walking upstream…
Raekwon
sourcesWikipedia2 · Closed Sessions
Corey Woods grew up in the Park Hill projects of Staten Island's South Shore, a few blocks from the future Ghostface Killah, and joined the Wu-Tang Clan as one of its nine founding members in 1992, delivering the opening verse on the group's breakthrough single 'C.R.E.A.M.' Three years later his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... — nicknamed 'The Purple Tape' for its all-purple cassette casing — reimagined the crack-era drug trade as a mafia film shot in slang: aliases, dense internal rhyme, and cinematic scene-setting standing in for simple bragging. Widely ranked among hip-hop's greatest albums, it established Raekwon, alongside Ghostface, as one of Wu-Tang's defining solo voices, and its blueprint still echoes through narrative-driven coke rap a generation later.
the sound in question
1995
Incarcerated ScarfacesRaekwon
walk the tributaries ↓
Slick Rick1980s · Hip-hop / East Coast hip-hop / Old-school hip-hop
Recalling his teenage listening in an interview, Raekwon put Slick Rick among the storytellers who 'were speaking in a way where I was able to understand the language faster,' describing that generation's records as 'a mountain of fly shit.' Rick's trick of narrating a crime scene almost like a film — distinct characters, dialogue, a twist ending — is a direct ancestor of the cast of aliases and scene-setting that populate Cuban Linx.
listen: upstream & here
1988
Children's StorySlick Rick
1995
Rainy DayzRaekwon
listen forPlay 'Children's Story,' a tightly plotted stick-up tale told almost shot by shot, next to 'Rainy Dayz' — Raekwon narrating an equally vivid, dialogue-driven street scene over a similarly moody, half-sung hook.
Rakim1980s · Hip hop / East Coast hip hop / Jazz rap
In the same account of his formative listening, Raekwon singled out Rakim's technical command of the mic as a standard the Park Hill crews studied and tried to emulate. Rakim's habit of chaining internal rhymes across the middle of a bar, rather than only landing them at the end of a line, is all over Raekwon's own dense, mid-verse wordplay.
listen: upstream & here
1987
Paid in FullRakim
1995
Verbal IntercourseRaekwon
listen forCompare 'Paid in Full,' where rhymes lock together mid-bar rather than waiting for the end of the line, with 'Verbal Intercourse' — Raekwon and Nas trading similarly interlocking, internally rhymed verses at a near-conversational pace.
Big Daddy Kane1980s · East Coast hip-hop / Golden age hip-hop
Raekwon has recalled his Staten Island crew tracking Big Daddy Kane's whereabouts around Brooklyn like celebrity sightings, drawn to his commanding, unhurried confidence on the mic. That same unbothered swagger — never rushing a line, daring the beat to catch up — carries directly into Raekwon's own loose, conversational delivery.
listen: upstream & here
1988
Ain't No Half-Steppin'Big Daddy Kane
1995
Ice CreamRaekwon
listen forPlay 'Ain't No Half-Steppin',' a masterclass in cool, controlled command of a track, next to 'Ice Cream' — Raekwon riding a smooth groove with the same relaxed, magnetic confidence.