Raekwon Built 4 Cuban Lox

Last week, on the rooftop of Capitol Records in midtown Manhattan, a private listening session was held for Raekwon’s upcoming Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, the follow-up to his 1995 mafioso masterpiece that’s had hip hop fanatics wetting their Sean Johns for some time.

The Wu Tang Clan’s resident chef gave a live performance afterward and also sat down with yours truly to share some words of wisdom, including his love for all kinds of fish (kosher and otherwise), in exchange for a fat-ass joint …

… after a long day: A salmon, a broiled salmon, some good cheeba and some nice beats. I take a little hit of some rum and cool out.

… on why he lives in Los Angeles: I’m done with New York for a while, as far as raising kids is concerned. I just think the privileges are so messed up that it really got a lot of people’s self-esteem messed up. And self-esteem is like a virus in the hood. It spreads. So I feel that every kid should have the opportunity to live a better life, and that’s what I work for. I work for kids.

… on still doing coke with ease, at age 38: We the last of the Mohicans, so we got an extra 10 years. All you may see is a little bit of frosty flakes popping out, but, you know, we still got an extra 10 in us.

… on future projects: I had a script of me done basically of my life from a Stand By Me point of view. Just imagine the hood version of it. It’s not so much about the cocaine life, but about a young kid growing up with broken dreams. I can see [the near-death experience with U-God] being in it. I used to carry my mom’s gun, her man’s gun. I knew where it was at everyday, and I took it outside with me, holding it in the bag. You knew it was a gun in there, know what I mean? We was just so open to that world because we grew up under that.

… on his hometown: I grew up with white boys. I grew up with wild ones, too. They didn’t give a fuck. You have to remember Staten Island, that’s where the Italians are the majority. About 75 percent is white, and 25 percent is black. We all went to school with each other. I know some that are cops right now, and I’m like, yo, you remember me? Yeah, that’s me.

… on homosexuality: I grew up with a kid whose brother turned into a homosexual. This is someone from my neighborhood, a real stand up dude. We’re in a world where I can’t tell fuckin anybody whoever the fuck they want to be.

… on his homophobic comment made on Sirius/XM Radio last week ("I ain’t gonna front. I can’t stand fuckin homos."): My thing is, I’m still telling everybody, I’m eight out of 10 times. Meaning that eight times I’m cool, two times you gotta get me there. I’m liable to slip up. I got a call from my younger brother who said I was rude back there. I thought about it for around 30 minutes, like, who are you to say who you are?

… his career: Right now, I’m just trying to stay focused. This rap thing is just a jumpstart for me. My dreams is just coming back, man, and it took a damn good minute. We went through hell and back, but it’s what you make of it. You know it’s all about what you put into it.

What do you think?