The classic track Raekwon wrote in “15 minutes”
Since bursting onto the scene with the Wu-Tang Clan in 1993, Raekwon has gone from strength to strength and proven himself as a lyricist and potent solo artist. His debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, is widely considered one of the best New York records of the 1990s, and the emcee has an abundance of hits to his name.
The Staten Island–bred hip-hop veteran has worked with a range of artists over the years and has collaborated with the best of the best. From Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes to 2 Chainz, A$AP Rocky and more, Raekwon is a respected figure.
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was solely produced by Wu-Tang’s legendary beatmaker and founder, RZA, who was regarded for his lo-fi and gritty production style and heavily featured Ghostface Killah. He then released other projects and has released seven full-length studio albums.
That said, sometimes, fans want to know more about an artist’s creative process, the inspiration behind their music and how they give life to beats with just pen and paper, creating magic. This is what Raekwon did in 2015 when he unveiled how he carefully crafted his debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.
Speaking to Vulture, Raekwon began by taking fans behind the scenes of the studio session that resulted in ‘Glaciers Of Ice’ featuring Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, 60 Second Assassin, and Blue Raspberry.
Vividly detailing the process of writing the track, Raekwon recalled, “‘Glaciers of Ice’ was one of the first records that we did that came out of making this album, Cuban Linx. And I just love how the beat, the beat, was changing. It was a different kind of sound. And when I wrote that, I was feeling like I was standing in the middle of my project, and it just took me back to that hustling stage of my life.”
Raekwon revealed that he took himself back to when he was a hustler in the inner-city projects of New York and explained that it was that attitude he wanted to bring to ‘Glaciers of Ice’, as he continued: “It felt good writing it, you know: ‘Standing on the block, Reebok gun cocked.’ That was the attitude when we was on the block, you know. We was just them type of kids. And it was just strong lyrics on there…it was one of the first records off the [Only Built 4] Cuban Linx album that we done.”
Although Raekwon loved writing ‘Glaciers Of Ice’ and put a lot of time into it, strangely, there was one song that the lyricist only took 15 minutes to write. The legendary track was ‘Incarcerated Scarfaces’.
Recounting how quickly the song came together, Raekwon declared, “That was also one of my bangers because I wrote that real fast. Sometimes, as an artist, you can come in the studio and hear a beat, and automatically, you relate to it. And that’s how it was with that record.”
Raekwon painted a picture of how he bonded with the beat in RZA’s basement and loved it when he heard it. Due to his love for the instrumental, Raekwon insisted that the lyrics just began to flow out of him. He even finished his rhymes before RZA had even finished producing the beat.
Remembering how rapidly he was able to pen his verses, Raekwon unveiled, “Right before he was able to really just finish the beat, I already told him I had my bars ready. And I have three strong verses in less than 15 minutes, and the hook just came naturally because I was having fun and just quoting the hook in my mind.”
You can listen to the potent lyrics that Raekwon wrote in less than 15 minutes below.