Pusha-T Travels To Shaolin To Explain The Importance Of Raekwon’s Purple Tape (Video)

23 Years of Raekwon's The Purple Tape

On 8/01/1995 founding Wu-Tang member Raekwon released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... At the time, Raekwon's album was one of many individual Wu-Tang Clan releases hitting the market but it quickly rose in stature and many fans consider it the single best solo Wu-Tang album of all time. 

However, when it first came out, Raekwon wasn't at the top of the Wu-Tang pecking order and as he told interviewers with 3 Little Digs, he wanted his album to stand out against the typical pile of tapes that collected on the floors of people's cars. Though Loud Records humored Rae's request, they supposedly only did so for the first 10,000 cassettes, inadvertently guaranteeing that it'd fall into the hands of the most fervent Raekwon/Wu-Tang fans. As time went by, to describe Only Built as The Purple Tape was a sly form of oneupmanship since it meant, "I was first in line to own this."*

[*excerpt from NPR]

Steve Rifkind on Dropping Raekwon's Cuban Linx and Throwing Chair at Lawyer for Wu-Tang

Famed music executive Steve Rifkind spoke about his massive success with Wu-Tang during an exclusive interview with VladTV, as he explained they were the first group to get him his first big check. Afterward, Steve said he renegotiated his deal with RCA and signed Big Pun.

When asked about signing Pun, Steve revealed that he didn't hear the late rapper perform in person, and he signed him off of a freestyle. It was during this time that "Still Not a Player" came out, and Steve told DJ Vlad that the track and video were finished within 48 hours of him hearing the song.

SRC and Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind was behind some seminal acts of hip-hop's "Golden Age." Here, Steve reflects on his experience with Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep. He takes Vlad through the stages of Wu-Tang's early success, starting with the songs "M.E.T.H.O.D. Man" and "Protect Ya Neck," to the fracturing of the group into solo acts. Steve also talks about the phenomenon of Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones, pt. 2." 

Sneaker Collaboration With Diadora Based Off of 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx'

September 10th, according to Sole Collector, they're a friends-and-family-only version, with no expected release in sight.

 
It's been 20 years since Raekwon's solo debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, was released and helped change the hip-hop landscape and perception of East Coast rap music. To celebrate this work, Rae linked up with Packer Shoes and Diadora for a "Purple Tape" — a nod to the cassette's color — N.9000, which was Made in Italy and sold at S.O.B's in NYC this past Thursday.

At the show, Raekwon had a pair of Diadoras on his feet, but they weren't the ones being sold that day. Instead, this pair was produced to emulate the album art from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, which is red, yellow, and black.

An image, seen above, has leaked of the sneakers, but there is no solid release information yet.
Stay tuned, this is going to be good.

[via COMPLEX]

Raekwon and Ghostface Killah Will Review Your Mixtape If You Donate $200 for the "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" Documentary

Instead of blowing up music writers' mentions or the comment sections you can guarantee ears for your mixtape for a mere $200. Raekwon and Ghostface Killah will review all tracks submitted if you donate to their crowdfunding campaign for the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx documentary. The two will also select their favorite artists from the bunch to attend a studio session in which they offer more creative input. 

Raekwon and Ghostface announced The Purple Tape Files in January at Sundance. Produced by Raekwon's Third Eye Vision production company, the documentary will focus on the impact of his seminal, debut album. The crowdfunding campaign will last for 60 days, and the documentary is expected to be completed in August, the 20th anniversary of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

http://www.fanbacked.com/c/purple-tape-files/

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (Deluxe "Purple Tape" Cassette Boxset - Ltd. to 1000!)

On August 1, 1995, RCA Records dropped Raekwon's now classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The first 10,000 cassette copies (according to legend), were cased in a brilliant purple. An instant collectors item, and impetus for a nickname, the tape remains one of most creative packaging choices in hip-hop history.

Get On Down celebrates creativity. The small brand, established in 2010 by record industry veterans Matt Welch and Joe Mansfield, is giving hip-hop fans reason to celebrate legendary records and forgotten classics. Majors hadn't been pushing rap beyond regular reissues and, as Mansfield says, Get On Down was formed as a way of "presenting releases in a really fresh way, as far as innovative packaging and cool bonus material."
They started with Common's Resurrection and then blew the doors open with a brilliant idea for ODB's Return to the 36 Chambers, recreating the food stamp card on the the original cover, reminding of the power of music and its associated objects to entice us beyond disposable download culture. "That one to me had so many different parts from different manufacturers, and when it came together it was really exciting," says Matt Welch, "It made people take notice of what we were doing."

Since ODB, they've reworked GZA's Liquid Swords with a chess set and now adds to the Get On Down Master Series with the "Purple Tape Cassette Box."

The full-length audio from the original is set in actual Purple Tape and housed in a "piano lacquer" display case with gold-color hardware and embossed white-on-black Raekwon logo. In addition to the tape, the box set includes a 32-page, hard-cover liner notes book with text by Brian Coleman and reprinted graphics from the original Loud/RCA promotional singles.

The cassette-only Only Built 4 Cuban Linx "Purple Tape Cassette Box" reissue is limited to 1,000 copies available exclusively from today at Get Down for $44.95.

Power Friday: Raekwon & The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Discuss the "The Purple Tape" (Part 1)

Check out Wu-Tang legend, Raekwon as he hops in the studio with Grammy award winning production team, the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and talks about the creation of his debut album, "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx", also known as "The Purple Tape". Watch also, as he autographs Rook's original copy of the album!