Rakim

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Rakim
Image:Rakim allah.jpg
Background information
Birth name	William Michael Griffin Jr.
Born	January 28 1968 (age 40)
Origin	Long Island, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, Producer
Years active	1984–Present
Associated acts	Eric B & Rakim

Image:Unbalanced scales.svg

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Rakim (full name Rakim Allah, born William Michael Griffin Jr. on January 28 1968 in Wyandanch, Long Island, New York) is an African-American rapper who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Eric B. & Rakim 1.2 Solo career 2 Legacy 3 Technique 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Also appears on 5 External links 6 References

Biography

The nephew of R&B star Ruth Brown, Rakim became involved in the New York hip hop scene at a young age. He became a Muslim, taking on the name Rakim Allah, in 1984.

Eric B. & Rakim

In 1985 he formed a musical partnership. Eric B. and Rakim subsequently became one of the most well-known and influential groups to emerge from hip hop's so-called "Golden Age" (1986-1993). Prior to Rakim's arrival on the scene, hip hop rhyming still exhibited strong ties to rapping's roots in improvisatory toasting, in very regular meter and rhyme scheme (Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, and others), with simple lyrics and a steady and heavily prounounced rhythm. Rakim, in contrast, says he tried to model his flow after the saxophone's instrumentation in a jazz song. The All Music Guide's Steve Huey wrote in the early 2000s that "Rakim's flow is smooth and liquid, inflected with jazz rhythms and carried off with an effortless cool that makes it sound as though he's not even breaking a sweat. He raised the bar for MC technique higher than it had ever been." Rakim's use of metaphor and elaborate phrasing (in contrast to previous hip hop's relatively simple lyricism) was also extremely influential, with Pitchfork Media critic Jess Harvell writing in 2005 that "Rakim's innovation was applying a patina of intellectual detachment to rap's most sacred cause: talking shit about how you're a better rapper than everyone else. He was the supreme exponent of rapping-about-rapping." However beneath this surface of subject matter there frequently was some deeper metaphorical message. In general for example, Rakim as a rapper represented the spitirtual or moral teacher, the audience that was to be entertained were his students and the rappers he lyrically disposed of represented those who were willfully opposed to the path of wisdom (life wisdom). "Scientists try to solve the context, Philosopher's are wondering what's next. Pieces are took to labs to observe them, They couldn't absorb them, they didn't deserve them; my ideas are only for the audience's ears, for my opponents it might take years" -Rakim, Don't Sweat The technique (1991). On the violent streets of New York city in the 1980's and early 90's, many rappers saw fit to include messages of moral education in their music and Rakim was at the forefront of this movement, employing both literal and figurative language in his lyrics to that end.^[1]

Solo career

Eric B. & Rakim broke up in 1992 after releasing four albums. Due to legal wrangling over royalties and his contracts with both his record label and with Eric B, Rakim did not release a solo album for another five years. He returned in 1997 with The 18th Letter, which included collaborations with DJ Premier and Pete Rock; released in two versions, one of which included an Eric B. & Rakim greatest hits disc titled The Book of Life, the album was fairly well-received critically and was certified gold. In 1999, Rakim released The Master, which was considerably less successful than its predecessor, failing to crack the Top 50 on Billboard's album chart and receiving mixed reviews.

Rakim was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label in the early 2000s, 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.^[2]

On April 27, 2004, Rakim was arrested regarding an outstanding paternity matter from 2001. The rapper said he was unaware of the warrant, but he agreed to pay $2,000 in child support for his 14 year-old son. He was released the next day but because of the warrant, that night's Wu-Tang Clan performance (opening for Ghostface) at the Roseland Ballroom was canceled.

Rakim claimed to be working on a new album in 2004^[3] but as of 2006, it has not been released. Recent rumors have claimed that he is planning to sign to Talib Kweli's label, fueled by their collaboration on the track "Getting Up Anthem Part 1". While nothing came of the rumors, Rakim has stated he is still considering the label as distribution.

A new track called "Original Style" appeared on Chinga Chang Records release "Offical Joints" set to drop in June, 2007.

Rakim is currently working on a new album, scheduled to be released this year, titled The Seventh Seal based on the passage in the Book of Revelations. According to Rakim, he is taking the seventh seal and "making it relevant to hip hop and life itself."^[4] As of now, no official news on what label is handling the distribution for the album.

While performing at Stubb's BBQ, Austin, TX on March 17, 2007, Rakim announced that "The Seventh Seal" would be released July 7, 2007. [1]

Legacy

Many hip hop/rap artists (both underground and mainstream) acknowledge a huge debt to Rakim's innovative style; one of his more prominent fans is Nas, who dedicated a song to Rakim, "U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of Rakim)", on his album, Street's Disciple.

Rakim also made cameos in the Juelz Santana video "Mic Check", the Timbaland & Magoo video "Cop That Disc" and the Busta Rhymes video "New York Shit". Eric B. and Rakim's classic album Paid In Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV.

