My homie Rick texted me last night and I honestly had no idea it was true…. Could “The Purple Tape” really be 25 years old today? You’re telling me it’s been 25 years since Raekwon dropped Only Built 4 Cuban Linx? Okay, if I didn’t know now I sure do now… I am old. It’s alright though… I’m good with being an old head because those mid90s Wu Tang vibes are just as fresh today as they were back then. All my Wu heads know what’s up. And all my Wu heads are probably still rockin’ fresh gear and bumpin’ good hip hop so we’re keeping the movement going. I’m still trying to ball out enough so I can get the same gold fangs that Meth rocked back in the day.

I still want that eagle on my wrist like Ghost and I’m not stopping until it happens. I can easily compromise on a platinum pinky ring but either way I’m hustling for those jewels yo.

But this isn’t about me. This is about my boy Raekwon the Chef and celebrating 25 years of The Purple Tape. Being out on the West Coast in the 90’s, we saw the rise of gangsta rap with the G-Funk sound with Dre and Death Row but we also had that Bay Area Funk with E-40, Too $hort and everybody else from the Yay. But we also had love for what was coming out of NY and when Wu came out with that Enter the 36 Chambers album we were all ears. It was a whole new sound from a group of cats who were hungry. RZA’s beats were groundbreaking and these emcees from the Wu were storytellers on a different vibe than KRS, Rakim, LL, Chuck, and other NYC legends. The Wu had this grimey feel when they dropped back in 1993 that I could really get down with as a teenager. I didn’t have any cash. All I had were my dreams to make it big and the Wu was my soundtrack coming out of my tape deck.

My main homies weren’t into the Wu except for Mickey. My buddy George straight up wouldn’t allow me to bump Wu in my whip. He later came around but the Wu sound was different than that g-funk that was thumping out of our speakers. The Wu was a lofi gritty type of feel that you either loved or hated. George has always been my closest music homie so with him out on the Wu I had to look elsewhere to find others that liked the same sh*t I was into. Enter Kentaro… Ken had the fly gear and was up on hip hop just like me. Ken and I were hip hop heads starting in the 7th grade. He lived one street over and we shared a few common interests including hip hop, sports, and baseball cards. Ken and I made sure to get our hands on EVERY Wu single, flyer, sticker, and anything else that we could fin. When I think of Ken today, I think of Wu Tang so I can’t write this story without him. Ken, if you read this, I OUR GOODIE MOB VIDEO. Just name the price. I got you homie.

Man I wish I could go back to these days….

After the Wu dropped Enter the 36 Chambers, the solo artists from the crew each had their own buzz and it was time for them to shine on their own. But not really on their own as RZA was still on the boards and the majority of the features would come from the Wu. They kept it all in the fam which was dope!

The Gravediggaz album was the first to pop after 36 Chambers in 1994 and it remains slept on. RZA and Prince Paul in a group together is nasty and while the subject matter might have been too dark for some, the beats were hard as f*ck and that’s all that mattered. RZA’s flow was fire too. I don’t consider the album 6 Feet Deep to really be a Wu album but I can’t just skim over it because it holds a place in hip hop history.

Rest in peace to Too Poetic for the innovative and stylistic flow on the first verse of “Mommy, What’s a Gravedigga?” that I still rap in the shower today. And RZA with that stop and start flow later in the track? Chills homie. If this was the first Wu related album to come after 36 Chambers I couldn’t imagine what was next!

Method Man was up next with Tical in late 1994 and while he had the grimey side, you just knew that Meth was more than that. “Bring the Pain” was unbelievable and “Release Yo’ Delf” was on another level too. But man… If we’re talking love songs from the genre of rap, Meth takes the title right? Meth and Mary J? That is a dope collab right there. And while I want to include the actual music video of “You’re All I Need” I can’t. Well, I can but the video on YouTube is for the RZA remix and I just never liked that beat. No shade at RZA but my ears have never allowed me to listen to that beat in its entirety. EVER. Yeah… I’m a weirdo, I know.

I liked the soulful vibes of the of the Puff Daddy radio version instead. That is what I included below. Shout out to Sean Combs and Mary!

