May
31

Swing the John McEnroe: Cannibal Ox, the Chef and Thor’s Hammer

A decade ago, the underground would have sacrificed several hundred cattle to see the union of the Wu and the Oxes. The Cold Vein dropped ten years ago this month, ushering in a new chapter of serrated sewer rap and catch phrases that only your friend who still wears Ecko would understand. Vast and Vordul… Continue reading »

May
03

Video: Raekwon – Butter Knives

Raekwon – Butter Knives from LRG on Vimeo. Parkhill & Stapleton, the Dodge City and Tombstone of the Wu-Tang clan mythos — twin landmarks enclosing an enormous civilization. Though they might as well have been ancient Assyrian, for the way the Clan depicted them as crumbling but still-vibrant ruins. Stairwells smelling like piss, gunpowder and… Continue reading »

Feb
23

Word to the Gold Panameras

Say what you want about Rotund Ricky, he holds his own in rap battles like he does at an all-you-can-eat crustacean buffet. Forget “Devil in a New Dress,” he first put everyone on notice with “Knife Fight” where he arguably topped Kool G Rap. Blasphemy yes, but even if that’s hyperbole, the finish was photo.… Continue reading »

Feb
11

Shaolin Poison

While Facebook feeds rightfully go Zuckerberg over the new Odd Future video, old man iced out river Raekwon quietly drops the video for the lead dart from Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang. It’s Friday afternoon and Sach already said it best: it’s easy to tell that Raekwon’s having fun again, trying new flows and tweaking old formulas… Continue reading »

Feb
02

Sach O: Raekwon – Rock & Roll

A Seven Nation Army couldn’t hold Sach O back. I don’t know enough about the crack game to compare, but rap certainly reminds me of the pimp game in that it’s all about confidence. Theoretically, Rae shouldn’t be able to pull a track like this off but he knocks it out the park on momentum… Continue reading »

Jan
13

Sach O: Raekwon – Shaolin vs Wu-Tang

Sach O used his Shaolin poison to set up your master. Rae’s got the juice now. With the knowledge of an older God and a rekindled fire that has him out-spitting young Turks left and right, The Chef has the “elder rap statesman that can still rap” spot in a sleeper-hold and it doesn’t look… Continue reading »

Dec
08

Back to that Silicon Valley Good Shit

Zilla and I have a theory: Ghost and Rae are the Elaine Benes and George Costanza of the rap world. When one is up, the other must be down. The world’s energy ultimately strives towards balance, even Steven, lay my game down quite flat. So as Stark’s output has become rote (but still blandly very… Continue reading »

Aug
13

Raekwon-”Travel Places”

Rae’s always conceived rap as an episode of No Reservations. He is the Chef, after all. And it is conceivable that Anthony Bourdain may have ingested more illicit substances than Rae–even factoring in this photo. So we go from Caesar’s palace eating salad (presumably Caesar), to nights out in Egypt eating wild rice. A series… Continue reading »

May
28

Raekwon – Cocainism Vol. 2

The ideal Memorial Day soundtrack if your plans are to make a verite re-creation of Scarface, eat linguine with shrimp scampi, and wear Aztec colored Wally’s with the oyster chain dangling off your ox-neck Orlando Woolridge. Or something. Rae’s latest and greatest are collected here, minus his latest gem “Sunset Strip,” a collaboration with Sick… Continue reading »

May
26

Raekwon – “Alphabet Soup”

A-Z raps have been written by MC’s of nearly every letter –from Aesop Rock to Saigon, with Masta Ace, Blackalicious, Papoose, Busta Rhymes, and Kool G Rap filling in the blanks. But as Sach pointed out, “every decent concept has been done, the Alphabet thing is like the “Rhyme from a bullet’s POV” thing: it’s… Continue reading »

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