Rakim
Rakim |
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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.
Biography
Rakim was born William Michael Griffin Jr on 28th January 1968 and grew up in Long Island, New York where he developed much of his rap talent.[citation needed] 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 member of The Nation of Gods and Earths, taking on the name Rakim Allah, in 1984.[citation needed] Rakim was interviewed on The Breakdown, an internet show on ItsHipHop.Tv where he talked about his legacy and state of hip hop.
Eric B. and Rakim
In 1985 he formed a musical partnership. Eric B. and Rakim subsequently became one of the most well-known and influential groups in hip hop history. 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, Philosophers 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 1980s and early '90s, 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] Rakim signed with DreamWorks Records shortly afterward, but the label closed its doors shortly after that.
On April 27, 2004,Rakim was arrested regarding an outstanding paternity matter from 2001. The emcee 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 2007, 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.
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]
according to hip-hop galaxy.com rakim's album The Seventh seal is to be release now to September 7, 2007
on July 21, 2007 Rakim dropped a mixtape with J-Love (Ghostface Killah's tour DJ) called "Legends 1.2" that featured several unreleased tracks from Rakim including 2 Dr. Dre produced tracks ("Welcome To The Hood" & "After You Die"). The mixtape also featured several classic records from Rakim including "Getting Up Anthem" (w/Talib Kweli), "When I Be On The Mic", "I Know You Got Soul", "Follow The Leader", "Microphone Fiend", "18th Letter", "Don't Sweat The Technique", and others as well as Rakim's recent return to the mainstream, "Classic" (w/Kanye West, Nas, & KRS-One). The mixtape is available for order at J-Love's website. Recently Rakim has been featured in an All-Pro Football 2K8 commercial spot.
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.
Multi-syllabic rhymes
Before Rakim, hip hop rhyming generally consisted of one or two syllable rhymes like "cat" and "hat", or "city" and "pretty". Rakim created a unique style with more complex multi-syllabic rhymes like "residence" and "presidents".
Unconventional rhymes
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 in 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.
Internal rhymes
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 and bear-bags).
Cliff-hangers
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.
Catch phrases
Not to be outdone is Rakim's popularization of catch phrases. He rapped, "I can take a phrase that's rarely heard, flip it now it's a daily word." "Master plan," "dead presidents," "pump up the volume," "puffin' up my coat, clearin' my throat," 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. In addition, the Nas line "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me" in The World is Yours, and Eminems "We Are Americans," "I don't rap for dead presidents; I'd rather see the President {dead} It's never been said, but I set precedents," utilizes the popular phrase as well. The phrase refers to money, in the fact that most dollars display images of dead presidents.
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. Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan also dedicated a tribute to Rakim entitled "Rakim Tribute" which was released on the The DaVinci Code: The Vatican Mixtape Vol. II in 2006.
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.
Tupac Shakur also pays tribute to Rakim in a song called "Old School".
Rakim is also the commercial spokesman for the football video game, All-Pro Football 2K8.
Discography
Albums
Solo
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The 18th Letter/The Book of Life
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The Master
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The Seventh Seal
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With Eric B.
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Paid in Full
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Follow the Leader
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Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em
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Don't Sweat the Technique
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Featured appearances
- 1989 "Friends" (with Jody Watley)
- 1991 "Contribution" (with Mica Paris)
- 1993 "Heat It Up" (from the soundtrack to the film Gunmen)
- 1995 "Shades of Black" (from the Pump Ya Fist: Hip-Hop Inspired by the Black Panthers album)
- 1996 "Game of Death" (with Shaquille O'Neal)
- 1997 "Hoodlum" (with Mobb Deep and Big Noyd)
- 1998 "Off The Hook" (with Jody Watley)
- 1999 "Metaforce" (with Art of Noise)
- 1999 "Concrete Jungle" (with Bob Marley) (Chant Down Babylon)
- 1999 "The Militia II" (with Gang Starr and WC)
- 2000 "I'll Buss 'Em U Punish 'Em" (with Canibus)
- 2001 (Child of the Ghetto) "I Am" (G-Dep featuring Kool G Rap and Rakim)
- 2005 "After U Die" (with Dr. Dre Featuring Aimee Terrin) (Dretox)
- 2002 "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) (The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse)
- 2003 "Streets Of New York" (with Alicia Keys and Nas) (The Diary of Alicia Keys)
- 2005 "Getting Up Anthem" (with Talib Kweli)
- 2007 "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"