by Jake Paine
Tomorrow, Raekwon will be in Switzerland, alongside Jay-Z, Eminem, Brother Ali, Tech N9ne and other emcees for the 2010 Frauenfeld Open Air Festival. As he set to leave the States yesterday, Raekwon spoke about the opportunity. "Number one, for me, I love to travel. Ever since my career started, we've been doing a lot of traveling around the world. I don't just go just for the money, I go for the experience." Having just been a headliner with Ghostface Killah and Method Man at last month's annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, Raekwon compared these outdoor festival-themed performances to his career built in clubs and small, indoor venues. "Havin' fun, buildin' a new fan-base, that's what it's about for me as an artist. I like to get in front of people that really ain't too familiar, but you can see the interest in the air. You can feel it. I like gettin' in front of crowds, whether it's 1,000 people or 50,000 people. So when I get the chance to do these festivals, I know not everybody is not a Raekwon fan. But after the show, I definitely make sure they can recognize and respect what I can do."
After last year's monumental comeback album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II along with Rae's first dealing with Def Jam, this year's mini-group album, Wu-Massacre, Raekwon spoke about his increased demand to perform across the globe. "It feels great to still be one of the guys in the game that still has that opportunity to tour. That's the main thing that's important to me: to still have that prestigious name, and to be able to do venues all over the world. When you get to the level of bein' in the game as long as I have, to even have people thinkin' about you, that means a lot to me." The Chef asserted, "This is somethin' I love to do, for real."
Next week, Raekwon's H20 label will be hard at work, releasing Capone-N-Noreaga's The War Report 2 album, which he executive produced. "I feel like these guys worked really hard on this album," said the emcee who appears on three of the LP's song. "I'm gonna make it my business to be wherever they are." With his own sequel last year exceding sales estimates, Rae spoke to the release's business in saying, "Whether it sells a million records or whether it sells 1,000 records, I know that this is a great project for me and H20 Water, and we just want to be there for them." Beyond the numbers, the 17-year Rap veteran also reminded fans that they asked for this album. "This is an album that everybody's been waiting for - War Report 2. I hope a lot of the fans that went out and supported [The War Report] can get 2. It's only right. If you say you love Hip Hop, you're gonna support these guys."
Lastly, Raekwon revealed his own album plans. In a year that began with Wu-Massacre in March, Raekwon has been actively recording his fifth solo album. Although the Wu-Tang Clan is believed to be totally unified, Rae is maintaining a title he first introduced amidst some inner-controversy after the group's 8 Diagrams release in 2007. "I got a project that I spoke on a while ago called Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang, it's definitely going to be an action-packed record. This is gonna be somethin' for the Wu fans." However, as initially reported years ago, this album will not be a criticism of any of his Wu brethren. "There's no derogatory messages in it to play each one of us or anybody. It's just a great album. For anybody that loves that Wu-Tang sound, yeah, that's what we're doing."
Raekwon will perform with tomorrow's acts at the 2010 Frauenfeld Open Air Festival.
hiphopdx.com
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