Classic Hip Hop Pic: Big Daddy Kane and Rakim

Our classic Hip Hop pic of the day is of Big Daddy Kane and Rakim...the Jay Z and Nas before there was Jay Z and Nas. The rap gods of the 80s.

50 Cent Praises Rakim, Nas, and Prodigy

New York has always been considered the Mecca of Hip Hop, and in making his new album (Animal Ambition), 50 Cent spoke on three New York Emcees that he considers in a lane of their own. During his recent interview with Vibe, 50 spoke on how he wanted to create a style of his own for Animal Ambition, thus the reference to Rakim, Nas and Prodigy.





“It was more important that you had your own style than you being able to master a version of Rakim or a version of another artist’s style. Nobody does that better than Rakim. Even with new content that flow is still his flow. Nas is [also] one of those guys…he has his own. Even if some people make comparisons that was just Queensbridge, man. That period for me...Mobb Deep, Prodigy is in his own class in my mind." 

50 Cent Names His Top 5 Favourite Rappers

During his interview with Larry King a couple of months ago, 50 Cent named his top 5 favourite rappers of all time. I was meant to have put this up months ago, but I must have forgotten. I just found it in my archives, saved as a draft. Anyway, check out 50 Cent's top 5 favourite rappers...a couple of surprises on the list.

"Top five favorite rappers, for me, would be artists like KRS-One, Rakim, Biggie, Tupac, one of my favorites too, Nas was one of my favorites early on. [Favorite childhood artist?] KRS-One because the aggression that he came with, with 'The Bridge Is Over.' Like, hip-hop's always been competitive so it's always been battling, it's been a part of the artform and he came in with the kind of energy that was necessary for you to make a statement." (Larry King Now)






I Remember 50 Cent dissed Nas on his Piggy Bank track off The Massacre album (2005), and they have not been on good terms since then. So, I was really surprised to see Nas's name on the list. Maybe that's why he said he was a Nas fan earlier on...like in the 90s.  A lot of people don't know this, but 50 Cent was actually considered for a part of Nas's The Firm rap clique (which had Foxy Brown, AZ, Cormega, and later Nature) back in the late 90s. 50 also featured Nas on two tracks (Too Hot & Who U Rep With) off his 'Guess Who's Back' underground album in 2002. He even went on Nas's Nastradamus tour with him back in 2000. So, you know they have a history together. I think it all went wrong when 50 Cent did a verse on the remix of J LO's hit, I'm Gonna Be Alright in 2001, but 50 got shot around the time, and a lot of music execs didn't want to do business with him. So, they took 50 off the song, put Nas on it, and shot a video for the song. 50 cent felt betrayed by Nas. When 50 finally blew up with Aftermath in 2003, he went at all his perceived enemies.

Rakim Recalls Difficulty Working With Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre is a phenomenal music producer. When he mentors rappers, he brings out the best in them. From Snoop, to Tupac, to Eminem, to 50 Cent, Game, and most recently, Kendrick Lamar; Dr. Dre turned all these talented rappers to super success stories. But, it was hard for him to work with Rakim. You see, the thing is that Rakim was already a legend before he got with Dre. Rakim got with Aftermath Records around the early 2000s, after he had enjoyed a timeframe of rap supremacy in the 80s...so, it is obvious why the two couldn't click.




Read Rakim's words on why an album never came out of his working relationship with Dr. Dre-

"As far as me and Dre, once we got together, we realized how different we was. To try and get on the same page was more complicated than we thought. A beat would come on, and we listenin' to the beat—I'm already seein' what I want to do. But then Dre might go, 'Yo, I want you to do such and such, and such and such on there.' I'm like, 'Come on, Dre. Been there, did that already, nahmean?' Realizing that, it was like night and day. Dre's formula is- if it ain't broke, don't fix it. At that point, he was lovin' Gangsta Rap and rappers beefin'. At that point, I figured, 'I did that already.' It's time to move on and just make good music.

Every time a beat came on, the same debate happened. I didn't really have to beef with my peers, nahmean? And he wanted me to set it off and brag about about who I was and what I did. At that point, I felt like they already knew. To brag about it, it'd take points off the board with what I did and what I'm doin'. I'm glad that he hollered at me, I'm glad that he had a vision in mind...we just couldn't find a medium where he was happy and I was happy with either the direction, the topic, or what I'd say to a certain beat, or what he wanted me to say."