Technique

The five techniques, among others, that Rakim used to revolutionize hip hop and propel himself to never-before-seen heights in lyricism were multi-syllabic rhymes, unconventional rhymes, internal rhymes, cliff-hangers and catch phrases.

Before Rakim, hip hop rhyming pretty much consisted of cat and hat. If an artist really wanted to get clever he or she would rhyme two syllables, like city and pretty. Then came Rakim, putting rhymes together like "residence" and "presidents" and changed the game forever.

He also used unconventional rhymes never before heard, or even thought of it seems. Prior to Rakim, conventional rhymes of words like Mary and Harry were universal. He was the first to introduce an unconventional rhyming technique. "I write a rhyme in GRAFFITI 'N every show you SEE ME IN, Deep concentration 'cause I'm no COMEDIAN," is a perfect example of his rhyming of unconventional words and combinations of words.

Rakim also performed verses loaded with internal rhymes. Pre Rakim, hip hop rhymes almost always came one at the end of each verse. But Rakim stuffed rhyme after rhyme into his verses and raised the bar for emceeing to a mind boggling level. "When I'm GONE no one gets ON 'cause I won't LET, Nobody PRESS UP and MESS UP the scene I SET," is a typical example of the way Rakim delivered rhyme overload in his verses.

It is important to recognize that while Rakim may have been the first use multi-syllabic and internal rhymes in rap, poets had been using them long before. For example, in King Lear Shakespeare writes,

Fathers that wear rags
Do make their children blind,
But fathers that bear bags
Shall see their children kind. 

This is an example of what is sometimes called compound rhyme. (wear-rags) (bear-bags)

His introduction of the cliff-hanger is another technique that helped him single-handedly take rapping into the twenty-first century and beyond. Every verse used to conclude a complete thought, but Rakim was the first to create the incomplete thought that forced the listener to wait for the next verse for fulfilment.

"But now I learned to earn 'cause I'm RIGHTEOUS, I feel great so maybe I MIGHT JUST..." is an example. This verse does not end in a complete thought. It ends in a cliff hanger that forces the audience to wait for the next verse to find out what he might just do, which is "...search for a nine to five." The movie-like suspense embedded in the rhyme heightened the already high sense of drama inherent in hip hop rhyming.

Not to be outdone is Rakim's unparalleled popularization of catch phrases. No one could coin a catch phrase like Rakim. He rapped, "I can take a phrase that's RARELY HEARD, flip it now it's a DAILY WORD," and he wasn't exaggerating. "Master plan," "dead presidents," "pump up the volume," and "it ain't where you from it's where you at," are but a tiny handful of the many catch phrases that Rakim popularized. The phrase "dead presidents" alone has spawned at least two movies (Dead Presidents, All About the Benjamins) a rap group (Dead Prez) and too many songs to count, including "All About the Benjamins" by Junior M.A.F.I.A. and "Dead Presidents" I and II by Jay-Z. The phrase refers to money, in the fact that most dollars display images of dead presidents.

These techniques, among many others, helped Rakim revolutionize rap music and clearly define two eras in hip hop: Before Rakim (BR) and After Rakim (AR).

Discography

Albums

Solo:

• The 18th Letter/The Book Of Life (2CD) (1997) (Gold)
• The Master (1999)
• The Seventh Seal (2007)

With Eric B:

• Paid in Full (1987) (Platinum)
• Follow the Leader (1988) (Gold)
• Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990) (Gold)
• Don't Sweat The Technique (1992)(Platinum)

Also appears on

• "Friends" (with Jody Watley) (1989)
• "Contribution" (with Mica Paris) (1991)
• "Heat It Up" (from the soundtrack to the film Gunmen) (1993)
• "Recites Hook on Nas's N.Y State Of Mind (1994)
• "Shades of Black" (from the Pump Ya Fist: Hip-Hop Inspired by the Black Panthers album) (1995)
• "Hoodlum" (with Mobb Deep and Big Noyd) (1997)
• "Off The Hook" (with Jody Watley) (1998)
• "Metaforce" (with Art of Noise) (1999)
• "Concrete Jungle" (with Bob Marley) (1999) (Chant Down Babylon)
• "The Militia II" (with Gang Starr and WC) (1999)
• "I'll Buss 'Em U Punish 'Em" (with Canibus) (2000)
• "I Am" (G-Dep featuring Kool G Rap and Rakim (2001) (Child of the Ghetto)
• "After U Die" (with Dr. Dre) (Dretox) (2005)
• "Addictive" (with Truth Hurts) (2002)
• "R.A.K.I.M." (from the 8 Mile soundtrack) (2002)
• "The Watcher 2" (Jay-Z featuring Dr. Dre, Rakim, and Truth Hurts) (2002) (The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse)
• "Streets Of New York" (with Alicia Keys and Nas) (The Diary of Alicia Keys) (2003)
• "Getting Up Anthem" (with Talib Kweli) (2005)
• Recites the hook of "You Know The Deal" off Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apple
• "Classic - Nike remix" with Kanye West, Nas, and KRS-One (Remix Produced by DJ Premier)

Wikipedia information about Rakim This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rakim". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.