So now we had Wu that were poppin’ and the solo cats were starting to bubble. Ol’ Dirty Bastard was next up in the first quarter of 1995 with his album, Return to the 36 Chambers. I loved ODB and he is probably my favorite character in hip hop history. It wasn’t a gimmick either so I don’t want you to misinterpret the use of the word character. Shout out to Flav and Biz who are right alongside ODB with their great personalities. ODB was hilarious on YO! MTV Raps leading up to his album’s release. I used to love the side interviews on Yo! MTV Raps with the Wu. ODB had a funny side to him that resonated with me. Let me just let my main man Kurt Loder tell you more about ODB back in 1995.

The album was fire and ODB was dope on many levels. And can we agree that it’s the best album cover of all time? I can’t proceed without an ODB video so you know what I have to roll with here…. It’s not even a debate…

After ODB we had Rae up next. Rae already had “Heaven & Hell” off of the Fresh SDTK floating around in late ‘94 so there was already word that his solo was coming. “Criminology” dropped in the Summer of ‘95 and while RZA, Meth, and ODB were tight, to me Rae was a different type of lyricist worked well with my eardrums. Rae was dropping fire on the early singles and on August 1st, 1995, Rae dropped Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The album cover confused me as he was with Ghost on there and the album itself was like a Rae and Ghost project. I didn’t care about any of that though because OB4CL was a classic album. It was a great summer album and “Ice Cream” was such a banger. Meth’s chorus is one of the best and if I could have been in one rap video from back in the day, it would have been this one. After I saw this video, I kept a straw in my mouth for the rest of junior high school and high school. I tried to follow in Ghost’s footsteps and still am to this day.

I could honestly write about every song on this album. Outside of Enter the 36 Chambers, this is my favorite Wu related album. I love Liquid Swords and Ghost is prob my favorite solo rapper out of the Wu but this album is my favorite of the solo projects. “Rainy Dayz” is just a somber banger that I didn’t know I needed in my life. Ghost’s opening verse on “Ice Water” is so fire. “Guillotine (Swordz)” and “Wu-Gambinos” were 2 amazing posse cuts. But let’s just slow it down before we go any further….

“Verbal Intercourse” is the best song on the classic album. Let me break it down for you….

RZA on the beat and that build up prior to the first verse was so good.
Nas on the opening verse? CMON NOW! This was a year after Illmatic so Nas was in his prime.
As soon as Nas starts rapping RZA drops the beat. Fire.
Then Nas is spitting some otherworldly bars and RZA sneaks in the vocal sample that gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME. That “but if he” vocal sample placement might be the best ever use of a vocal sample in a hip hop track.
This Nas verse and flow? My favorite. Can recite it word for word…. Or at least 86% of it!
Rae comes in on verse 2 and he sounds like an OG in the rap game. Calm, cool, and collected and you can just picture Rae nodding his head killing this in a small room with like 15 people in there. Weed smoke everywhere with golden era vibes flowing throughout.
Verse 3 we got my man Ghost kept the momentum going and we when he dropped his final lyric you knew that THEY knew that they had a classic. “Well I’ma end this with a big red cherry on top, me, Nas, and Rae got the best product on the block.” Yes Ghost, you guys do.

Hey Raekwon…. Thanks man… You have no idea what OB4CL album means to me. I’m literally crying on my keyboard right now because of how much your album and this thing called hip hop means to me. Your album and the Wu movement helped inspire who I am today. You moved millions with your story through written rhymes over dope instrumentation from RZA. I’ve been lucky enough to see you and the Wu several times and I loved seeing you and Ghost perform with Mobb Deep down here in San Diego around 10 years ago. It was the only I time I got to see Mobb Deep and now Prodigy isn’t here man. But you guys, Mobb Deep, and all of the other big hip hop acts from the Mid90s are alive through your timeless classics from the mid90s. Your album is now 25 years young and me and all my hip hop heads will be celebrating with you today. Props to you on everything man… You’re a legend!

If you’re looking for some Wu today, or any day, I got you on the Spotify playlist. Embedded here below for your listening pleasure.