Raekwon’s long-awaited sixth studio album, Fly International Luxurious Art (F.I.L.A.) was released yesterday (April 28).
Earlier this week, The Chef allowed a handful of Hip Hop journalists to listen to the album at the Music Choice office in Manhattan, New York.
Raekwon detailed a majority of the tracks, providing the backstory behind the songs and he explained how some of the collaborations came about.
XXL was there to document Raekwon’s commentary.
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“4 In The Morning” featuring Ghostface Killah “is the streets,” Raekwon told XXL about the second track off F.I.L.A. “The old New York, ’96, man. First of all it’s the track, I see the track and shit start poppin’ in my head. It’s the track that make me rhyme the way I rhyme, and the beat was like Havoc. And it reminded me of him.”
“I Got Money” finds Rae linking with another NYC emcee, A$AP Rocky. “I had the opportunity to meet him on his come up through mutual friends,” Raekwon explained. “Real humble kid, young, lot of energy, but most importantly he had manners… And next thing you know we just started talking about life. He had me laughing and he was inquisitive. Next thing you know he’s like my little brother.”
“Wall To Wall” featuring French Montana and Busta Rhymes was produced by a Toronto- native named She Da God. Rae says he loves Busta’s “talent as an artist.”
“Me and Busta, we probably made 10 records, but he really brings the best out of me,” Rae continued. “He’s one of the hardest workers out… He doesn’t have a big team of people, it’s him on the phone, it’s him going out to the clubs until four in the morning… He always gave me knowledge.”
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Check out the full breakdown via XXL.
For more Raekwon coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
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