Raekwon on the collaboration he called a “dream team”
1998 was a big year for hip-hop, and many of the seminal albums and singles from that period live on today. From Big Pun to DMX, to Lauryn Hill and Jay-Z, the culture was abundant with fantastic music. In 1998, lovers of rap were really spoilt for choice, and today, if one were to name every iconic single from the year, it would take an eternity. However, in an interview, Wu-Tang Clan emcee Raekwon once claimed, in 1998, there was one track that featured a “dream team”.
Raekwon is a respected New York City rapper who rose to fame as a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. His debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, was a platinum-selling record and is still thought of as an East Coast classic. The musician (real name Corey Woods) was widely considered one of the Clan’s most lyrical members and was one of the few who successfully developed a solo career following the collective’s dissipation.
Although the Wu-Tang Clan were a formidable force, many look back at them as a phenomenon of the early 1990s. However, Woods was at the forefront of hip-hop well into the 2000s. The Brooklyn emcee was a real New Yorker, and most of his collaborations were with other iconic artists from his city.
Whether it’s Nas, Havoc or Capone, looking back, his RZA-produced material boasted the East Coast’s finest. However, according to Woods, there was one posse cut he recorded that has never been matched, ‘John Blaze’ featuring himself, Fat Joe, Big Pun, Jadakiss and Nas. The single appeared on Fat Joe’s third album, Don Cartagena, and, in Woods’ opinion, featured a lineup of” lyrical swordsmen.”
Fat Joe remains a New York icon. As one of the first Latino rappers to successfully break into the mainstream, his success saw a wave of Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban MCs suddenly commanding the culture and going toe-to-toe with the best Black lyricists in New York. Joe’s 1998 album debuted at number seven on the charts. However, it was his protégé, Big Pun, who really broke down doors.
After being discovered by Fat Joe outside a bodega in the Bronx, Big Pun became part of the Terror Squad collective and was thrust into the limelight after he appeared on Joe’s 1995 sophomore project, Jealous One’s Envy. However, after he signed with Atlantic in 1998, Big Pun (real name Christopher Rios) released Capital Punishment. Notably, its the first hip-hop album by a Latin emcee to sell over one million units.
Rios and Joe were joined at the hip and were renowned for their lyricism. In fact, Big Pun’s tongue-twisting rhymes were so mind-blowing even artists such as Busta Rhymes and DMX were amazed at his abilities.
The dynamic duo were legendary as two cultural symbols. In 1998, Jadakiss was brand new on the scene, but as part of the legendary collective The LOX, alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch, he was making waves with his music. Furthermore, the Yonkers crew had ties to DMX, one of the era’s most successful MCs.
Nas’s greatness needs little explanation. The Illmatic creator has already planted himself firmly in the hip-hop history books as potentially one of the best rappers ever to touch a microphone. As such, when ‘John Blaze’ was released, it is fair to say that every emcee was in their prime. Therefore, it could be said that it was a “dream team” of sorts.
Speaking about the song to Vulture magazine, Woods stated, “To me, that was a dream team. I remember Joe single-handedly calling all of us to get on that record. And that record was a different beat before, but they had switched the beat. They had switched the melodies of the record up. And when they sent us the track, it was like, ‘Yo, we ripped it.’ It was just one of those favourite combination songs that I always loved, you know what I mean?”
He passionately continued, “Shit like, ‘The flicker blocker, wicked sneaker rocker footwear’ — you know what I mean, I was just really using my incredible skills. My wordplay, it was just bouncing on the track. So, it was good. Shit like, ‘Start the wind-up, we John Blazin’, Don up in the lineup.’ With the power players of the game, though, there was a lot of lyrical swordsmen on that.”
‘John Blaze’ is most definitely an underrated track and one that embodies the essence of lyricism in hip-hop.