18th Letter made me a huuuuge Ra fan.

Also loved the Seventh Seal more than most are willing to admit hehe

Show Me Love

Yo, it's time to bring the day in, fresh out the crib sauteein
Around the way-in, swerve on surveyin
That's when I saw her, the kind you wanna see more of
The sexy aura, it made it hard to ignore her
Expression her posession of property skyrocket
I'm investin in her presence and in time the profits
I take a acre for you, fertilize the soil
And make it boil, til it produce black oil
The Shorty sweet as, the flavor of forty divas
Photos and features, worth more than Mona Lisa's

It was his most accessible album to me as well, his cadence really reminds me of Jay E's on it (obviously another goat he influenced).

Rip

First time hearing this, f***

Guess we bumpin’ Paid & Follow The Leader today then

Can't even imagine the pain in Eric's heart, bro.

!!!

GOAT albums

One of the first Hip Hop albums I actually sat down with and a***yzed, and they say young niggas all the same

I know for a fact that even in 40 years there will be young people discovering Eric B. & Rakim.

About 90% of Paid in Full has been quoted/reused by other rappers since.

Groundbreaking release, culture never been the same since. A benchmark album will never be forgotten og. Who knows where we’d be without it, honestly. Rakim’s pen was ahead of the time

Been a minute since I heard this song

Ra came through and crushed the buildings @Soupvillain

classic! damn what a nice surprise lol

I respect Canibus for tryna go toe-to-toe with the God though but Ra had this in his back pocket and he has the last word on the track lmao

Ra's verse also reminded me of Celebrity Deathmatch haha

Flawless victory

Canibus did his thing tbh, would've killed somebody else.

No doubt haha any other rapper would've got eaten by that performance

I'M JUST AN ADDICT
ADDICTED TO MUSIC
MAYBE IT'S A HABIT
I GOTTA USE IT

EVEN IF IT'S JAZZ
OR THE QUIET STORM
I HOOK A BEAT UP
CONVERT IT INTO HIP HOP FORM

I WRITE A RHYME IN GRAFFITI AND
EVERY SHOW YOU SEE ME IN
DEEP CONCENTRATION
CAUSE IM NO COMEDIAN

maybe my favorite lines ever

Remember when nas dropped this song about the only rap god we recognize (Rakim)

Here's an interview with the both of them

In

Rakim didn't like the fact that Nas did that lol

"Over the past year, Rakim has criticized Nas for his Street’s Disciple track “The Unauthorized Biography of Rakim.” The song, which references Rakim’s professional and private history, struck the Long Island emcee as a violation of his privacy."

beatsboxingmayhem.com/2010/08/24/rakim-clears-up-nas-beef-over-tribute-song

I watched the interview a long time ago and felt like he liked the props he got... The fact that he influenced, nas, I get how Rakim would see that song as some weirdo fan s*** though

It was pretty strange. Imagine some ktt user made a tribute thread about your life and detailed a bunch of personal s***, even had a shrine dedicated to you in his closet. That's basically what Nas did, but in rap form. By the way, that interviewer put Rakim on the spot and he didn't want to break Nas' heart by calling him out on that weird ass s*** he did