Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), a.k.a. Raekwon (/ɹeɪˈkwɒn/), is an Ame… Read Full Bio ↴Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), a.k.a. Raekwon (/ɹeɪˈkwɒn/), is an American rapper, one of the nine Wu-Tang Clan members. Raekwon joined Wu-Tang Clan, a hip hop group based in Staten Island, New York in 1992. When the time came for him to release his first solo album, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995), hip-hop, once again, underwent a momentous transformation. The album moves from track to track like a film moves from scene to scene. With its invigorating instrumentals and dramatic lyrical tales, Raekwon painted vivid pictures and presented powerful imagery through his enchanting verbal expression.

Rae's groundbreaking debut album helped to bring the flavour of flossing to wax as well as the use of the moniker among Wu brethren and other prominent emcees. The single "Verbal Intercourse" featured the first appearance of Nas Escobar, Nas' alter ego. Similarly, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, who served as Rae's partner in rhyme throughout the entire Cuban Linx album, also developed a slew of other identities. Identities like Lex Diamond, one of the flashy, witty and intellectually stimulating personas of the multifaceted Raekwon.

In the years after the release of Cuban Linx, Raekwon continued to record several albums with the Clan including the platinum Wu-Tang Forver (1997) and The W (2000), as well as the gold Iron Flag (2001). He also starred in the critically acclaimed film Black and White, before releasing his second solo album, Immobilarity in 1999. Four years later, it's time for another masterpiece from Raekwon.

The Lex Diamond Story, Raekwon's forthcoming third solo album is that desperately needed effort. This new LP is as much a reflection of his first musical triumph Cuban Linx, as it is a manifestation of the future and what is to come from this great emcee. Raekwon is like the E.F. Hutton of hip-hop: when he speaks, everyone listens. The current void in hip-hop is filled with this rap veteran's
crafty verbal gymnastics and artistic form of storytelling. The Lex Diamond Story takes the top shelf elements of the Wu's first album and the finest sentiments of Raekwon's debut and joins them together to deliver another classic album to the masses.

A lyrical gourmet meal, The Lex Diamond Story shows that The Chef still possesses the recipe to cook up a jambalaya of words with the main ingredient being superior skills. Animated and intense, Raekwon's stealth delivery is filled with emotion, skilled cadence and an array of diverse stories, hooks, and topics. The track, "All Over Again (The Way We Were)" touches on the flavour of "Can It Be All So Simple" with its tale of street survival. Meanwhile, "Pit Bull Fights" is reminiscent of the ferocious lyrical beating inflicted on "Incarcerated Scarfaces." Raekwon is indisputably at his creative beast. Unchained and uninhibited, he is assertive with his music and focused on his goals.

We Will Rob You
Raekwon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well it was late one night, walking through the park
With my leathered down coat and wallabee Clarks
Getting my step on, big shit, big six, big wrist
So much excitement in the air, I was crisp
Money suitcase, Louis joint (yo, Rae, I'mma get some shit just like yours!)
Go make it happen, black God and get rich
Saw the D's fly by, in a New Yorker, yup, tints and shit
They made a right on me, them last two dicks

Know I seen 'em, Max loaded, jog right back to the car
They spun around again and blast they shits
I dropped a Backwood, a puff and then a 6-4-5
You'se a live nigga, you almost smashed yo shit
I'mma don my way out the bitch, moving through the car
Nice and slow, two hoodies on and a golden pit
Nigga had a white eye, they both blacked down
What's the clown shit for? The dog jumped in the whip
It was a trained one, wops pointed at me (yo, nigga, freeze)

