September 8th saw the release of the new Raekwon and Jay-Z albums, both debuting as the top downloaded albums on the US iTunes.  Since both released their first albums in the mid-90s, they have had extremely divergent careers.  Raekwon’s career has to a large extent followed the path of Wu Tang, never living up to the brilliance of the first releases; while Jay-Z, after a climb to the top of not only the hip hop industry but the music industry in general, has stuttered a bit since returning from retirement with a couple of forgettable albums. These two releases see the two rappers both back in their respective elements.

I was 16 and living in Umeå in the north of Sweden in 1995-6 when their debut albums came out and had just started the group Bakers of the Holy Bread, under the moniker MC Djupsås.  We were young and extremely raw – hip hop was non-existant in Norrland and it was years before the Swedish hip hop boom of the late-90s.  We would translate lines from these two records and try to rework them so they sounded okay in Swedish.

Rising to prominence with the release of Wu Tang Clan’s first album in 1993, Raekwon the Chef’s abbreviated bildungsroman verses of “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Can It Be All so Simple” were particularly memorable.  His solo debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx from 1995 is a classic.  The purple cassette was constantly in my Walkman as I trudged to and from school in the dark, snowy Umeå winter of 95-96.  He earned a special place in my heart since his line about “Snatching Canadian cream with Scandinavians” on Ghostface Killah’s Ironman record, and while I still don’t really know what he means, I cherish it as one of the only instances that American hip hop has referenced the underappreciated criminal prowess of Scandinavians.

While Raekwon’s Immobilarity from 1999 went Gold, it wasn’t particular memorable and I don’t even think I ever heard 2003′s The Lex Diamond Story.  Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… pt. II was first announced in 2005 and by 2007 Raekwon claimed in an interview that it was “200% done.”  Consdering the delays and the mess surrounding the production and Raekwon’s falling out with Rza, the album is better than I think anybody could have expected.

Free from the gimmicky club bangers that have hampered many recent Wu Tang records (not including Ghostface’s, and it must be said that some aren’t actually that bad, like “Gravel Pit,” whose video is even surprisingly endearing, set in 2000 BCE with CGI dinosaurs), Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… pt. II sees Raekwon returning as an aging Mafioso telling stories in his incomparable slang, and, as always, painting a portrait of New York as a teeming, multi-ethnic melting pot.

There are a few standout tracks – “New Wu,” “Canal Street,” – but the album is striking consistant.  What’s more, and this extra impressive after over a decade, it still sounds like a Wu Tang record without sounding staid or dated. The guest appearances are all good too and a particular mention must be made of Ghostface’s verse on “Gihad,” which is so dirty the first time I heard it I blushed.  It’s a shame too because the beat and Raekwon’s verse are amazing. I would love to be able to play this to my eleven-year-old son but unfortunately his English is already too good.  I don’t want him putting “Sug min kuk, gör den hård” into any of his band’s lyrics.

If Raekwon’s record is a comeback album of sorts, the same cannot be said of the Blueprint 3, Jay-Z’s eleventh studio album in the past 13 years.  It is, however, the best of his albums since the almost flawless Blueprint from 2001.  Since coming back from retirement, his albums have been competent, and certain tracks have been excellent, but very little has felt as necessary and vital as albums like Blueprint, Hard Knock Life, and Reasonable Doubt.  Blueprint 3 doesn’t live up to these classics, but it isn’t that far off (a comparison can be made with Nas’ Stillmatic perhaps in this regard).

I hated the first single “D.O.A (Death of Auto-Tune)” the first time I heard it, thinking it sounded a bit like that Roots song featuring Cody Loghammer or whatever his name was about “Pushing in my seed” or whatever, which was as terrible as it was ubiquitous.  It gets better and better on repeated listens, however.  “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys is another classic NY anthem while “On to the Next One,” where Swiss Beats samples Justice is excellent.

Throughout Jay-Z is on form and it’s undeniably impressive when braggadocio isn’t just about his superior wordplay, car collections, or hours spent in project lobbies, but lines like : “I don’t run rap no more I run the map, a small part of the reason the president is black.”

For a while only Lil Wayne was keeping me interested in American hip hop but suddenly these two albums have made me a lot more excited.