It seems that in the last weeks of 2009, to thank the audience for the warm and ultra enthusiastic reception received by the Purple Tape sequel, Chef Raekwon decided to throw out a New Year's Eve mixtape with the little material he had available and he had very little.
Twelve short choices, the longest approaching three and a half minutes, about half an hour of listening: the cassette is managed by DJ Whoo Kid and DJ Scream, accompanying the rapper on this journey are Ghostface Killah and Ol' Dirty Bastard from Wu-Tang, AZ, Busta Rhymes, Uncle Murda and KXNG Crooked.
It's a good mixtape. But it's not a good mixtape, if you look at it with the Raekwon standard, and I have to put that kind of lens on. The production is trivial, it's very functional to support the delivery of Rick Diamonds. There's not much inspiration in this project, see the cover: the boy places himself in the armchair of Antonio I of Montana and puts as much powder as possible on the desk, with a syringe in the center. Top right, the title, under the name of the authors, almost illegible.
I listened to "Blood Missles" five times trying to figure out why it wasn't the classic I expected it to be, then I gave up. The beat is seedy, cheap, it sounds bad, I don't like it: even if i listen to in the AZ mixtape, it doesn't work. The voices of the two MCs are still good, but it's like the beat tries to take away the value of the rap. Busta rips his spot along with hungry youngsta Uncle Murda, Tony Starks sounds better than Crooked in "Yessir". "Crime Wave" has my favorite beat on this tape and it's still not totally satisfying. Lyrically, the interpreter links bravado and mafia themes with superfluous lyrics if you look at the horizon towards that impassable Himalayan mountain called "OB4CL2". Among the tide of Chef Raekwon's mixtapes released since the mid-2000s there are undoubtedly many better than this one, not recommended.
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