On Friday (July 18), Raekwon The Chef dropped his latest album, The Emperor’s New Clothes. Released on his own Ice H2O Records, via Mass Appeal, the project quickly drew praise online for the Wu-Tang Clan rapper’s continued artistic excellence after 30-plus years in the game.

The Chef’s last album was 2017’s The Wild. But anything he releases will inevitably be compared to his magnum opus, 1995’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, which will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of its release in August.

As for The Emperor’s New Clothes, it’s a worthy entry into an already deep catalog, while a few of his fellow Wu-Tang Clan members — Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Inspectah Deck — join in on the action for his eighth studio album. Also coming along are clutch guest artists that include the Griselda collective (Conway The Machine, Westside Gunn and Benny The Butcher) on a gritty tune called “Wild Corsicans,” as well as Nas on a regal track called “The Omerta.”

While RZA is nowhere to be found, the album’s production is handled by top-tier beat providers who include Swizz Beatz, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and Nottz. Clocking in at a succinct 40 minutes, the LP is still a multi-course meal of the neck-straining, rewind-filled sonics you’ve come to expect from Raekwon.

With the recent success of Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out, Rae is also getting heavy praise as another Hip Hop artist in his 50s who hasn’t lost a step lyrically or musically. The aforementioned “The Omerta” with fellow rap OG Nas has been received well, too.

“This Nas verse is the best feature of the year. Excluding NOBODY. I said what I said,” wrote an X (formerly known as Twitter) user.

Another song receiving positive reactions is “Bear Hill,” which also has a horror movie-inspired visual treatment (watch below).

Recently, Raekwon was on the “Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber Tour,” along with Run The Jewels, which is being billed as the Shaolin supergroup’s last trek.