|  | | Artist Info/ BIO | |  | Rakim (pronounced Rah-Kem) (full name Rakim Allah, born William Michael Griffin Jr. on January 28, 1968 in Wyandanch, Long Island, New York) is a legendary rapper and pioneer of the musical genre of hip hop. Many rappers in the community cite Rakim as one of the greatest rappers ever, and is mostly known for using intricate, seemingly effortless rhyming schemes. Many hip hop/rap artists (both underground and mainstream) acknowledge a huge debt to Rakim's innovative style. He is given credit for popularizing the heavy use of internal rhymes in hip-hop - rhymes that are not necessary to the overall rhyme scheme of the verse, but occur between the endpoints of lines and stanzas, serving to increase the alliteration, assonance, and emphasis of the poetry. He is also credited for the jazzy, heavily stylistic, seemingly effortless delivery of his lyrical content. 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 DaVinci Code: The Vatican Mixtape Vol. II in 2006. 50 Cent also makes reference to Rakim on his hugely successful collaborative effort "Hate It Or Love It" with The Game. 50 rhymes "Daddy ain't around, probably out committing felonies / my favorite rapper used to sing Ch-Check out my melody," referencing Eric B. & Rakim's classic hit "My Melody." Kurupt references Rakim on Snoop Dogg's debut album, Doggystyle. On "For All My Niggaz And Bitches", Kurupt says "Who's jokin? Rakim never joked, so why should I loc? now that's my idol..." Tupac Shakur also pays tribute to Rakim in a song called "Old School". Jay-z paid tribute to Rakim in his 2007 hit Blue Magic where he states: "87 state of mind that I'm in/I'm in my prime so for that time I'm Rakim." Eminem has also paid tribute to Rakim's style as an inspiration. Ghostface Killah gave props to Rakim in the end of "Paisely Darts", by saying he is better than every artist except for Rakim, Rakim's the only god". Prior to Rakim, rap music lyricism was usually rather simple from a structural standpoint and the ideas it expressed were easy and direct. |
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Music
