Goonsquad

As Wu-Tang prepares to plant the iron flag back into solid hip-hop ground, Raekwon sheds a little light on the hold-up of his latest solo CD, his Clan's reunion album and his proteges, Ice Water.

Being hands on with multiple projects lately, Raekwon has stayed quite busy as of late. Now poised to see the fruits of his labors, the Staten Island MC says that he's still not letting up with his hustle.

"One thing about the Chef, I'm constantly working, man," Raekwon told Billboard. "If I'm not doing one thing, I'm doing another thing. I'm trying to wear all these hats right now as far as being an artist, a writer, a businessman, a producer. I constantly stay on my job."

Though he says that he's "99 percent finished" with the long-awaited Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, he may be looking for a new label to distribute the sequel. Rae says he and Interscope "didn't come to a complete understanding about the project." Cuban Linx II features production from sample wizards RZA, Dr. Dre, and the late J Dilla.

Yet the Chef says that he has put the project on hold in order to concentrate his energy on the new Wu album, 8 Diagrams, slated to drop on November 13, which is the third anniversary of the death of fallen Wu member ODB.

"I guess RZA stressed to the people about how much that date meant to us," he admitted. "It's like just thinking about our brother, just wanting to keep him around us mentally, y'know?"

As far as the album's sound, Rae said its strictly for real Wu heads.

"We're still debating about certain tracks as far as, will the people understand or will they be able to ride with it," he explained. "If you're a real Wu fan then you know what to expect from Wu-Tang. But if you're trying to expect anything close to anybody else, you don't really know us."

The Chef's also been cooking up the right recipe to help launch the careers of his group, Ice Water, who are prepping their debut on August 28. With an solid line-up of MC's dropping verses on the disc, including Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Three Six Mafia, Remy Ma, Jagged Edge and Raekwon himself, the crew is looking to make a real splash when the album drops.

"I always knew they had potential but had to grow to that level of coming into the business on my strength," said Rae. ""The guys had to figure out what they wanted to do before I could actually give them the opportunity to be heard, and it just finally arrived. The dudes got their heads together and the music is flawless.

KINGDUKE54

wow check out the features...36 mafia rick ross remy ma...looks throwed

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