I told the Chef Raekwon, pump the breaks
Slow it down, you know these C-Cypher Punks scanned your plates
Release the seatbelt off the shoulders, a mile ahead
Then the vibe got a lot colder when the marksman said
"Black niggas in the Jeep, get the fuck out the car"
"Put your hands where my eyes can see or suffer a scar"
He was a veteran, who kept, pepper spray in the cannister
Donut shop lounger, thirty eight brandisher
On top of that, the blunt smoke just rang a bell
Of his bloodhound who had an acute sense of smell
Beef tripping, saliva dripping from razor sharp teeth
That was pointy as the daggers of the Indian Chiefs
Same cops known for exorting pimps and booking whores
Aimed glocks at me and Rae, cuz they was looking for
A few MC's wanted for a string of break-ins
Last seen, wearing long minks and snakeskins

We will, we will, rob you
We will, we will, glock you
We will, we will, what? who? (not you)
Here we go

You know my Clan done ran from Japan to Atlanta
With stamina, peace to Chef, Mr. Meth
Move it on your left, with the Iron Lung breath
Ghostface Kill', U-G ill
Deck so real, Dr. Ason Unique, the medic
Ah, Allah Just, The Abbott, ya'll niggas can't forget it
You might catch a Cap if your shit ain't Street
Allah Mathematics make the cypher complete
See knowledge is the foundation of existence
To know starts the spark of the flow
Wisdom activation of the Nation moving
Wise words, show and prove or understand the 13 letters
And the Masta, culture be the way of life
Freedom is reward, who will pay the price for the power
Spending hour after hour, preparing his self
For the hour, now look how refined
When the mind and body is one, every part of me
Supreme equality, manifest the nature of self

G-O-D, now build and add on to the truth
Destroy the bullshit, born incomplete

Overall Meaning

In this song, Raekwon along with Slick Rick, GZA, and Masta Killa showcase their storytelling abilities through verses intricately weaving the tale of a robbery. The first verse sets the scene with the singer walking through the park with “leathered down coat and wallabee Clarks.” He is carrying a “money suitcase” and the excitement is in the air. Suddenly, two “D’s” fly by in a New Yorker and make a right turn on the singer's street. The singer realizes that he has seen them before and is on edge. The D’s spin around again and shoot their guns. The singer drops his Backwood and runs back to his car, in which his dog jumps in, and he drives away. In the second verse, Chef Raekwon pumps the breaks and slows things down while the police arrive behind him. The police tell the group to get out of the car and to put their hands up. The police were looking for a group of MC’s that had been committing break-ins wearing long minks and snakeskins. The song continues with more verses where each rapper adds to the story, detailing the robbery from different perspectives.

Throughout the song, the rappers display the artistry and skill of their rhymes. The song is filled with allusions to hip-hop culture as well as iconic figures such as Muhammad Ali, Shabazz, and Reginald Lewis. The song is a classic example of the storytelling abilities of Wu-Tang Clan, and the lyrics are dense and complex with layers of meanings that are open to interpretation.

Line by Line Meaning

Well it was late one night, walking through the park
I was walking in the park late at night

With my leathered down coat and wallabee Clarks
I was wearing a coat and Clarks shoes

Getting my step on, big shit, big six, big wrist
I was feeling good and confident

So much excitement in the air, I was crisp
There was a lot of energy and excitement around me

Money suitcase, Louis joint (yo, Rae, I'mma get some shit just like yours!)
I had a suitcase full of money and a Louis Vuitton joint

Go make it happen, black God and get rich
I was motivated to go make money and be successful

Saw the D's fly by, in a New Yorker, yup, tints and shit
I saw the police drive by in a New Yorker with tinted windows

They made a right on me, them last two dicks
The police turned right towards me

Know I seen 'em, Max loaded, jog right back to the car
I saw them and quickly jogged back to my car that had a gun in it

They spun around again and blast they shits
The police turned around again and started shooting

I dropped a Backwood, a puff and then a 6-4-5
I dropped my cigar and pulled out my gun

You'se a live nigga, you almost smashed yo shit
You almost crashed your car

I'mma don my way out the bitch, moving through the car
I quickly drove away from there

Nice and slow, two hoodies on and a golden pit
I drove carefully with two hooded people and a dog in the car

