Let’s go through some songs off the album. Talk about “Striving for Perfection” and what you wanted it to convey as an intro.
I like that you brought this up and let me speak on it. That joint right there, that ain’t even a song, but it has a lot of feeling in it. Basically, it was like I was talking to an older brother in the hood who saw I had potential. We’d talk about trials and tribulations, what’s important, and how to achieve perfection. I was striving for it, and that’s what it was. That intro is like a flashback of me as a kid—a kid who would one day grow up to be this great MC.
What about “Knuckleheads”? Talk about the story you guys told on this track. How does it strike you when you hear it now?
We were once straight knuckleheads waiting for opportunities to come so we could get that coin [yells: “who’s the knucklehead wantin’ respect!” ]. My rhymes just came through me because of the dope beat RZA laced up. Sometimes I’ll just kick some shit and not necessarily tell a story. This song reminds me of how much less I used to think about what I was rapping about. I was just rhyming to RZA’s beat. Don’t get me wrong though, I love that song.
What do you think of Ghost’s verse on “Criminology”? It’s considered one of his best. Were you there when he recorded it?
Hell yeah, I was there. He hit it right on the target. Like I said, we were coming of age then. We were starting to get love everywhere—on the streets, on our block, everywhere. We felt like we had something incredible, something that was ours only, something authentic. And we were always those dudes that knew how to really write. So when Ghost spit that verse, it was perfect. I came in after him and basically just added to what Ghost started and history was made. When you think of Wu-Tang, you think of strong lyrical content and this verse represents that.
In that XXL interview you guys did, RZA said the beat on “Incarcerated Scarfaces” was originally written for GZA. Did you know that back then?
I can believe GZA wanted that beat, sure. I smoke so much goddamn weed, I don’t remember exactly what happened. I mean, it could’ve been something that GZA initially saw and passed on so I ended up with it too. I mean, we were a team, but we weren’t just in competition with the world—we were competing among ourselves too sometimes.
What about “Guillotine Swords”? It’s GZA’s only appearance on the album. Why wasn’t he on it more?
That’s because the track was originally for Meth’s album. It was supposed to be an interlude or a skit. But I loved it so much that I went to RZA and was like, “Why didn’t you give me that one? It’s the shit!” RZA was like, “Nah, it’s just a skit on Meth’s album.” I told him I don’t want a skit, and that I wanted it as a whole song. I stepped up for this one, and it is what it is. GZA just happened to be in the studio and stepped up too. At the time, he was just busy plotting his own shit, that’s why he wasn’t on it more.
I’ve also read that Cappadonna’s verse was so good on “Ice Water” that GZA felt clowned and left the studio. Otherwise, he would’ve had another verse on the album. Is that true?
Is that what happened? [laughs] You’re taking me way back! [laughs] That was fifteen years ago, and I smoke too much weed to remember shit like that! Honestly, it was just basement thoughts and theories. Whoever came through and delivered nice is what we used. I think you’re right—GZA was supposed to be on it, and Cappadonna very well could have came through and bogarted the track! [laughs] Look, we were pure MCs. So if you had a glass slipper, and the slipper fit the beat, then it was yours. I mean, Cap was just a maniac MC at the time.
In the same interview, you said you wrote “Rainy Days” when you were in Barbados. Why go all the way to Barbados? RZA also mentioned that this is his favorite track off the album.
We’re the type of niggas that vibe off of landscapes and shit—trees, water, mountains, all that shit. Yeah, we took a trip to Barbados for that one. Me and Ghost took a break to get away so we could concentrate and write this record. We felt like this album was important for everybody; for the crew, for us, for hip-hop. I grabbed a little radio and Ghost grabbed his notebook, and we went out there and chopped up this song. We came home and ironed it out, and it made the album. Yeah, I can see why RZA likes it so much. [laughs]
Talk about the remix of “Can It All Be So Simple.” Why did you feel this needed a remix?
Well, the video for the original was a major moment in Wu history. That’s when we came into the game, and [we] always wanted to do a remix because we loved the video so much. Hype Williams killed it one that one! So we kind of flipped it around for the remix. I came on first for the original and Ghost followed. On the remix, Ghost came first. This was when remixes were the shit and everyone wanted the next hot remix. I remember hearing the original on the radio all the time and seeing it on late night video shows, so I always knew people liked it. It was just something we felt we had to do.
“Glaciers of Ice.” Talk about this track and its influences.
Look, we come from a part of the hood where niggas loved fashion and shit. [Big Daddy] Kane, Slick Rick, and all those dudes knew that clothes could add to an entertainer’s image. So we looked up to niggas like that. I remember when big chains came back out [laughs]. I swear, I remember like thirty niggas wearing the same shit at one spot! So we kinda bit off that old-school legacy and formulated it into modern shit. I think that helped make Cuban Linx popular with cats who actually remembered that shit.
You guys still dye your shoes?
