Raekwon’s seminal “purple tape” is re-issued in retro fashion.

As legend has it, Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx was released on purple cassette tape in a nod to how drug dealers market their products. “I wanted to portray an image that if I was selling crack or dimes in the street, you would recognize these dimes from other niggas’ dimes,” said the Wu-Tang’s leading criminologist.

Following GZA’s Liquid Swords reissue, the 1,000-issue package will find the album preserved in a “premium, glass-top, piano lacquer four-inch-tall black display case with gold-colored hardware.” The set contains album artwork, an interview and notes from Raekwon, and a 32-page booklet with liner notes from journalist Brian Coleman. It also includes a poster and sticker.

Raekwon was recently named in a lawsuit over samples allegedly used on his sequel to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. He also appears on a track from the RZA’s The Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack, which you can stream below.

[via Exclaim.ca]