ALL HAIL THE CHEF! RAEKWON DEBUT'S IN SOUNDSCAN'S TOP 5! DIDDY WANTED TO SIGN HIM & GHOSTFACE @ ONE TIME!

Hail to the Chef. Raekwon will debut in SoundScan's top five with his classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. Rae popped up at the VMA Radio Forum over the weekend, and we had the opportunity to ask him about a longstanding rumor that at one time, Diddy wanted to sign him and Ghostface Killah to Bad Boy.
"I heard that too," Rae said. "We did a show at the Palladium [years back], and Puff had security with him that was from Staten Island. When we got back to Staten Island, we bump into the kid, and he told us while he was up there performing, Puff said, 'I need them two. What I gotta do?' He was excited about working with us [and] signing us too. I don't know why it ain't happen, either. You never know. Maybe he may want to do that now. I'm independent, baby. So let's get it right. Let's cut them checks, Puff. We know what time it is!"

The Wu-Tang/ Diddy/ Bad Boy connection has spawned a lot of hits from "The What" to the remixes of "All I Need" and "Special Delivery." Diddy and Rae did hook up last week for the album-release party for Cuban Linx II. Diddy hosted the party at Manhattan's Santos Party House.

"One day I'm in the car, I'm just driving," he said. "I get a call from Puff out of the blue. He's like, 'Yo, I wanna congratulate you on your album.' That's what's up. One thing led to another, and I told him about the party. He said, 'If I'm in town, I'm coming through.' I said, 'Would you like to come through and host?' Because you know what kinda dude Diddy is. He's like our Sammy Davis Jr. He's done so much on all levels, [so] I just asked. What's wrong with asking? He was like, 'I'mma check my schedule, and if it permits for it to happen, I'm there for you.' Next thing you know, he called me 48 hours later: 'It's on. I'm with you.' "