Rakim
William Michael Griffin, Jr. (later changed his name to Rakim Allah,born January 28, 1968), better known by the stage name Rakim, is an American rapper and one of the pioneers of the musical genre of hip hop. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled MCs of all time due to his exceptional flow and complex lyrical craftsmanship.
Early Life
Rakim is the nephew of American R&B singer and actress Ruth Brown. He grew up in Wyandanch, New York, and became involved in the New York hip hop scene at a young age. Eric B brought him to Marley Marl’s house to record "Eric B. is President." At the time Griffin was fresh out of high school and on his way to college, but he decided to forgo higher education and instead chose to record with Eric B.
When Griffin turned 16, he joined The Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as the 5 Percent Nation) and legally changed his name to Rakim Allah
In 1986, Rakim started to work with New York-based producer-DJ Eric B. The duo — known as Eric B & Rakim — is widely regarded as among the most influential and groundbreaking of hip-hop groups. The duo’s first single, "Eric B. Is President" (#48, 1986) b/w “My Melody,” was a success and got the duo a contract with the fledgling Island Records sub-label 4th & B'way. The duo’s next single, the smash “I Know You Got Soul,” sparked early debate on the legality of unauthorized, uncredited sampling when James Brown sued to prevent the duo's use of a fragment of his music. Their first full length album, Paid in Full, was released in 1987, and has since been hailed as one of hip-hop's seminal albums. Their follow-up LP; Follow the Leader was released a year later, and was also well received by fans and critics. The duo recorded two more albums; Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em and Don't Sweat The Technique before they parted ways in late 1992. Due to legal wrangling over royalties and his contracts with both his record label, and with Eric B., Rakim would not release a solo album until five years later.
Solo career
After splitting with Eric B., Rakim signed with his good friend at the time 'Harun Butt' "Q=BOB" Sallis of Q=BOB Records to commence his solo career, however, the label folded shortly afterward. He eventually returned in 1997 with The 18th Letter, which included collaborations with DJ Premier and Pete Rock; which was released in two versions, one of which included an Eric B. & Rakim greatest hits disc titled The Book of Life. The critical reception of the album was positive, and it was certified gold. In 1999, Rakim released The Master, which received very good reviews as well.
Rakim was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label in 2000, for work on an album tentatively titled Oh, My God. The album underwent numerous changes in artistic direction and personnel and was delayed several times. While working on the album, Rakim made guest appearances on numerous Aftermath projects, including the hit single "Addictive" by Truth Hurts, the Dr. Dre-produced "The Watcher Part 2" by Jay-Z, and Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack. However, Rakim left the label in 2003 and Oh, My God was indefinitely shelved, a result of creative differences with Dre. Rakim signed with DreamWorks Records shortly afterward, but the label closed its doors shortly after that.
Rakim performing in North Carolina
Rakim also made cameos in the Juelz Santana video "Mic Check," the Timbaland & Magoo video "Cop that Disc," and the Busta Rhymesvideo "New York Shit." In 1999, he worked with The Art of Noise on a single entitled "Metaforce". Eric B. and Rakim's classic album Paid In Full was named the greatest hip-hop album of all time by MTV. Rakim was engaged in a lawsuit with reggaeton performer R.K.M (formerly Rakim) over the use of the name "Rakim". Rakim won the rights to the name. Recently, Rakim was featured in an All-Pro Football 2K8commercial.
The Seventh Seal, Rakim's long-anticipaited album, was released November 17, 2009. The first single off the album, Holy Are You, was released through his MySpace page on July 14, 2009 and was made available on iTunes July 28. A second track "Walk These Streets" ft. Maino was released in October. The album was world premiered on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio almost a month before its release and received an overwhelming response from the hip hop community Rakim has been active during its recording with several national tours and special events. Rakim recently closed the Knitting Factory in NYC as the last Hip-Hop performer to walk off the historic club's stage after 25 years of underground performances.