Nigga had a white eye, they both blacked down
One of the people had a white eye and the other was blacked out

What's the clown shit for? The dog jumped in the whip
I wondered why they were acting strange and the dog jumped in the car

It was a trained one, wops pointed at me (yo, nigga, freeze)
The police had trained dogs and guns pointed at me

I told the Chef Raekwon, pump the breaks
I told Raekwon to slow down

Slow it down, you know these C-Cypher Punks scanned your plates
We need to be careful because the cops scanned our license plates

Release the seatbelt off the shoulders, a mile ahead
We should loosen our seatbelts so we can run if needed

Then the vibe got a lot colder when the marksman said
The situation got a lot more tense when the police officer spoke

"Black niggas in the Jeep, get the fuck out the car"
The police ordered us to get out of the car

"Put your hands where my eyes can see or suffer a scar"
The police threatened to hurt us if we don't comply

He was a veteran, who kept, pepper spray in the cannister
The police officer was experienced and carried pepper spray

Donut shop lounger, thirty eight brandisher
He looked like a police officer who frequented donut shops and had a .38

On top of that, the blunt smoke just rang a bell
Smoking a blunt gave away our location to the police dog

Of his bloodhound who had an acute sense of smell
The police dog had a keen sense of smell

Beef tripping, saliva dripping from razor sharp teeth
The dog was ready to attack and had sharp teeth

That was pointy as the daggers of the Indian Chiefs
The dog's teeth were as sharp as Indian Chiefs' daggers

Same cops known for exorting pimps and booking whores
These were the same corrupt cops who extorted pimps and arrested prostitutes

Aimed glocks at me and Rae, cuz they was looking for
The cops pointed their guns at Raekwon and I because they were looking for us

A few MC's wanted for a string of break-ins
The cops were after us for a series of burglaries

Last seen, wearing long minks and snakeskins
We were last seen wearing fur coats and snakeskin shoes

We will, we will, rob you
We will steal from you

We will, we will, glock you
We will shoot you with our guns

We will, we will, what? who? (not you)
We won't rob or shoot you

You know my Clan done ran from Japan to Atlanta
My rap crew has performed all the way from Japan to Atlanta

With stamina, peace to Chef, Mr. Meth
We have the energy to keep going and shout outs to our fellow rappers

Move it on your left, with the Iron Lung breath
We're moving to the side with our signature breath control

Ghostface Kill', U-G ill
Our crew includes Ghostface Killah and U-God

Deck so real, Dr. Ason Unique, the medic
Inspectah Deck, Dr. Ason Unique, and Masta Killa are also in our crew

Ah, Allah Just, The Abbott, ya'll niggas can't forget it
Don't forget our other crew members: Allah Justice and The RZA

You might catch a Cap if your shit ain't Street
You might get shot by Cap if you aren't street-smart

Allah Mathematics make the cypher complete
Allah Mathematics is an important part of our rap group

See knowledge is the foundation of existence
Knowledge is the basis of our existence

To know starts the spark of the flow
Knowledge is what inspires our creativity

Wisdom activation of the Nation moving
Wisdom helps move the nation forward

Wise words, show and prove or understand the 13 letters
We need to speak wise words and understand the 13 letters (knowledge)

And the Masta, culture be the way of life
Masta Killa believes that culture is a way of life

Freedom is reward, who will pay the price for the power
Freedom is a reward, but someone has to pay a price for power

Spending hour after hour, preparing his self
It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare oneself for power

For the hour, now look how refined
Now we can see how refined and polished our skills have become

When the mind and body is one, every part of me
When the mind and body are aligned, everything in me works together

Supreme equality, manifest the nature of self
True equality comes from being in tune with oneself

G-O-D, now build and add on to the truth
God is important and we should continue to learn and add to the truth

Destroy the bullshit, born incomplete
We need to destroy false ideas and beliefs that are incomplete

Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RICKY WALTERS, GARY GRICE, ELGIN TURNER, COREY WOODS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS