RAEKWON:The trajectory of a true hip hop legend

 

RAEKWON-The trajectory of a true hip hop legend by Juvenal

The Year was 1970, The day was January 12th, the place was Brownsville, New York. Eight Years after the actual birth of hip-hop music, a cultural star was born.

Going by the name Corey Woods, the young future rap legend went on a spree that was a milion miles from the stars and shine that awaited the future star.

Young Corey spent much of his childhood in Brooklyn, where he was raised by his mother. It was after she was the victim of a robbery that Corey and her mother moved to Park Hill, a neighborhood in Staten Island, A place that was destined to not only be the future legends Home, but a place he would place on the world stage. 

Like many of the youths growing up surrounded by poverty Corey had his trials and tribulations coming up. Like many of the poor black neighborhoods in the US that where badly affected by the crack pandemic during the 80s, Park Hill and Staten Island was no different. This was a period of life that made a huge impression on Corey, who now was getting a taste of street life and hustling.

At the same time Corey was getting established to street life in New York, being influenced by the older hustlers who had all the fly clothes, cars and jewelry, Corey had a friend who was about to be one of the biggest influences on his  life, his friends name was, Robert Digz.

Corey always had a passion for music and was already rhyming before he hooked up with Robert and wrote rhymes under the name of, Sha Rader. Robert himself had already released an album under the name of, Prince Rakeem, but by this time had formulated a very different plan that he wanted Corey to be part of.

The master plan was to formulate the ultimate hip hop crew consisting of nine mebers, each to be a master in the craft of rapping, each to have his own style and own chamber. Corey could see the vision and was all in in executing the plan, it was at this point his life was about to take a diversion, and, by this point he was going by the name of, Raekwon The Chef. And, it was at this point the mighty Wu-Tang Clan was born.

It is now the early 90s and Robert Digz, who is now going by the name of, The Rza, is now in the process of putting together one of most iconic collectives in modern music history. Together with The Rza’s cousins, The Gza, ODB, they then added Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspectah Deck and Masta Killah. All who had relationships with The Rza in one way or another. It was Raekwon who introduced Method Man to the crew and with Cappadonna about join arms, the  Wu-Tang Clan was formed.

The success of the Wu’s first album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), is well documented, a classic album that went on to sell millions worldwide whiles helping to catapult the Clan to legendary status. Being part of a crew with so many members, and all dope in their own way, Raekwon proved to be a lot of fans early favorite with his verse on the classic track C.E.A.M, widely regarded has a masterpiece.

As part of The Rza’s master plan some of the Wu-Tang Clan members went onto releasing solo albums on different labels, a move that was totally unprecedented at the time. In August 1995 Raekwon dropped his first solo album titled, ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINX.

Raekwon’s first solo project is cemented as a hip hop classic well over twenty years later. With Ghostface featuring on more than 60% of the album ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINX was made at a time the Wu where at the peak of their powers as a collective and The Rza was the fresh new kid on the block taking the sound of hip hop to new dimensions, all the ingredients that made ONLY BUILT FOR CUBAN LINX a hip hop classic.

It was after Rae’s first solo project dropped is when the world really got know Raekwon and got to understand his skill level as a lyricist has he introduced a brand new chamber of the Wu-Tang Clan to their ever growing fan base. The album also was when fans got to really see the extra special chemistry between Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, who complimented each other like apple pie and ice cream musically, but who also formed an extra special bond behind the scenes to the point Raekwon split his advance cheque 50/50 with his Wu-Tang brother.

Has a rapper and personality Raekwon is one of a kind a very artistic character who is New York through and through. Rae is an artist who always sounds comfortable and whose rhymes are put together super tight and delivered immaculately. He is a dope teller of stories whose rhymes encourage you to use your imagination has he spits all kinds of different street slang, words and phrases.

Raekwon’s position in the rap game elevated as he went on to be a main feature on Ghostface Killah’s debut solo album, Iron Man, and featured strongly on other Wu-Tang Clan projects. He also has a long list of classic features with non Wu-Tang members with the likes of, Mobb Deep, Big Pun, Pete Rock, Jodeci, AZ, and Fat Joe to name a few.

Between the years 1999 and 2003 he dropped two albums, Immobilarity, and, The Lex Diamond Story, two solid albums that contained some dope tracks but neither received the same level of feedback that his first album got, but never the less both are solid pieces of work.

In September 2009 Raekwon dropped the long awaited, Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, just like the first serving the second proved to be another classic. From the first track to last Raekwon The Chef is on fire dropping an album that brought back that original Wu-Tang flavor and was a booster shot to all real hip hop fans who had been starved of real hip hop of this level for a while.

In 2011 we saw the release of Shaolin V Wu Tang. An album that dropped in a time that Raekwon had some well documented differences with Wu-Tang group member, The Rza, who played no part in the making of the album. Raekwon did say in a Vlad interview that the album and the title was made from the prospective of a renegade splinter group of the Wu-Tang Clan. In the same interview Rae made it clear that he was all good with The Rza although they may have different opinions over some matters concerning the direction of the group.

It was not until 2015 we saw the release of, Fly International Luxurious Art, and then it was not until March 2017 he dropped the studio album, The Wild, which was received really well by fans and critics alike.

Without a shadow of a doubt Raekwon is a true legend of hip hop and has contributed to countless pieces of legendary hip hop. While it will always be fact that being part of the Clan made him and gave him a platform to shine, but on the flip side he has a body of work stretching over two decades that cements his legendary status in the game. Not only is he a great story teller and a hard lyricist, he’s a real, authentic personality, who is a great listen in interviews.

So, Raekwon The Chef aka Lex Diamonds. For all the dope lines and cold phrases, for all those fire bars dope features. For your body of work with the Wu and has a solo artist, plus adding all those fire bar features, on the behalf of all real hip hop fans and all us at Hip hop Master,we salute you.