What Do Raekwon, Kobe, Ghostface Killah And Jim Jones Think Of When They Think Of "Rock N' Roll"?

The great Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon releases his next solo album next month. Shaolin Vs. Wu-Tang, it’s called, the follow-up to 2009’s terrific Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2. Some of the new music sounds good. The latest song to leak, “Rock n’ Roll,” which features Rae’s frequent collaborator Ghostface Killah, the singer Kobe, and Jim Jones of the Diplomats, sounds less so, to my curmudgeonly autotune-averse ears. But it’s interesting to look at which rock n’ rollers get namechecked in the lyrics. Not necessarily ones you might expect. For instance, Raekwon’s first shout goes out to Willie Nelson.

And then Bob Dylan.

Kobe, on the hook, cites Bon Jovi. Specifically, the song “Livin’ On a Prayer.”

And Mick Jagger. Which, God, wasn’t he great at the Grammys on Sunday?

Ghostface references Pink Floyd.

And Ozzy Osbourne.

Jim Jones proves himself to be the rock n’ rollest of the crew (which you would be expect, given his fashion sense.) He rattles off the names of a full seven super-famous rock bands in his verse. In order:

And Sheila E.!