers!"

On July 22, 2009, a report was published which claimed numerous collaborations, final track names, and producers. A month later on August 27, another report was published featuring the final track listing. The two reports listed most of the same tracks, but with slight differences in names, producers, and featured guests. The change lead to the perception that there were many tracks cut from the final listing, however it is more likely that the details were transcribed incorrectly as most of the tracks listed were released in some form. The final album differed from the initial report as follows:
"Godfather" was retitled "Black Mozart" (was previously a solo track called "Secret Indictment"). "40 Deuce" was retitled "Broken Safety". "Wu Ooh" was retitled "New Wu". "Nigga Me" was retitled "About Me". "Catalina" was originally "Congo".

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II was released on September 8, 2009 and was ranked the number one downloaded album available on iTunes for the first three days of its release. It debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and at number 2 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart, the same positioning as the original Only Built 4 Cuban Linx , while selling near 68,000 copies in its first week. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II has sold 132,000 copies in the United States as of November 12, 2009, according to SoundScan.

The album was named one of the top ten best albums of the year by several publications. Slant Magazine and The New York Times both named it the eighth best album of the year. PopMatters ranked Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II at number seven on their 60 Best Albums of 2009 (making it the highest ranked Hip hop album on the list), and commented; "Everyone here is at the top of their game, leading by example and calling out to the rest of mainstream hip hop. Really no other hip hop album stood a chance up against Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part II." The popular Norwegian news paper Dagbladet named it the ninth international album of 2009. Also, the music retail company Platekompaniet ranked the album sixteenth album of 2009.