Raekwon is probably the most gangsta rapper in the history of gangsta rap. 2012 will mark his twentieth year of rap superstardom and as far as I can tell he’s still yet to make a song that doesn’t involve selling drugs, buying ridiculously extravagant things with the money he made selling drugs, or just being an all-around mafia don. So while the title of his new mixtape is Unexpected Victory, the tape is basically exactly what you’d expect from the Chef.

Every track on Unexpected Victory is some sort of celebration or at least description of Rae’s Mafioso lifestyle. As usual, the film references are on full display and are not strictly limited to gangster flicks; rather, any film featuring some sort of badassery is fair game. “Goodfellas” is a hard-with-a-capital-H track detailing the Henry Hill-like luxuries Rae and his boys flaunt off the strength of their Mafioso incomes. Actually, so is “Luxury Rap.” There’s also a track titled “A Few Good Men,” which is a puzzling decision because the idea of Raekwon in that film is nothing less than a hilarious picture. “You can’t HANDLE the Wu!”

Even the songs that can be described as “chill” are chill in a “Tony Montana after he kills Frank Lopez and makes a ton of money” kind of way. “MTV Cribs” is a duet with Busta Rhymes in which the pair boasts about 19,000 square-foot mansions. “Black Dust” is a celebration of everything the Wu has accomplished with two guys who are not in the Wu-Tang Clan.

Actually, with only two or three exceptions, this tape is loaded with guest appearances.  Well, not loaded. Oversaturated is more accurate. Some are legends like Busta and Mobb Deep while most are rappers I’ve never heard of at all. There’s no one on here so bad that you want to turn the tape off, but it’s billed as a Raekwon solo outing when really it’s more like Rae hosting a bunch of duets and posse cuts. Is it because Rae considers himself too gangsta for us to handle a mixtape chock full of his patented microphone executions in this age of Justin Bieber being allowed to rap? Whether or not he was simply sparing our delicate sensitivities (“You can’t HANDLE the Wu!”), having Rae deliver only about 50% of the verses on his own tape is the major drawback from what is otherwise a predictably solid, G’d-up effort.

3 / 5 bars

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Raekwon – Luxury Rap

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Raekwon – Goodfellas