Legendary New York rapper Raekwon has announced that this month, he’ll be dropping his first solo album in eight years, per Hot New Hip-Hop.
This week, the Chef pulled back the curtain and unveiled The Emperor’s New Clothes, his new LP coming July 18 from Mass Appeal Records. The album is produced by Swizz Beatz, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Nottz, and Frank G. & RoadsArt, with collaborations from Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Inspectah Deck. Other artists who make appearances include: Nas, Westside Gunn, Benny The Butcher, Conway the Machine, Stacy Barthe, and Marsha Ambrosius.
“This heat right here is gonna apply pressure on rap’s generation!” Raekwon said about the album in an Instagram post. “You won’t have to fast forward this one at all. We paint art then display ‘Valuable imagery’ with Aggressive wordplay. No album compares im sorry -Shout out to all the great winners involved in this classic. ((( Love yall ))). Producers ,Artist… Im 4ever grateful S/O @nas x @massappealrecs for tag teaming with us. salute yall.”
“There’s a meaning behind this ALBUM being called #THEEMPERORSNEWCLOTHES,” the beloved Wu-Tang Clan member added. “TRUTH OVER TRENDS – Don’t let STATUS QUO control authenticity. In life we believe too much of anything. cut it out. peace and love to the FANS ! support the support.”
Raekwon’s new album is part of Mass Appeal’s “Legend Has It…” series. The Nas co-founded record label is set to release seven albums from seven acts, including Nas & DJ PREMIER, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, De La Soul, Big L, and a mystery artist who will be making a return to hip-hop, according to Hot 98.3.
Mass Appeal revealed the album plans and lineup in a trailer shared to YouTube in April, which depicts a factory pressing new vinyl records from the aforementioned hip-hop stars. Check it out below.
Raekwon is a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan and has performed on all seven of the group’s studio albums. He almost exited around the time they were making their sixth album. A Better Tomorrow (2014), due to conflicts with fellow Wu-Tang member RZA. The pair eventually settled their issues, and Raekwon recorded some verses for the album.
The most recent Wu-Tang project is Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman, a 2025 collaborative album with producer Mathematics.
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