^ what's that about. If you a fan, you should buy it.
anyway, here's a great interview from Rae with HHDX. Some interesting points below. On Nas, RZA and Banks.
DX: I gotta ask about the Nas collabo, “Rich And Black.” When and how did that finally happen? ‘Cause I know you wanted Esco for a “Verbal Intercourse 2” on OB4CL2, but that didn’t happen. And then he told MTV while he was promoting his album with Damian Marley that he regretted not coming through for OB4CL2. So did Nas reach out to you after that interview or - ?
Raekwon: Yeah, we was able to get in contact wit’ one another. And me and Nas, we always been friends since the beginning of our careers, so… We happened to meet up. We was in…if I’m not mistaken, probably Germany. And, we always have our little conversations on the side about the respect that we have for one another’s craft, and the respect for one another’s brotherhood. And I knew he was going through a lot, so I didn’t take it to the length that he wasn’t there [for me]. I just told him that we can’t be putting our fans in the situation to where [they] feel like me and you have a problem. So he understood it, and he respected it. And he knew that I was working on the next project, and by Allah’s hand, he put it together for us. He made it happen. Nas sent something to one of my people’s and was like, “Yo, this is for Rae. If Rae wanna do it, let’s do it.” And you know me, automatically I’m thinking for the respect, I’m thinking for the fans, I’m thinking for guys like yourself that always wanted to see this shit happen [that it’s great that] we was able to make it happen, man. All praises due to Allah. He put us together to give it to y’all.
DX: …I gotta ask, what’s the concept behind your collabo with Lloyd Banks, “Last Train To Scotland”?
Raekwon: Aw man, that one right there is just a storytelling piece of glass. When you think of joints that represent Cuban Linx, this probably coulda been one of them joints that I coulda stuck up there. And, nobody never really heard my man Lloyd Banks tell a story before. So to me, that was interesting. It was legendary. I look at him as being one of the great emcees out there too that I know that lyrically I’m not gon’ have a problem wit’ him doing what he do. So, we just wanted to come up wit’ something that [displayed] vivid storytelling imagination. And when you think about the karate flicks, you see cats team up wit’ other real niggas and they go out there and go do they thing. If you listen to the story, we was going to do something and – it’s the same watching a karate flick and you see these two niggas going to get busy. Prime example: [in the film] Five Deadly Venoms it was one of the dudes that wasn’t a venom that actually came in and got busy. And he followed the plan all the way out. So, that’s how I look at that track wit’ me and Lloyd. I never heard him do stories before, but his rhyming skills is so impeccable that I knew that this [Scram Jones] track would fit him, as far as his voice, as far as the way his raspy sound is. I just thought he ate the track alive. He ate it alive.
