I love to get on tracks with brothers like Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, the GZA. The whole crew is golden, man. When you think of us, you gotta say, ‘Yo, these are the Jacksons of hip-hop.’ – Raekwon
I’ve never been the type of person to jump up and throw out the album without it being what it’s supposed to be. – Raekwon
As far as the creative side of making great, great albums and really trying to go down in history? I don’t see that happening lately, you know what I mean? You have a lot of guys is talented, but at the same time, timeless music is more important to me. – Raekwon
To be honest with you, I don’t have one track that I consider better than the next because all I’m trying to do is still grow as an artist. I got way better since the early nineties, as far as putting words together. My best energy probably was the ’90s, because I was new. – Raekwon
I’m not an artist that makes singles, I’m an artist that makes albums, and it’s a totally different thing. – Raekwon
When I sit here and see that the eight brothers from the neighborhood that I grew up with still have success, it had to be magical. I doubt if you get another ‘Wu-Tang Clan.’ That might be harder than getting the new ‘Jackson Five.’ Certain groups you only get one time, and we just happened to be that group. – Raekwon
And as long as your cats is loyal to what y’all are standing for, and they know how to play the game, it should be no way you can lose. It’s about compromising; it’s about respecting one another’s position, and about going with your heart as far as what you believe in. – Raekwon
If you gonna challenge my ways, know my history. Don’t put nobody in my face that don’t know about me, or they here to write an article on someone they thought was hot when they was hot. Come on, man. I been hot. – Raekwon
I never been a hater of these other cats, who never really had nothing, being successful. That’s not my problem. – Raekwon
When you think of Hollywood, you think of the land of opportunity. I always want to have the opportunity to do things conducive to my career. – Raekwon
I’m my own biggest marketing tool. I know the history of the business and I might as well capitalize on it. – Raekwon
I’m always gonna be compared to the greatest cats that’s in the game, but I lack a little bit less when I’m not as visible as other guys. So I live with that thought right there – yo, you still gotta work, still got more to do. One thing where I come from you gotta remember is, don’t get souped up. – Raekwon
I still wanted to see the family come back to life. And when that didn’t transpire from the music, it kinda made me feel like I was bein’ taken advantage of. I thought, when people heard ‘8 Diagrams,’ they’d be like, ‘Oh, Wu-Tang is a wrap now – they’ve lost it.’ And I know that we didn’t lose it. – Raekwon
I could never say Rza’s trash. But he didn’t come with the right formula on ‘8 Diagrams.’ I think ‘Cuban Linx 2’ will have the Clan back where they need to be, but then it’s up for the Clan to be back where they need to be, too. ‘Cos it ain’t just the album, you know what I mean? It’s everything. – Raekwon
But ‘Cuban Linx’ was a project that really needed to come, and I really wanted to get it off my chest because I know that the fans were really skeptical about it, like ‘is this really gonna be what it’s supposed to be?’ So once everybody caught it for what it was and everybody was happy, that’s mission accomplished for me. – Raekwon
I’m a storyteller – that’s my chamber, that’s my box. I’m always tryin’ to give you the best story from our side of the table that you could really relate to quick. I understand where I wanna be at, but sometimes the production takes me where I need to go. – Raekwon
I think that’s a weak excuse, to say because a rapper’s getting older that he ain’t got it no more. Nah. Don’t go by that philosophy. Let’s just recognize that talent is within. – Raekwon
I always give RZA that support as far as saying he brought Wu-Tang to the table. It was his philosophy. He picked certain dudes to be part of this group, and he said, ‘This is what it’s going to be called.’ – Raekwon
In the early 2000s, I was going through a lot. I didn’t have my head screwed on right. Where I was at as a man, I was still growing up. – Raekwon
I’m very unpredictable, but at the end of the day, I’m working. Sometimes things change in my life. It’s like, ‘Hold up – that ain’t feel good. That felt good.’ And that’s how I look at anything I do. – Raekwon
I’ve been living. I’ve been doing the writing thing. I’ve been being the family man. I’ve been traveling the world. I been to, like, 18 cities last year. I’ve been getting my thoughts together, trying to figure out what’s going on with hip-hop itself. – Raekwon
I want to show the world that you do have some artists that are ready to go to the next level, and instead of being selfish with their career they’ll open up the door to other people. I’m in a position to open up the door to help other people do what I do. – Raekwon
Well Ice H20 is my company that I plan to take to the next level with new artists, books, movies and so forth. It’s more like a multimedia brand that I want to take to the next level and put some talented people on. – Raekwon
Whether you hear me come out with another album or whether you hear any one of the Clan members, we’re always going to involve everybody. When I look at ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Part II,’ I look at that as a Wu album. You feel me? Even though it was my brand and my thing that I done, I had my dudes on it. – Raekwon
I’ll tell a young kid in a minute, ‘If you don’t know how to read, then what good is trying to be an MC?’ Like, you can MC, but if you’re not trying to be a better person, learn and apply that to your MCing, then how far do you think you’re really going to go? – Raekwon
