Raekwon will be releasing his third solo album, The Lex Diamond Story on Universal/Motown Records today, December 16th.
The album will be a 20-track collection with collaborations with Mobb Deep, Fat Joe, Sheek Louch, Tiffany Villarreal, and fellow Wu-Tang members including, Ghostface Killah and Method Man.
The lead single off the album is, "Hood." Which is a letter to the "hood" according to Raekwon. The video-clip for "Hood" was directed by The Lazarus Brother (Trick Daddy, Trina) and is in rotation at BET's Rap City.
"The one song that did inspire me is 'Hood,'" Raekwon told BallerStatus.net. "It makes me remember where I came from with the grittiness and it’s just me writing a letter to the streets that made me what I am today."
Raekwon has progressed from his classic debut solo album, Built For Cuban Linx to his newest effort The Lex Diamond Story. He plans to represent "real hip-hop" with his upcoming solo LP.
"'Firewater,' that’s it! I breathe that, always want to represent the real hip-hop," Raekwon said to BallerStatus.net about his new album. "I don’t feel washed up and I don’t plan on being washed up for a long time."
Other than music, Raekwon is investing his money into ventures outside of music. Raekwon owns a couple of Subway restaurants and is also looking into buying a Starbucks.
When asked about how he came up with these ventures, Raekwon said, "It’s really about having the right dudes around you. These are the kinds of people that are positive and could tell me how to invest my money. I know so many different people, not just in hip-hop, good people. It starts from there."
The Lex Diamond Story will be hitting stores today on December 16th.