Rakim got with Dre around 2001, not everyone listening to HipHop at the time knew who Rakim was. Or, if they had heard his name, they didn't know what he could do on the mic. I'm guessing that's why Dre wanted Rakim to do a litle bragging. I didn't even listen to  Rakim's Paind In Full (1987) album till 2010. After I heard that album, I understood why Rakim was classified god MC in Hip Hop. But, not everyone knows that. I really wish they have reached a middle ground or something, cos that would that would have produced another great album for the Rakim legacy. 

REVIEW OF RAKIM'S LATEST ALBUM, 'THE SEVENTH SEAL'

I heard the first single off this album where he was spitting some really deep lyrics; but i do not think that the people of this generation can handle RAKIM' hell, they can hardly handle NAS'S lyrics.

Rakim started off rapping in the 80's with his partner, ERIC B, they were a bad ass duo back then, but this is right now, 2 decades latter. I hope he just put this out for his fans, and people like me that enjoy some deep rap.

The album is due to drop shortly.

Below is the review of the album, courtesy of allhiphop.com

It’s been a decade since the last proper Rakim album – and 12 years since the last Rakim album that truly embodied the God Emcee's abilities. But still, while 1999’s The Master wasn’t much of a crowd-pleaser, most Hip Hop heads will take some Rakim over none. In the past 10 years, the Mic God has offered precious few musical morsels for his fans. His defunct deal with Aftermath raised a lot of hopes, but only really materialized in a few features and unreleased tracks. Add in a dope Nike commercial and about 30 different incarnations of “It’s Nothing,” and that’s been the tale of the decade for The 18th Letter. Now, in 2009, perhaps the most influential emcee of all time is ready to drop his oft-delayed third solo outing, The Seventh Seal.

“How to Emcee” is the introductory cut on the album, and it is a fitting one. An off-kilter guitar loop and an energized Rakim let the listener know class is still in session. Things continue to roll on the piano-infused “Walk These Streets.” The track is a taste of what a Dr. Dre-assisted project might have sounded like, which is unsurprising as frequent Aftermath collaborator Needlz mans the boards for this one. Also worth a mention is Maino’s contribution, as he lends some credence to the song’s street tales.

“Documentary of a Gangsta” is just that, as Ra takes a step back and plays the role of observer over heavy piano loops: “Stuffin’ bread, his pockets is hungry / You talkin’ nonsense unless the topic is money / He call a hundred thou a ‘honey,’ mamis, he call ‘em dimes / So his mind’s on his money, but mamis is on his mind / Like an O.G., focused on the come up / Think he effin’ around, he approach you with the gun up / Bang, roll a blunt up and forget it happened / Stash the dollars back in product and get it crackin’”

Following a nice set of introductory tracks, The Seventh Seal comes to a screeching halt, with three indiscernible cuts: “Man Above,” “You and I,” and “Won’t Be Long.” The first and last of these both feature Tracey Horton on the hook, so maybe that has something to do with it. In any case, two of these could’ve been done away with, and you’d have an unchanged album (if it were up to me, I’d have stuck with “You and I”). “Holy Are You,” the much-hyped single tries to get the heavy-handed feel back to the album, but it’s clear that cohesion has been tossed to the wind once the massively-unsatisfying (and ironically-titled) “Satisfaction Guaranteed” hits the speakers. The tale is essentially the same for the rest of the album, as “Put it All to Music” and “Psychic Love” make one wonder if this should’ve been an EP instead – a thought which, upon hearing the baffling No Doubt sample featured on “Dedicated,” is confirmed.

In the end, Rakim’s latest album doesn’t really make any contribution of significance to his catalogue. It’s clear that this man isn’t the same microphone fiend heads grew up worshipping. For one reason or another, he lacks the ability to subtly attack with his flow like he once did. As for fans who want answers as to why Ra has been M.I.A. for all these years, they will get none here; this is certainly unfortunate, as that would’ve been much more engaging than him simply trying to get by on the strength of his own mythos. Sadly, that’s exactly what Rakim does here, and rarely does that get you anywhere – microphone fiend or not.

THE FALL OF EAST COAST RAPPERS IN HIPHOP(PART 1).

In the 80's and 90's it was all about the east coast rappers. The west had some dominance around this period(late 80's to mid 90's), but you had more of the east. The east gave us most of todays respected rap legends like k.r.s 1, rakim, big daddy kane, cool g rap, ll cool j, the whole wu-tang-clan, the late biggie, nas, jay-z...And the list goes on and on.
Around the early 2000's, rappers started getting respected for howmuch money they had and could spend, as opposed to how skilled they really were.