And just so we're clear: yes, on cassette.

In Prodigy's autobiography, My Infamous Life, out last year, he writes about how 'Raekwon's Purple Tape had me wanting to drive fast,' almost getting the Mobb Deep rapper into an accident.Ĭapitalizing on this lore, the boutique music label, Get On Down, has released a deluxe, $45 reissue of The Purple Tape. of stealing the album cover concept from Nas's Illmatic for Biggie's own Ready to Die. Nas mentions The Purple Tape by name on his 2002 song ' Last Real N- Alive,' referencing how Raekwon and Ghostface subtly accused The Notorious B.I.G. Other rappers picked up on - and helped extend - the tape's cachet. As time went by, to describe Only Built as The Purple Tape was a sly form of oneupmanship since it meant, 'I was first in line to own this.' Though Loud Records humored Rae's request, they supposedly only did so for the first 10,000 cassettes, inadvertently guaranteeing that it'd fall into the hands of the most fervent Raekwon/Wu-Tang fans. However, when it first came out, Raekwon wasn't at the top of the Wu-Tang pecking order and as he told interviewers with 3 Little Digs, he wanted his album to stand out against the typical pile of tapes that collected on the floors of people's cars. At the time, Raekwon's album was one of many individual Wu-Tang Clan releases hitting the market but it quickly rose in stature and many fans consider it the single best solo Wu-Tang album of all time. The Purple Tape refers to purple-tinted cassette pressings of Raekwon's 1995 solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. The Beatles had 'The White Album.' Prince's long-time work-in-progress became dubbed 'The Black Album.' Rapper Raekwon had 'The Purple Tape,' one the most storied cassettes in hip-hop history. was originally released on a limited-edition purple cassette that became a collector's item. Purple Tapes: Raekwon's 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

Raekwon only built 4 cuban linx zip