Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
One of the greatest hip-hop albums ever made.
It pioneered
Mafioso rap, and you can hear it's influence in all the albums that came after it. The cinematic, elaborate beats, with the heavy use of horn and string sections, introduced an entirely new sound to the rap game. The clean, polished beats of Cuban
Linx contrasts
starkly against Tical or 36 Chambers.
Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z? Life After Death by Big? They all owe their entire style to this album.
The production on this album is a perfect testament to
RZA's skills. If anyone tells you Dr. Dre is the best producer, just laugh at them, they have shittier taste than you. Do them a favor and hand them a copy of
Liquid Swords or Cuban Linx.
Ghostface Killah also laid down some of his best verses and lines on this album. Some people say this was Ghostface at his peak.
The original name was "Only Built 4 My Cuban Linx Niggaz".
A
Cuban link is a type of chain necklace with a distinct pattern. "Cuban Linx" isn't a secret code word, he's basically saying for his styled up niggaz.
Ghostfaces verse on Criminology -
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Yo, first of all son, peep the arson
Many brothers I be sparkin' and bustin' mad light inside the dark
Call me dough snatcher, just the brother for the rapture
I handglide, holdin' on strong, hard to capture
Extravagant, RZA bake the track and it's militant
Then I react, like a convict, and start killin' shit
It's manifested, the Gods work like appliances
Dealin' in my cypher I revolve around sciences
The ninth chamber, nigga trapped inside my hallway
You try to flee but you got smoked up by the doorway (
blaow! blaow! blaow!)
No question, I send your ass back, right to the essence
Your whole frame is smothered in dirt, now how you restin'
While I'll be trapped by sounds, locked behind loops
Throwin' niggaz off airplanes cause CASH RULES
Everything around me black as you can see
Swallow this
murder one verse like
God degree
Then analyze my soundtrack for satisfaction
You adapt like a flashback chain reaction
