RAEKWON THE CHEF: BONAFIDE ISSUE 03 TEASER

“Bonafide; this is like a fucking hip hop journal right here!”

Raekwon the Chef needs little introduction. He is after all one of the most influential figures in hip-hop, coming from a time the man himself accurately describes as; “that 90s error crew. Probably the last, richest soil of hip-hop your gonna’ get.” He cooked up some ‘marvellous shit’ for us once, and now it’s time to do it again.

The build up to the release of ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2’ has been nothing short of epic; stories surrounding its delay continue to surface, embellish and fade away just as quickly as they have been blogged. Having first announced a follow up to the stone cold classic that is ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx’ more than 4 years ago, it is a credit to one of modern music’s most gifted raconteurs (yes music, not just rap) that anyone is even still interested.

Casually laid out on the couch in his expensive hotel room I managed to catch the Chef in candid mood earlier this summer, and here is an excerpt from my interview with him.

Considering the popularity of the original record – and the fact that there are several other albums being released by big artists this year who haven’t put anything out in a while – do you feel under extra pressure to deliver with ‘OB4CL 2′?

No not at all,’cos I’m back in my zone, I feel mentally it’s not even like I’ve got a record deal again, I’m more concerned with making a classic. Don’t worry about radio, don’t worry about the things people try to blind you with or want you to become, go with your gut. So that’s what I did, fuck a record deal, let me show you skill right now. I’m gonna’ go out and get the hottest beats, the rawest rhymes, we built the album… not only is the production classic but when you hear this you’re going to be like “woah, this is the best Wu shit I’ve heard in a long time” because I think ‘Cuban Linx’ is built based on a Wu legacy. When you think of ‘OB4CL’ you think of everybody on the album having fun, Ghost on more than 5 tracks, RZA, Meth, Gza… that’s why we threw out the new Wu record just to let y’all know we know what y’all want. We know we’ve left you waiting but try this one out, its like shooting dice or gambling… we know what card to play.

Are there any plans to use a purple tape style marketing campaign for ‘OB4CL2’?

Y’know I want to so bad, I want to ‘cos this is like a collectors album too. The music is going to be there but I want all the elements to be there. We’re trying hard to get that, can’t get tapes no more…

Mr Lex Diamonds told us exclusively at the time he would be working with ‘OB4CL’ photographer Danny Hastings, reuniting Rae with Ghost for the sequel’s cover image. Yet the sloth like speed of Bonafide’s editorial department means you may have already seen it. But here you go just in case…

The Chef clears up those pesky Dre and Aftermath rumours, as well as reminding us to always check the label…

The last 4 years I had spent a lot of time touring and I wanted to feel really comfortable in my production (of ‘OB4CL2’). I didn’t have a solid home (record label) to release the album on and I asked to be released from Universal Motown due to a lack of promotion. When they let me go they were fair about it and I respect that, no bullshit, so it was like aight cool. But then I had to find another home, and I felt like peoples were being funny-style and not really saluting Cuban Linx’s legacy. So I was like; “maybe this is the time to go independent”, and I’m happy I did as now I look to benefit more while I still have the major label backing which is EMI. They act as a distributor company that allows their artists to become labels, so now I’m a label. I’m a conglomerate, with EMI acting as a distributor.

There was one point where there could have been a situation with Aftermath but Dre was very busy, I didn’t want to be subjected to being on the backburner for nothing. We’re still cool, we came together just for the music man. At the time I didn’t have a house and he was like, “either way we do it I’m here” and if I go independent he wanted to be an investor. He spoke fast on wanting to sign me but then was like “damn, I don’t have the time”. A lot of it was hype, unless I’ve signed off then you won’t hear a word from me, and in the end the timing just didn’t work out.

“House of Flying Daggers” (the J Dilla beat).

The Dilla one was real special, when I talked to him he was like “this is definitely one I made with y’all influence”. He put some cds out there and I’m sure someone else may have heard it but when you hear it you’re going to automatically think it was made for Wu, and that RZA did it. It’s like someone hitting it right on the head, someone cooking your signature dish better than you could cook it!

The full, exclusive interview including Rae’s thoughts on: modern hip-hop, Ol Dirty, ‘8 Diagrams’, a film biopic and Wu reality TV show and of course his attempts to remake a classic album will all be available in issue 03 of Bonafide out this Autumn.

Words: David Kane. Photography: Hydar Dewachi www.dewachi.com

Filed under: Bonafide Exclusives by P.A.