Talk about universal acclaim. Everybody with any reasonable credentials took their place in line to suckle at the teet of Raekwon and his concept album some fourteen years in the waiting. Built for Cuban Linx...Pt.2, although not brilliant, does contain enough highlights from enough talent to make it worthy of at least a fair share of the suckling.
Raekwon is an impressive storyteller, never one to waste a line, in the vein of his accomplice and cover art partner Ghostface Killah. At his best, he feels like he's defining the rap genre, in particular two hazy, thickly woven street anthems: the endearing ODB-tribute "Ason Jones" (with an amazing beat swooped from Wale's "The Star") and the eerie calm of "Black Mozart," which also features the best guest verse on the album from Wu-Tang also-ran Inspectah Deck ("Like Friday night cruise in the coup, new Velour suit/Fruit-flavored kicks takin' flicks out in 40 deuce"). The second half is full of these urban insights Hollywood would love to steal and sell back to the masses: "Canal Street," "Ason Jones," "Have Mercy" and "10 Bricks" is a particularly strong four-song set.
Ghostface is not at the top of his game here, generally sounding lazy and immature ("I'm like Urlacher, beasting at the top of the pile/Laying niggas in the nuts, damn I'm foul)," especially his many descriptions of elicit sex acts (you can imagine your own lyrics). However, this gives Raekwon plenty of room to cover the more compelling "so detailed how could it not be true" exploits of the coke-crack dealing game, as on one of the few shorter, conceptual tracks "Pyrex Vision" ("The Pyrex is bubblin', the stove is broke, fuck it/Use the flame from the oven"). Method Man kills it as always ("House of Flying Daggers" and "New Wu").
Production-wise, check out the Elton John-sampling "Kiss the Ring" for a potential novelty that actually grows more substantive with every listen.
If you can stomach the harshness of the Wu-Tang sensibility--drugs, chauvanism and murder--there's a lot for you here. And I mean A LOT (over seventy minutes!). If not, Built for Cuban Linx...Pt.2 isn't really going to change your mind. It's definitely not the best hip hop album of 2009--that honor goes to Mos Def--but you might want to seek out a little of the best stuff here for when the cool Brooklynite cousins come to visit.
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