RAEKWON THE CHEF EXPLAINS THE NAS & BIGGIE PURPLE TAPE BEEF!!

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]

Raekwon (Full) - Drink Champs #ThirstyThursday

N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN are the Drink Champs. In this #ThirstyThursday episode, the guys drink it up with Wu-Tang Clans own Raekwon The Chef. The guys discuss early Wu-tang, the current state and future of the Wu, The Purple Tape, ODB, Michael Jackson, and a lot more!

Raekwon and Diadora Collaborate to Celebrate One of Hip-Hop's Greatest Albums of All-Time

Packer Shoes has officially unveiled the collaboration along with the release date of August 20 at New York City's S.O.B.'s.

Check the images below:

On August 1, 1995 Raekwon forever changed the course of music history with the release of his debut solo album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… The groundbreaking project has been enjoyed by fans, celebrated by music critics and studied by contemporary scholars for almost 20 years. Listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the “Top 500 Albums of All Time,” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… is consistently praised for its cinematic qualities and unforgettable storyline. The ultimate conceptual album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… is credited with ushering in the mafioso sub-genre of Hip Hop, and subsequently laying the blueprint for classic albums to follow from Jay-Z, Nas and the Notorious B.I.G.

With “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…” celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year, it was only right to combine our efforts and and apply it to a staple shoe from one of the shared-favorite brands of both Rae and Packer over the years with the ade in Italy Packer x Raekwon x Diadora N.9000 “Purple Tape”.

 

The co-branded Packer x Raekwon x Diadora tongue label is direct drawback to the “Parental Advisory” tag featured on the explicit version of OB4CL with “1995” side embroidery paying homage to the release year of the album. Additional features include “side 1″ & “side 2″ embroidery rear of both shoes and corresponding album track listing both footbeds, clear purple tinted rubber outsoles, metallic silver midsole and 4 shoe lace options sure to make the tape “pop”.

 

 Please stay tuned to PackerShoes.com and SOBs.com for additional release and show details.

[via Packer Shoes]

Method Man - The Purple Tape (feat. Raekwon, Inspectah Deck)

Method Man's new album The Meth Lab is out August 21 via Hanz On/Tommy Boy. Today, he shared "The Purple Tape", which features Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, and Meth's son, whose name is also Raekwon. Yes: One track, two Raekwons.

Previously, Meth shared another album track, "Straight Gutta", featuring Redman, Hanz On, and Streetlife.

The Meth Lab can be pre-ordered on iTunes here. Merch bundles are available via Bandcamp here.

[via PITCHFORK]

Sundance Needs More Wu-Tang: Raekwon and Ghostface Reveal Upcoming Documentary, "Purple Tape Files"

Sundance 2015 was pretty much the last place we expected to run into two of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan. But, thankfully, we had the chance to sit down with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah about their upcoming documentary Purple Tape Files. The still very hush, hush doc dropped a preview which charts the release of the seminal 1995 release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and the impact of the now classic record. 

[via COMPLEX]