The 25th anniversary of Raekwon‘s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is coming up and to celebrate, The Chef is reissuing a special edition instrumental vinyl via Certified Classics and Get On Down, which previously re-released it on cassette in 2013. The Wu-Tang Clan member was the fourth to release a separate project (after RZA’s Gravediggaz debut 6 Feet Deep, Method Man’s debut album, Tical, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Return To The 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version) — a project that was critically hailed and nicknamed “The Purple Tape” for the unusually-colored cassette pressings of its first 10,000 copies.
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was later revered as one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history, with its single “Ice Cream” becoming a signature Wu-Tang track and songs “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” “Rainy Dayz,” and “Verbal Intercourse” becoming lauded favorites, the latter due to a standout verse from Nas, who adopted the mafioso rap stylings of Cuban Linx for his own album It Was Written later that year. OB4CL is credited with helping to launch the mafioso rap aesthetic to the mainstream, with numerous projects following a similar approach in its wake. Its influence is still being felt today, while its sequel, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II, became a critical hit in its own right in 2009.
You can find more info about the vinyl reissue here.