Editing Raekwon (section)

=== ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' ===
In 1994, Raekwon signed a solo deal with [[Loud Records]] and released his debut solo single "[[Heaven & Hell (Raekwon song)|Heaven & Hell]]" for the soundtrack to the film ''[[Fresh (1994 film)|Fresh]]''. His first solo album, ''[[Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...]]'', was released on August 1, 1995. Sales lagged his fellow Wu-Tang member [[Method Man]]'s ''[[Tical (album)|Tical]]''.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p144748/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Raekwon profile|last=Huey|first=Steve|year=2002|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=September 18, 2009}}</ref> Raekwon's album drew rave reviews, however, and it was promptly recognized as a classic.<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/raekwon-only-built-4-cuban-linx-25th-anniversary-vinyl-instrumentals-1035708/|title= Raekwon to Release 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' Instrumentals for Debut LP's 25th Anniversary|first=Jon|last=Blistein|magazine= [[Rolling Stone]]|date=July 29, 2020}}</ref>

The album's narrative struggle is set to imagery of criminal activity, largely cocaine trafficking, and emergence from it into the good life.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Only Built 4 Cuban Linx > Overview|url={{AllMusic |class=album |id=r218513|pure_url=yes}}|access-date=September 18, 2009|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Wu-Tang member and house producer [[RZA]], who produced the entire album,<ref name=":0" /> called it "like a crime mafia story."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.57074/title.raekwon-aligns-only-built-4-cuban-linx-with-film-royalty-its-the-godfather-vibe-of-hip-hop|title= Raekwon Aligns 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' With Film Royalty: 'It's The Godfather Vibe Of Hip Hop'|first=Justin|last=Ivey|date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> Wu-Tang member [[Ghostface Killah]] rapped in over half of the album's tracks,<ref name=":0" /> and the two wrote some lyrics in [[Barbados]] and Miami.<ref name="m.youtube.com" /> It also follows a cinematic narrative, inspired by mob and kung-fu movies and a plethora of references and samples in which the main rapping lines with an on-going story of struggle and success. 

Raekwon explained the lyrics' context as "trying to get out the hood. We wanted to buy the most expensive cars and jewelry and different things like that." The album, he perceived, "was only built for a certain lifestyle or people that understood that language. But eventually, it would break off to people looking at it as a movie and respecting it saying, 'Yo, wow! This is authentic. This is something that never been done before' " ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...'' debuted at No. 4 on the popular albums chart the [[Billboard 200]], and at No. 2 on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''<nowiki/>'s [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums]] chart. It shipped about 130,000 copies in its  first week, and was [[Certified Gold|certified gold]], at least 500,000 copies shipped, two months later, October 1995.<ref name="hiphopdx.com">{{cite web|url= https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.57118/title.raekwon-announces-only-built-for-cuban-linx-3-album-as-original-turns-25|title=Raekwon Announces 'Only Built For Cuban Linx 3' Album As Original Turns 25|date=August 1, 2020}}</ref>