Artist: Rakim
Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop
Discography:
The Master
Year: 1999
Tracks: 17
The Book Of Life
Year: 1997
Tracks: 15
The 18th Letter
Year: 1997
Tracks: 17
Although he never became a house advert, Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the sterling MCs -- possibly the sterling -- of all time inside the hip-hop community. It isn't necessarily the substance of what he says that's helped him win legion polls among rap music fans in the know; the absolute majority of his lyrics concern his possess skills and his Islamic religion. But in footing of how he says it, Rakim is virtually unequaled. His flow is legato and liquid, inflected with wind rhythms and carried cancelled with an effortless cool that makes it sound as though he's non even breaking a lather. He raised the browning automatic rifle for MC technique higher than it had ever so been, portion to pioneer the usage of internal rhymes -- i.e., rhymes that occurred in the middle of lines, rather than just at the terminal. Where many MCs of the time developed their technique through improvisational battles, Rakim was among the first to exhibit the possibilities of sitting down and writing intricately crafted lyrics jam-packed with clever word choices and metaphors (of course, he likewise had the legal transfer to articulate them). Even after his innovations were worshipfully absorbed and expanded upon by countless MCs world Health Organization followed, Rakim's early work still sounds startlingly fresh, and his comeback recordings (beginning in the late '90s) only when added to his legend.
Rakim was born William Griffin, Jr. on January 28, 1968, in the Long Island suburb of Wyandanch. The nephew of '50s R&B caption Ruth Brown, Griffin was surrounded by medicine from day one, and was concerned in hip-hop well-nigh from its origin. At geezerhood 16, he reborn to Islam, adopting the Muslim name Rakim Allah. In 1985, he met Queens DJ Eric B., whose elaborately constructed soundscapes made an first-class match for Rakim's more cerebral presence on the mic. With the spill of their debut single, "Eric B. Is President," in 1986, Eric B. & Rakim became a sensory faculty in the hip-hop community of interests, and their repute unbroken ontogenesis as they issued graeco-Roman tracks like "I Ain't No Joke" and "Paid in Full." Their first base two uncut albums, 1987's Paid in Full and 1988's Follow the Leader, are still regarded as all-time hip-hop classics; Rakim's work set kayoed a blueprint for other, likewise progressive-minded MCs to follow, and helped assure that regular after the rise of other fecund scenes around the state, East Coast rap would maintain a reputation as the center of innovative lyrical technique. The last two Eric B. & Rakim albums, 1990's Get the Rhythm Hit 'Em and 1992's Don't Sweat the Technique, weren't quite as consistent as their predecessors, simply still had mountain of fine moments.
Alas, their legacy stopped up at quaternary albums. Both Eric B. and Rakim explicit interest group in recording solo albums to one some other, only the early, fearful of being abandoned by his mate when their contract was up, refused to sign the release. That light-emitting diode to their detachment in 1992, and Rakim fatigued a substantial sum of time in the courts, treatment the effectual fallout 'tween himself, his ex-partner, and their ex-label, MCA. His but solo output for a turn of days was the caterpillar tread "Heat It Up," featured on the 1993 soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles film Gunmen. Moreover, a reshuffle at MCA effectively shut down production on Rakim's solo debut, after he'd recorded some prelim demos. Finally, Rakim got a new contract with Universal, and toward the end of 1997 he released his number 1 solo criminal record, The eighteenth Letter (early editions contained the incentive disk Book of Life, a fine Eric B. & Rakim retrospective). Anticipation for The eighteenth Letter off out to be amazingly high, specially for a ex-serviceman knocker whose roots lengthy so far back into rap account; still thanks to Rakim's fabled reputation, it entered the album charts at turn four-spot, and received mostly gratis reviews. His followup, The Master, was released in 1999 and failed to repeat its predecessor's commercial-grade success, scantily debuting in the Top 75. Moreover, patch The Master received electropositive reviews in some living quarters, others seemed defeated that Rakim's retort real wasn't reinventing the steering wheel the way his early work had, and bemoaned the want of i among his array of different producers. Seeking to rectify the latter situation, Rakim signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label in 2001, and the two began recording a new album early the side by side year, to be coroneted Oh My God. In the lag, to help heighten anticipation for the tiptop between 2 legends, Rakim guested on the single "Habit-forming" by female R&B isaac M. Singer and Aftermath labelmate Truth Hurts; "Habit-forming" strike the Top Ten in the summertime of 2002, marking the first time Rakim had visited that territory since he and Eric B. appeared on Jody Watley's "Friends" in 1989.
