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Raekwon The Chef unveils his long awaited fourth album and follow up his critically acclaimed 1995 debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx today.  Already blessing the streets with cuts from the album like “10 Bricks” and “Catalina,” Raekwon spoke exclusively to Hip-Hop Wired about the second coming.

“Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2.  Expect heat my ni**a.  Rae being in Rae mode again.  It’s me really just bringing that real street Hip-Hop back to the table.  I feel like I ain’t missed a beat and I’m still where I need to be at.  Still rhyming my a*s off and my ear is still golden.  All I can say is I’m gonna bring fire to the table.  Hip-Hop is a child’s sport right now.  It ain’t what it used to be as far as creativity is concerned so I really just kind of went back into my artistical messages and Shyte and really just came with the right production.  I really never had a problem with rhyming because I come from a rhyming camp.  So that wasn’t really my issues that I was stressing over.

It was really more or less production and I went out there and made sure I was able to bring a new sound to the table again.  Like when you hear a lot of Shyte today, it ain’t really no creative production going on no more.  It’s just typical music and I wanted to go a little bit farther and just basically make some ill production happen and Shyte. Production was my main purpose right now.  I really wanted to show people that there is still cats who’ve been in the game as long as myself that still can go out there and get the proper music and bring another side to Hip-Hop back to life.”

Only Built For Cuban Linx 2 will include production from veterans like Erick Sermon, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre and the late J-Dilla as well as collaborations with his Wu-Tang brothers Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah and Method Man.  Rae had previously leaked some heat from the album to the streets with cuts like “House Of Flying Daggers” and “New Wu.”  The Chef further added,

“Overall, Chef don’t come with nothing but whatever it’s gonna be.  Right now I know the capacity of where people want me to be at with this album, but like I said I’m just gonna put it on and the table and its back to the hoodie action again.  Just throwing on the good hoodie and the Timbs and just basically in the studio getting it in.  My key thing that I love to do is to come in the studio and forget that I’m a big artist and go back to that grind factor and that’s what I did.

I’m one of them real Champion gear rappers so I’m coming in with the streets on my back.  So it’s just real heat.  Just really staying in my lane and impressing the people.  Production is really my thing and I’m going to let the music speak.  I’m not gonna sit there and try and come up with no gimmicks cause I’m not a gimmick rapper.  I’m a lyricist and I can’t get away from that even if I wanted to.  I’m just gonna keep making passionate Hip-Hop.”

As previously reported, Sean “Diddy” Combs will host Raekwon’s album release party tonight at Santos Party House in New York.  Rae is also set to murder the stage tonight with a live performance and artists including Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface , Beanie Sigel, Slick Rick, Talib Kweli  and Lyfe Jennings are scheduled to be in the building to help rock the house and celebrate the second coming of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.  Raekwon added,

“This album right here my dude is more street.  Like I said I just really took off the glamour and the glitter and basically just went back to being that MC from the projects.  I didn’t really drop too many jewels like that from my point of view because I knew that everyone  and everybody wanted what they wanted right now; Chef back over the stove.  Because if started getting too optimistic and too jem dropping, it may be too far for people to really understand.  So I just really wanted to kind of keep this album on some street Shyte, talking about my days of bagging up.  Bagging up crack. This is going on, that’s going on.  Stories from the hood.  Typical real Shyte that happens in the hood. 

I just wanted to make sure that I capitalize on that world because that’s what this album is about.  When I made the first one, we were fresh off the block.  Straight drug dealing ni**as trying to come up with a solution to get the fu*k out the streets one way or another.  And I kind of took that blueprint with me on this one.  I never really tried to out do it but make sure I was on the same pattern as I was back then.  You know what I mean?”

In regards to Wu-Tang business, Raekwon, Ghostface and Method are in talks to get their Bell Biv Devoe on as they warn fans to expect heat from their triple threat arsenal outside of the Clan umbrella.