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Raekwon - Lex Diamond Story

Rating

RIYL

-

Label

Universal Republic

Tracklist

1. The Lex Diamond Intro
2. Pit Bull Fights
3. Hitman Salary Skit
4. King of Kings
5. Missing Watch
6. All Over Again
7. Clientele Kidd
8. Smith Bros.
9. Restaurant Skit
10. Robbery
11. F**k You Skit
12. Pa-Blow Escablow
13. Musketeers of Pig Alley
14. Ice Cream, Pt. 2
15. The Hood
16. Wild Chimpanzees Skit - 1:59
17. Planet of the Apes
18. Wyld in da Club
19. Once Upon a Time
20. Lex Diamond Story Outro

The title, Lex Diamond Story, gives off the expectation that this album is a continuation of the story told in Only Built 4 Cuban Linx—the story of Lex Diamond, the mobster that Raekwon considers himself to be. With this album, Raekwon gives the listener a high expectation but fails to fulfill it. However, Raekwon sticks to his guns with the story-telling lyricism that he is well-known for. The story he tells is of him and his fellow Wu-Tang Clan members, which leaves the listener wondering why he didn’t name the album The Raekwon Story.

There are three things missing from this album. First and most noticeably, RZA. One thing that made Cuban Linx the album that it was is the production and engineering talents that RZA brought to the table. RZA gave beats that added to the story-telling production that is Raekwon. Raekwon had the same problem with his 1999 release, Immobilarity—a problem that he has obviously still neglected to fix. The only stand-out production on this album is heard on the track “All Over Again.” The rest of the album sounds a lot like some of the new mainstream tracks coming from the east coast.

The second painfully obvious thing missing is Wu-Tang. Where the hell is GZA, U-God, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, or RZA? With ODB out of jail, I would have definitely expected him to make a guest appearance on the album, laying down his raw rhymes with that nasty voice of his. Although it is nice to see Ghostface Killah working on most of the album and Inspectah Deck appearing on a track, it’s just not enough. They don’t call GZA "the Genius" for no reason. Although having some Wu-Tang on the album, it’s missing some of the most talented members of Wu-Tang. I mean come on! Cappadonna wasn’t even in Wu-Tang during their best work (Enter the Wu-tang 36 Chambers), and Method Man… I think him being in Right Guard deodorant commercials is reason enough to not consider him as one of the strongest members of Wu-Tang.

The third thing is that the album has no flow whatsoever. Each song has its own style and doesn’t go with the following song at all. It’s not that variety is bad, but with hip hop you can’t have a record that is this choppy. This really isn’t expected of Raekwon either. Most of his songs go together beat and lyric wise. I mean one track you have east coast style beats and the next it’s dirty south style beats. It’s like listening to a half-assed mixtape.

It’s not entirely bad, for Lex Diamond Story definitely has its highlight tracks, but they are few and far between. This is just another way for Wu-Tang artists to make some money without having to be in deodorant commercials. It’s better than most of the mainstream trash coming from the east coast, but it’s still lacking many things.

Jared Davis