On Wednesday, September 20, Jada Pinkett Smith posted throwback videos of her and Tupac during their junior year of high school as a way to promote her forthcoming memoir, Worthy. In the clips, Pinkett Smith and the late Tupac are performing to Will Smith’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand” with DJ Jazzy Jeff from 1988.
This morning, September 21, Smith revealed plans to explore that time period even more thoroughly with his Class Of ’88 podcast. According to Billboard, Smith “will celebrate 1988 hip-hop with episodes alongside Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rakim, and Chuck D.”
The publication additionally relayed, “Smith will explore the landmark year of 1988, which included the rise of Public Enemy, the ascension of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and the outpouring of female MCs such as Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah.”
The Wondery podcast will last for eight episodes. Beginning on October 26, Class Of ’88 will be available exclusively on Amazon Music and Audible. Amazon Prime members can listen to the podcast’s trailer here.
“Today, hip-hop dominates pop culture,” Smith says to start the trailer. “But it wasn’t always like that. Before 1988, a lot of people saw our music as just a passing fad.”
The nearly two-minute audio trailer also includes excerpted perspectives from Smith’s A-list guests, including Queen Latifah recalling, “[Hip-hop] had an expiration date, like milk. That’s what they were saying.”
In 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince released He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper, housing “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” The track claimed the first-ever Best Rap Performance at the 1989 Grammys, which DJ Jazzy Jeff and Smith boycotted because the category wasn’t televised (as revisited by Andscape in January 2018).
“Technique” features a sample of Eric B & Rakim’s song, “Don’t Sweat The Technique” as Latto adds a feminine, Atlanta touch to the New York classic.
In addition to dropping so much new music this summer, Latto also announced that she has teamed up with Wing Stop, which will now be selling a “Latto Meal.”
“my man has the Latto Meal every night but y’all can now too at @wingstop for a limited time,” she said in an Instagram post announcing the deal.
While Latto has alluded to the aforementioned man on several occasions, she has not yet revealed his identity. In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, she said that she plans to keep it this way.
“If something is special to me, I’m going to keep it close to me,” said Latto, “because everything else has to be front and center about my life.”
You can see a special conversation between Latto and Rakim above.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York is honoring East Coast rappers in a very special way. In conjunction of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the MTA is issuing special edition cards featuring rappers who hail from New York City — the birthplace of hip-hop.
On different versions of the Metro Cards are rappers LL Cool J, Pop Smoke, Rakim, and Cam’Ron. The cards arrive as part of a partnership with Universal Music Group.
The LL Cool J and Pop Smoke cards are available beginning today, at stations in their respective neighborhoods. LL Cool J’s will be available to purchase at Forest Hills-71 Av and Pop’s Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy (L) & New Lots Av (3)
4 new commemorative MetroCards are dropping as part of a collaboration with @UMG in celebration of #HipHop50!
Grab yours at full-service vending machines at these stations starting tomorrow: @llcoolj: Forest Hills-71 Av Pop Smoke: Canarsie-Rockaway Pkwy (L) & New Lots Av (3) pic.twitter.com/Ta0Z38Gspc
Cam and Rakim’s will be available for purchase later this month, throughout the entire MTA system.
“From standing on top of the Empire State Building to grabbing a slice at the corner pizza shop, NYC creates iconic moments that are recognized around the world,” said Rakim in a statement. “But it doesn’t get closer to real city life than swiping a metro card and standing clear of the closing doors. It’s an honor to be celebrating the 50th Anniversary on the streets…and now below them…of the city where hip-hop was born.”
In similar New York-related news, the Brooklyn Public Library also recently announced that it would be offering a selection of Jay-Z inspired library cards, as part of its ongoing The Book Of Hov exhibition, honoring the rapper’s inspiring career.
Atlanta’s rising star, Latto, is making headlines as she joins forces with Sprite to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop music and culture with the special campaign titled “Icon’s Delight.” The talented rapper is not alone in this venture, as she is joined by new Memphis rap sensation, GloRilla, and the legendary Nas. Sprite’s […]
Back in the day, Sprite was among the first nationwide brands to really embrace hip-hop. I’m not talking about a “rap” jingle, as so many other brands tried (we’re still trying to get rid of that corny “My name is ____ and I’m here to say…” rhyme to this day). Instead, Sprite really recruited pivotal figures from the hip-hop community like Nas and AZ, Pete Rock, and Five Deadly Venoms to make awesome commercials like the Voltron spots with Common, Fat Joe, and Westside Connection (my good buddy Dan Charnas writes about it in his book, The Big Payback).
