Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2009 Ratings: #7 / 923
Year End Rank: #9
User Score
Based on 230 ratings
2009 Rank: #48
Liked by 35 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Sputnikmusic
This is a more mature and intelligent Wu Tang and proves that one truly does improve their verbal skills with age.
91
A.V. Club

Raekwon pays further homage to his late friend’s memory by releasing a tour de force that honors both the legacies of Wu-Tang Clan and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

90
Drowned in Sound

It’s the often perfect synthesis between lyrical content and production on OB4CLII that makes the album simply sublime.

90
Tiny Mix Tapes
All hotly (strangely this descriptor seems almost an understatement) anticipated albums should deliver so profoundly.
90
Prefix

Only Built for Cuban Linx...Pt. 2 is top-to-bottom brilliant, and it's energy and emotion is too infectious not to inspire a dozen great hip-hop records to come.

90
Slant Magazine

Fundamentally ... the album is a wistful and occasionally melancholic one that is as consistently captivating in its lyrical content as it is wonderfully dark and eerily melodic in its composition and production.

90
No Ripcord
I love it the same way I love looking at signatures in my yearbooks: as distant reminders of past friends and better times. Sure, this album is awesome, but the fact remains that this is a continuation of an old idea in lieu of a new one.
90
HipHopDX

Much like The Godfather Part II, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 succeeds whether other sequels fail: by creating something that not only maintains the original’s integrity, but carries a distinct vision of its own.

88
Pitchfork
The Wu-Tang Clan member's long-awaited sequel to his 1995 classic is finally here, and yes, it's as good as fans have been hoping for.
88
Beats Per Minute

Only 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II proves more than just a hastily named album with a rehashed cover. It is a true sequel that encompasses the sound of rap in 1995, while leaving the legacy of the original unscathed.

87
Paste
The album drags at points; with 22 tracks and a 70-minute runtime, some of this material would have been better off on a mixtape. But that’s a minor flaw in an otherwise superbly-executed gangster epic.
85
Coke Machine Glow

Raekwon has not made a valid sequel to that classic—but he has quite validly added a couple hundred new bars to that performance.

80
FACT Magazine
Despite the all star cast, it’s the main man Raekwon who steals the show. Not only do his lyrics shine, the chemistry between himself and long-time collaborator Ghostface is at an all-time high.
80
Rolling Stone
This one will make heads from Shaolin to San Diego happy.
80
AllMusic

This sequel may have little to do with the original, but if the title helps to point out this is the Shaolin poet's best work since 1995's Pt. I, then so be it.

80
Mojo
Indelible, compulsive, flecked with genuine brillance throughout, it's as good as any of the acknowledged clasics from the Clan's '93-96 peak.
80
NOW Magazine

Over the years, his raps grew less engrossing and his albums bombed atomically. But he’s back on point with OB4CL2, sounding as fierce and focused as ever.

80
PopMatters

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 deserves high praise. Musically and lyrically, Raekwon has topped himself, removing the stigma of Immobilarity and The Lex Diamonds Story to drop what may be the hip-hop record of the year.

80
Spectrum Culture

While Cuban Linx II is a sometimes bloated affair that would have benefited from editing, even its weaker moments are far ahead of the bulk of the rest of hip-hop these days, while its better tracks ably indicate that there’s plenty of life left in the Wu-Tang Clan yet.

70
SPIN
While the songs may lack the original’s wild-eyed narrative, they still contain some of his most rewind-worthy bars in years.
ThePurpleIdiot
96

Now, THIS is how you make a sequel! Raekwon strikes again with another hiphop classic. This album is incredibly underrated, one of the best solo Wu-Tang Clan albums out there. Now, is this better than the original? No, it can’t beat the original, but this one stands on its own amazingly. I love how like the last one, Ghostface Killah appears on a lot of this, and is on the cover. I also really love the cover, I like how it is just a recreation of the original’s, but with them older ... read more

AllAboutMusic
61

Announced around the mid-2000s, Raekwon's sequel to the greatest mafioso album hip-hop has ever given us was highly anticipated by hip-hop heads everywhere. Not just because it's a sequel album to an album that, at that point, had been around long enough for most to regard it as a classic, but also because he spent a good 3 years or so in the recording booth assembling this tape. He was taking his precious time with every track, and his fans knew it, so they knew well that Raekwon wouldn't put ... read more

Burst644
69

It has some really good tracks but a lot of filler, and was a drag to get through

WM0002
87

Everyone who said this is one of the best sequel albums in rap is right. It's held back a little bit by the fact is hardly reaches the highs of Cuban Linx 1 but on it's own merits album is pretty stellar.

AllAboutMusic
61

Announced around the mid-2000s, Raekwon's sequel to the greatest mafioso album hip-hop has ever given us was highly anticipated by hip-hop heads everywhere. Not just because it's a sequel album to an album that, at that point, had been around long enough for most to regard it as a classic, but also because he spent a good 3 years or so in the recording booth assembling this tape. He was taking his precious time with every track, and his fans knew it, so they knew well that Raekwon wouldn't put ... read more

ChoppedNScrewed
87

Such a shame this was taken off streaming as when I first came to it I was getting a lot of replay from it on account of the production, which is handled by an array of pretty illustrious names who all for the most part bring their a-game. Raekwon really turns it up for this album as you’d expect on the long-awaited follow-up to the holy grail of his discography, and one of the greatest hip hop albums ever made. The features are tight and for the most part not overdone, and act as a ... read more

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