June 14, 2022

Q-Tip "Abstract Radio" (Guest: Raekwon, 2016)


Recorded in January, 2016, this is Q-Tip's Abstract Radio with guest MC, Raekwon the Chef of the Wu-Tang Clan. Q-Tip runs through various records by Rae, and they discuss the impact of Raekwon's debut album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... and Ghostface Killah's Ironman. They also discuss the passion to create and whether the chamber is still there for the music; whether they reached their peak and how they do it for the sport and the challenge of doing it. "You can't lose it, you can lack it." How he created and kept his legacy alive after opening his career with the RZA on production, then going out to find and curate his own sound. Raekwon shares that he knows to build it, because he studied the greats -- all the people that came before him -- including Q-Tip and he's at the point in his career where no one could tell him he wasn't taught by the greats. That can't be questioned. A phenomenal conversation between two legends in this hip-hop game. Both with celebrated classics, hall of fame MCs, and styles so unique with words and fashion, they created lanes for those that followed. Sure, rap still has negative connotations around it, but it created a path for artists to travel the world + feed their families. I shoulda shared this in 2016, but it's not too late...