Ghost probably does. [laughs] Dude’s a shoe fanatic! I bet he still dyes his shit. Ghost was in love with Wallabee Clarks when we wrote that. I mean, I was in love with them too. We actually started going to this Chinese man on the other side of Staten Island to dye our shit, because it didn’t have the colors we wanted. That dude didn’t speak no English or nothing. You kind of pointed and try your best to explain to him what you wanted. He’d do it too! The blue and cream joints were my best pairs of shoes at the time. And Ghost became a maniac with that shit once he got some money. I swear he has like two thousand pairs at least. He spent a lot of money on them shits. [laughs]
What was the reaction in the studio like after Nas dropped his verse on “Verbal Intercourse”? Whose decision was it to even get Nas on?
It was my decision to get him on, because I was always a big fan of Nas. We came up around the same time sorta, and we were friends. I would go to Queens sometimes, and he’d come to Staten Island too. One day, me and Nas were getting smoked out, hanging out at Chinese restaurants and shit. We went back to the studio and his rhyming was all over the place! [laughs] I told him to take it easy, because he didn’t know which verse he wanted to spit. So he did a few verses for me. And me, being a fan of his and the critic that I am, I told him to go with the verse that we ended up using on the album [repeats Nas’ line: “Through the lights cameras and action glamour glitters and gold…”] I was like, “This is over! Knockout!” It’s a true story too. When you interview Nas, ask him, he’ll tell you.
Let’s move onto another track on the album, “Wisdom Body.”
I love this track. It was probably around the time Ghost bought his Jesus piece. It was one of his first big pieces.
How come Ghost is the only one on this track? Why weren’t you on it?
I actually walked in right after he did the verse. I was planning on getting on it, but when I heard it, I decided to leave it alone. [laughs] There are some things you just don’t touch. It was perfect. Ghost is animated in his own way. He’s a serious lyricist, but he’ll make you laugh too. We were just trying to represent us all, you know? How many niggas you know would let their brother take a track of theirs, rap on it, and call it their own when it isn’t even their album? That’s what you call unconditional love. We make our own rules. We’ve never been the type to listen to bosses, because we’re our own bosses. As long as he’s there with me, he can do whatever he feels is right. This track just shows trust between us.
RZA said in an interview that he didn’t really like the beat on “Spot Rusherz.” What do you think of it?
I love that fucking beat. I love to write stories, and that beat was perfect for a caper. Yeah, RZA fought me for it and didn’t want it on there, but I insisted. I mean, RZA’s the type of nigga who wants authentic material. Anything that’s too clean was wack to him back then. But for me, I think I sound good over clean beats sometimes. I love to tell stories, and that’s what Cuban Linx is—a bunch of good stories within a story itself.
In that XXL interview, RZA said, “Women weren’t even allowed in the studio until ’97!” Why was that?
Wu has always been about being MCs. We looked at MCing as a sport. So I guess we just got so caught up in it, we felt like it was a man’s sport, know what I mean? I’m sure RZA had his own theories on what should happen in the studio and probably just felt it was his place.
Talk about “Ice Cream,” since it seems like the first track where Wu addressed women.
When we made “Ice Cream,” it was one of the tracks I wasn’t really going crazy over. I remember, we were doing the video for “Incarcerated Scarfaces,” and we started catching a lot of females. We felt like our female fanbase was expanding, so we wanted to reach out and let the women know that we respected them as queens. And queens, much like ice cream, come in all different flavors. So Meth came with that ill hook, and I started to like the track more. I hated it then, but I’m glad we did it, because it was the perfect time for something like that.
Moving on to “Heaven and Hell,” is it true that you wrote all the verses? Why didn’t you just spit them yourself?
I wrote them all because I was just in the zone at the time. One thing about us MCs: if you’re one of us, it don’t matter who does what. I don’t care about my brothers writing my rhymes; I don’t care about my brothers spitting my rhymes either. At that time, we were all kicking rhymes so hard that the track didn’t need more verses. What it did need though, was another voice. That’s what happened. They’re my brothers, and we make sure that everyone in the clan has a bulletproof vest on. I wasn’t about to go out and have another MC do it.
The album ends with “North Star (Jewels),” a track that features Poppa Wu and ODB. How do you think this ended the album when you listen to it today?
When I heard the beat, I pictured a little kid witnessing some street action, sitting right in the middle of a shoot out. He’s sitting on a park bench eating a 100 Grand candy bar, watching everything happen in slow motion. So I came up with the story line and arranged all that. Papa Wu was perfect to deliver that motivational type speech from an older brother’s point of view. I mean, everything we learn, we learn from the older brothers anyways. That was just the kind of vibe and message I was trying to get at in order to end the album. Having ODB on it and hearing it now just makes me sad, but in a way, it’s the perfect way to end the album.
What do you remember after finishing Cuban Linx and finding out about all the love it was getting?
I was surprised, actually. We weren’t worried about doing ten million. We ended up going platnium, which is cool, but we weren’t trying to make this album for everybody. We were trying to make it for niggas who were cut from the same cloth as us. At that time, we were talking for the street niggas, talking for drug dealers and shit. But the beats had a mainstream appeal for the masses too. I mean, no one was coming with shit like “Glaciers of Ice” or “Criminology.” We just didn’t think the whole album would gravitate to it like it did.