Those ads kicked off a legacy of connection with hip-hop for the brand that continues today, as hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary. As part of the ongoing Hip-Hop 50 celebrations, Sprite paid homage to its own history with the culture by creating a new TV spot with Nas and Rakim and updating the premise with contemporary stars GloRilla and Latto. The commercial has all four rappers quoting “Rapper’s Delight,” the first official rap hit, while performing snippets of their own signature hits. Check it out:
The ad is a nice, throwback nod to the original Sprite rapper commercials of the early ’90s, which featured rappers like Kriss Kross, Kid N’ Play, KRS-One, Missy Elliott, and more, often performing original songs or their own hits to showcase the promotional power of hip-hop. This one’s still the best, though:
In honor of hip-hop’s 50th, popular soda brand Sprite has teamed up with hip-hop legends Nas and Rakim and rising stars Latto and GloRilla to launch a creative campaign honoring hip-hop’s past, present, and future. In addition to the campaign, Sprite is introducing a new flavor called Lymonade Legacy, along with exclusive merchandise and content. […]
Some of our favorite Hip Hop pioneers are going all out for the culture’s 50th anniversary. Nas’s company Mass Appeal has been instrumental in honoring the ongoing impact of Hip Hop throughout the year. They are hosting events highlighting the significant contributions of those that laid the foundation of what we know as Rap today. Another company that has long supported the culture and its artists is Sprite, and they’re back with another campaign. This time, they’ve called on the likes of some Rap heavyweights to celebrate, showcasing various generations of Hip Hop.
One of those artists is music legend Rakim, and this isn’t the first time he has partnered with Sprite. The 2015 “Obey Your Verse” campaign highlighted his unmatched lyricism, along with other standouts, including Missy Elliott, Drake, Tupac Shakur, and J. Cole. The following year, “The God Emcee” appeared in the “Obey Your Verse – Lyrical Collection” commercials, and now, he returns once again for the soda brand’s latest. This time, he even joins Nas, Latto, and GloRilla for an updated chopped-and-screwed version of Sugarhill Gang’s classic 1979 hit, “Rapper’s Delight.”
We were able to catch up with Rakim and spoke with him about the “dope campaign from Sprite,” as he put it. He told us that the company has been “supporting Hip Hop from Day One,” so it made sense for him to link with them again. “We’re celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop,” said the legendary emcee. “We all—it’s dope—we all spit bars from ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ You know, we kind of did it in our own way. Everybody kind of took a bar from ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ And it’s just showing the growth of Hip Hop from there to here.”
Music has surrounded Rakim since he was a child. His aunt, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ruth Brown, was a legend in her own right. She was instrumental in helping Atlantic Records become what it is today and even earned herself two Grammys. Although he’s been penning rhymes since before his age hit double digits, a teenage William Michael Griffin Jr. had football aspirations. However, after a chance meeting with DJ Eric B., their lives would be catapulted in a different direction.
The rapper would later change his stage moniker to “Rakim Allah” after joining the 5 Percent Nation, or The Nation of Gods and Earths. With Eric B., the pair of talents would go on to craft four monumental albums, from their 1987 mega-classic Paid in Full to their final as a duo, 1992’s Don’t Sweat The Technique. In those early days of Hip Hop, DJ-rapper duos were the norm, but no one paired as effortlessly as Eric B. and Rakim. The formidable emcee continued his solo career throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, culminating in 2009 with his final stand-alone record, The Seventh Seal.
Although he hasn’t given us a complete project in some time, Rakim hasn’t been down for the count. A select few have secured a verse or two within the last few years, further showing his ability to adapt to any generation. His mentorship with other artists and resounding impact on Hip Hop culture is also palpable. Across the Rap board, lyricists have cited Rakim as a cornerstone of inspiration. His wordplay, rhyme schemes, and ability to reflect his personal and political world perspective poetically have influenced celebrated artists that came after him. Unsurprisingly, the likes of Eminem, Tupac, Ghostface Killah, J. Cole, Jay-Z, and Kendrick Lamar have all cited the Rap legend as someone they’ve long admired.
That said, it’s clear that Rakim has been an active participant in and observer of Hip Hop for decades. Not many are afforded such a unique vantage point, so we wanted to know what the Hip Hop icon wants to see from the genre in the next five decades.
“I’m looking forward to…man,” he began. Then, there was a slight pause as he gathered his thoughts. “I think, with the 50th-year anniversary, I think it’s kind of taken a lid off of Hip Hop.” To him, it seems casting a vision for the future requires learning about the past. “It’s taken a limit off of Hip Hop, to be able to celebrate 50 years. What we’re actually doin’ is celebrating 50 years of emceeing and DJing and B-boying, you know what I mean? So, it’s like we were going back with knowing our history on these great artists.”
