Raekwon: Fly International Luxury Art review – memories of past glories cut with too much filler

Originally slated for release in the first half of 2013, Raekwon’s bafflingly titled sixth solo album has been a long time coming, possibly due to the distraction of a spell of unseemly bickering with RZA surrounding last year’s Wu-Tang Clan reunion album. As befits its messy gestation, it’s a patchy affair. 4 in the Morning and Ghostface Killah collaboration Revory recall past glories, Raekwon’s flow as slick as ever. But there’s filler aplenty and I Got Money’s sneering backing vocals (“I got money, ner-ner, ner-ner-ner”, in the style of an especially annoying seven-year-old) are unedifying in both sentiment and execution. With around 100 Wu-Tang solo albums to choose from, this one isn’t one of the better ones.