Only Built 4 Cuban Linx has increased its acclamation among music critics and writers over the years, as many have lauded it as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. With its emphasis on Italian Mafia insinuations and organized crime, the album is widely regarded as a pioneer of the Mafioso rap genre. It has been esteemed as being highly effective on hip hop music over the next decade, being heavily referenced and influential on albums such as
Doe or Die, Reasonable Doubt, It Was Written and Life After Death. Along with
GZA's Liquid Swords, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is classified by many to be the best of
Wu-Tang solo material. Its success spawned a sequel 14 years later with 2009's
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II.