Rhyme technique
Rakim is credited for the jazzy, heavily stylistic delivery of his lyrics. In an interview on PlanetIll.com, Rakim noted his musical background, being skilled in alto to baritone saxophone, as giving him an advantage in flow and syncopation over his contemporaries.
Rakim is also noted as being the MC who introduced a lot of internal rhymes to rapping, as well as complex literary devices. Masta Ace, in the book How to Rap notes: “Up until Rakim, everybody who you heard rhyme, the last word in the sentence was the rhyming [word], the connection word. Then Rakim showed us that you could put rhymes within a rhyme”. Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship explains that Rakim used braggadocio content in a “very, very technical” way, “talking about physics and metaphysics”.Tajai of Souls of Mischief also says with Rakim, “you can’t listen to [his] rap once and figure out what [he’s] saying”. Rakim was "among the first to demonstrate the possibilities of sitting down and writing intricately crafted lyrics packed with clever word choices and metaphors".
After splitting with Eric B., Rakim signed with his good friend at the time 'Harun Butt' "Q=BOB" Sallis of Q=BOB Records to commence his solo career, however, the label folded shortly afterward. He eventually returned in 1997 with The 18th Letter, which included collaborations with DJ Premier and Pete Rock; which was released in two versions, one of which included an Eric B. & Rakim greatest hits disc titled The Book of Life. The critical reception of the album was positive, and it was certified gold. In 1999, Rakim released The Master, which received very good reviews as well.
Rakim was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label in 2000, for work on an album tentatively titled Oh, My God. The album underwent numerous changes in artistic direction and personnel and was delayed several times. While working on the album, Rakim made guest appearances on numerous Aftermath projects, including the hit single "Addictive" by Truth Hurts, the Dr. Dre-produced "The Watcher Part 2" by Jay-Z, and Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack. However, Rakim left the label in 2003 and Oh, My God was indefinitely shelved, a result of creative differences with Dre. Rakim signed with DreamWorks Records shortly afterward, but the label closed its doors shortly after that.
Rakim performing in North Carolina
Rakim also made cameos in the Juelz Santana video "Mic Check," the Timbaland & Magoo video "Cop that Disc," and the Busta Rhymesvideo "New York Shit." In 1999, he worked with The Art of Noise on a single entitled "Metaforce". Eric B. and Rakim's classic album Paid In Full was named the greatest hip-hop album of all time by MTV. Rakim was engaged in a lawsuit with reggaeton performer R.K.M (formerly Rakim) over the use of the name "Rakim". Rakim won the rights to the name. Recently, Rakim was featured in an All-Pro Football 2K8commercial.
The Seventh Seal, Rakim's long-anticipaited album, was released November 17, 2009. The first single off the album, Holy Are You, was released through his MySpace page on July 14, 2009 and was made available on iTunes July 28. A second track "Walk These Streets" ft. Maino was released in October. The album was world premiered on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio almost a month before its release and received an overwhelming response from the hip hop community Rakim has been active during its recording with several national tours and special events. Rakim recently closed the Knitting Factory in NYC as the last Hip-Hop performer to walk off the historic club's stage after 25 years of underground performances.
Rhyme technique
Rakim is credited for the jazzy, heavily stylistic delivery of his lyrics. In an interview on PlanetIll.com, Rakim noted his musical background, being skilled in alto to baritone saxophone, as giving him an advantage in flow and syncopation over his contemporaries.
Rakim is also noted as being the MC who introduced a lot of internal rhymes to rapping, as well as complex literary devices. Masta Ace, in the book How to Rap notes: “Up until Rakim, everybody who you heard rhyme, the last word in the sentence was the rhyming [word], the connection word. Then Rakim showed us that you could put rhymes within a rhyme”. Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship explains that Rakim used braggadocio content in a “very, very technical” way, “talking about physics and metaphysics”.Tajai of Souls of Mischief also says with Rakim, “you can’t listen to [his] rap once and figure out what [he’s] saying”. Rakim was "among the first to demonstrate the possibilities of sitting down and writing intricately crafted lyrics packed with clever word choices and metaphors".
No comments:
Post a Comment