Why Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Still Matters Today

Pharron Fields October 24th 2025

When Raekwon released Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… in 1995, he didn’t just drop another Wu-Tang Clan solo album he reinvented how street stories were told in hip-hop. Known as The Purple Tape, the project played like a film, filled with themes of loyalty, betrayal, ambition, survival, and the grit of real life.

With Ghostface Killah as his co-star and RZA crafting a dark, cinematic soundscape, Raekwon built a world that felt raw, poetic, and dangerous. Songs like “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” “Criminology,” “Verbal Intercourse,” “Ice Cream,” “Glaciers of Ice,” and “Heaven & Hell” showcased detailed storytelling, street slang, and emotion you could feel. It wasn’t just rap it became the blueprint for cinematic hip-hop.

Nearly 30 years later, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… is still celebrated as one of the most influential albums in Wu-Tang history and modern rap culture.

Raekwon sits on a couch next to a collection of purple-themed sneakers, New York Yankees caps, and shoeboxes labeled “1995,” paying homage to his iconic Purple Tape album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…