He isn’t wrong; many aspects of the foundation of Hip Hop have been edged out of conversations. While some still praise our favorite pop-and-lockers, breakdancing is an art form that is respected but no longer at the Hip Hop forefront. Although DJing is still massively popular, arguably, many of those popularized creatives are more focused on producing the next hit record than discovering new sonic elements on the ones and twos. The collective needs to sit in its history to understand what is to come for its future.
IRVINE, CA – JULY 18: Rapper Rakim performs onstage at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on July 18, 2015 in Irvine, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
“We’ve started to realize that music is timeless. You know what I mean?” Rakim said. “You go back and listen to a song from the ’80s or the ’90s. And, you know, a lot of it’s timeless. It shouldn’t be a lid on Hip Hop.” Those artists from 20, 30, and even 40 years ago have aged with the culture. Yet, often, there are conversations about someone being “too old” to continue their Rap aspirations. However, Rakim wants it to be known that plenty of grown folk contenders with talents deserve recognition.
“There’s a lot of great artists that’s over 30, over 40,” the 55-year-old icon stated. According to some commentators, Hip Hop is a young person’s sport. “I think that we have a lot to bring to the table,” he continued. “With this going on [celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th], I think it’s going to open the doors for that.”
NEW YORK – 1987: Rappers Eric B & Rakim pose for a portrait session in 1987 in New York, New York. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
These days, Rakim continues to tour worldwide, spitting familiar bars that have been ingrained in millions of memories for decades. Although Hip Hop has bolstered a reputation of being concerned about bling-bling and flashing cash, that is a far cry from Rakim’s daily routine. His dedication to his faith centers his focus, and according to him, he enjoys peace and the simple pleasures of life.
“I think normal things in life is what makes me feel good. I’m a family man,” he said. “I mean, I love being around my family. And I love doing things around my house. You know what I mean? Everything from putting floors and cutting grass, planting trees. You know, I do it all. But that’s kind of, you know, when I come home from off the road.” Touring and performing for four decades can take its toll. “That’s what kind of makes me feel normal to me. So, that’s what breaks the monotony for me. Being normal, being a family man, and doing regular things. I think that’s what keeps me grounded.”
Stay updated with us throughout the year as we continue to celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. We have many more exclusives from artists, ranging from the culture’s coveted pioneers to its talented newcomers.
Rakim is one of the most influential rappers in hip hop history. A prominent rapper in the culture, many legends, including Wu-Tang Clan and Eminem, cite Rakim as an inspiration. He is known for his work alongside Eric B., and together, they created some of the most influential hip hop hits. They were among the first to utilize some of the genre’s most famous samples. Eric B. & Rakim’s work consists of four studio albums throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, including their classic 1987 debut album, Paid In Full. Rakim also had a solo run of music, releasing three studio albums in the late 1990s and 2000s.
This is a list of Rakim’s biggest hits, including his highest-charting songs and culturally impactful records. The songs, listed in chronological order, draw primarily from his work with Eric B., but also from his solo career. Take a look at the list below.
“I Ain’t No Joke” (1987)
“I Ain’t No Joke” is one of the earliest examples of Rakim’s signature rhyme style that broke barriers early in hip hop history. The earliest rapping generally formed complete sentences every bar, and Rakim deviated from that, leading to seamless transitions between bars. He also had one of the best flows compared to his peers at the time, which can be exemplified in this song. The iconic horns on “I Ain’t No Joke” come from “Pass the Peas” by the J.B.’s. The song peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. It has also been sampled by Gang Starr, Nas, Big Pun, MF DOOM, and others.
“I Know You Got Soul” (1987)
“I Know You Got Soul” derives from Bobby Byrd’s 1971 song of the same name. It also samples Funkadelic and Syl Johnson. It is one of Eric B. & Rakim’s biggest hits, landing positions on multiple Billboard charts and the UK Singles Chart. “I Know You Got Soul” is also one of their most sampled songs from the likes of JAY-Z, Mos Def, D’Angelo, Busta Rhymes, and more.
“Paid In Full” (1987)
Rakim has always been able to capture listeners with a clever opening line, and the Paid In Full album is full of them. In addition to the previous two tracks, the album’s title track has a slick opening line that has been referenced throughout hip hop history. Many rappers have referenced that “thinking of a master plan” lyric. The song’s famous breakbeat samples a sped-up Dennis Edwards song and has been repurposed in many rap songs, emulating “Paid In Full.”
