A few months back my friends and had an extended debate about the greatness of various mc's. Jay-Z or Kanye, Eminem or Lil' Wayne and by the end everyone stuck to their guns and continued to embrace the lyricist of their choice. We decided we should make a list of that wordsmiths choicest cuts to display what we saw in them. Then we were to give examples of those who make up our musical blueprints and set the standards by which we measure all others. This was the preeminent lyrical influence of my youth. LL was my fave for the longest but Rakim was the spittter I admired most. He was clever, dense, and an amazing writer. The layers of rhymes that he used to occupy a verse were unrivaled. Beyond that he was an MC with a name that closely resembled my own. Growing up there were no Rashid's that were prominent and I definitely could not find my name in a novelty shop. So when Ra came I felt an instant connection. His verses were rehearsed his cadence was imitated. Here is the verse that blew my my mind.
2 comments:
Rakim should be taught in schools. Like, I have a paper due in my third period "Rakim" class today or I think I'm going to take "Rakim" this semester just to get it out the way or I was late for "Rakim" and the teacher assigned me three albums worth of homework due by Friday.
Ain't that the truth. This is my rap snob first question I ask cats. If you haven't heard Rakim and you over 25 can't really have a hip hop conversation with you. We can talk but we can't have a discussion.
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