The title of Raekwon's fifth album sounds like a challenge or undermining of the Wu-Tang movement, of which he himself has been a part for more than two decades. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, The Chef explains that before the Wu-Tang Clan he was a rapper from Staten Island, New York aka Shaolin. With this album, the rapper returns to his own history. The internal conflict after the flop
… 8 Diagrams (2007) was the alleged cause of this album that was supposed to be a Wu-Tang production without master RZA. Even though there are actually no beats from RZA to be found, the presence of Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Inspectah Deck partly confirms Raekwon's words' I wanted to give some other producers a chance. It's not about beef '. For Shaolin Vs Wu-Tang, Rae has producers like DJ Khalil, Alchemist and Evidence showed up and that worked out well. The Chef not only has a good ear for beats, but is still in shape when it comes to storytelling. Stronger than expected! (GL)more