Notably, Talib Kweli made his own version of the song called “Turnt Up” in 2013. Additionally, Mos Def, Wu-Tang Clan, Little Brother, Gang Starr, and others have referenced “Paid In Full” in their music. The breakbeat was even used in the 2008 BET Cypher, featuring the likes of Jadakiss, Fabolous, and Juelz Santana. “Paid In Full” performed well commercially, charting in the U.S. and multiple European countries.
“Follow The Leader” (1988)
The title track from 1988’s Follow The Leader is one of Eric. B & Rakim’s biggest hits and most influential songs. Much like many tracks on Paid In Full, “Follow The Leader” helped reinvent rapping. Rakim utilizes more complex rhyme schemes and flows than his contemporaries’ simplistic rhyme style. “Follow The Leader” was also one of the first rap songs to sample Bob James’s “Nautilus,” which eventually became one of hip hop’s most sampled songs. The song performed well on American charts and in the UK, peaking within the Top 20. The influence of “Follow The Leader” can be seen in the many songs sampled, including tracks from Mobb Deep, 2Pac, Atmsosphere, and more.
“Microphone Fiend” (1988)
“Microphone Fiend” from Follow The Leader may not have charted as high as the album’s title track, but it belongs among Rakim’s biggest hits. On the hit song, Rakim likens his passion for rapping to a fiend’s drug craving. The song was a staple for ’80s hip hop, and its influence reached beyond the genre. “Microphone Fiend” has been sampled, covered, and remixed by the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Muse, and Limp Bizkit. In addition, rappers like Iggy Azalea, PRhyme, and Snoop Dogg have also utilized the song in their music.
“Juice (Know The Ledge)” (1992)
Perhaps one of hip hop’s most iconic movie soundtracks, “Know The Ledge” was made for the 1992 movie Juice. The song perfectly encapsulates the movie’s plot as Rakim’s rapping parallels the characters. Rakim raps from a first-person point of view as someone who has gotten way too deep into crime to the point where their greed and desire for power get the best of them. The track’s menacing bassline, exciting scratches, and fast tempo make for the perfect backdrop for Rakim’s greatest storytelling song. Like the movie, “Know The Ledge” is a legendary staple in hip hop culture. The song was also used for many movies, TV shows, and video games after the film.
“Guess Who’s Back” (1997)
“Guess Who’s Back” was the perfect reintroduction to Rakim. Five years removed from his final album with Eric B., Rakim’s debut solo single was the right way for him to promote his first solo release. The 18th Letter in 1997 kept up with the traditional sound of the 1990s, as did “Guess Who’s Back.” The song features a clean loop of Bob James’s “Shamboozie.” On the track, Rakim leans into his deeper voice. Throughout the song, he references the early days of hip hop that he thrived in. He samples classic hip hop songs, including his own. It is a boastful reminder of Rakim’s skill and arguably the best song in his solo catalog. The song is also one of Rakim’s biggest solo hits.
Overall, Rakim’s biggest hits have proven influential in almost every era of hip hop that followed his run. His work with Eric B. and as a solo artist has demonstrated longevity, inspiring generations of hip hop legends. Specifically, albums like Paid In Full and Follow The Leader defined an era in hip hop. In addition to Rakim’s influence, the success of his hit songs also showed hip hop could grow even more significant than it already was. The songs were successful in international markets, leading to hip hop growing globally.
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, GRAMMY award-winning producer Salaam Remi launched his historic concert series Midnight at MuseZeuM inspired by Remi’s newest creative venture MuseZeuM.
The event took place in the legendary Miami Beach Bandshell inMiami. Midnight At MuseZeuM had Grand Puba alongside legendary emcee Rakim.
Limited edition merchandise of renowned artists, all created by Remi himself in collaboration with other artists and photographers.
Now Remi is back in NYC with a special MuseZeuM Pop Up to unveil the 1of1 Rakim Artwork piece and the 1of100 Limited Edition Rakim hoodies. During the first installment, attendees got a chance to see pieces of thecollection curated and created by Remi himself which included Bob Marley, Nas, MarvinGaye, Slick Rick, Fab 5 Freddy, Amy Winehouse, Celia Cruz, Dennis Brown, and more.
Attendees of this week’s popup will see a special NYC unveiling. The MuseZeuM Pop UP will be open to the public: Monday May 1st – Sunday May 7th11am -9pm.
A special tastemakers event will be on Thursday May 4th, 7-10pm at Legacy NYC. Beverages will be provided by JADE champagne. RSVP HERE.
The next installment ofMidnight at MuseZeuM will be held on JUNE 10th with Big Daddy Kane.
