Rakim

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Rakim (1998)

Rakim (born January 28, 1968 in Long Island , New York ; actually William Michael Griffin ), also known as Rakim Allah and The Fiend of the Microphone , is an American rapper in the style of East Coast hip-hop .

biography

Rakim founded the formation Love Brothers and was named Kid Wizzard because he was rapping very quickly. He was influenced by Cold Crush Brothers , The Furious Five , his aunt Ruth Brown , and his mother, who was active as a jazz musician.

He was introduced to the Nation of Islam at age 16 but later joined The Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as the Five Percent Nation ).

In 1985 he met the musician and DJ Eric B at a radio show and published with him under the name “Eric B. feat. Rakim “two demos. In the meantime they changed the name to " Eric B. & Rakim " and released four albums from 1987 to 1992. In 1994 the duo separated. Rakim was unable to start his solo career because of years of legal disputes with his former DJ and business partner as well as problems with his label MCA .

Rakim is considered a living rap legend and the inventor of lyricism, which he shaped with intelligent lyrics, flow and razor-sharp rhymes. His thoughts on religion and science are also processed in his rhymes.

After the legal disputes were over, he signed a contract with Universal and released his solo debut "The 18th Letter" in 1997, which reached number four on the Billboard charts. Another edition ("Book of Life") of the same album contains an additional CD, with pieces by Eric B. & Rakim. Two years later, in 1999, his second solo album "The Master" was released.

In 2000, Rakim signed a contract with the Aftermath Entertainment label from Dr. Dre , which he left in mid-2003 without publication due to creative differences. The album "Oh My God" was originally supposed to be released in November 2002 via the label.

With "The Archive: Live, Lost & Found" he released a live album in 2008 with four new pieces of music that were originally intended for his announced solo album.

In November 2009 the album "The Seventh Seal" was released.

After an anniversary edition of Paid in Full (with Eric B.) in 2012, Rakim announced a tour for 2017 after reuniting with Eric B. in October 2016.

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1997 The 18th letter - - - UK72 (1 week)
UK
US4 (17 weeks)
US
First published: November 4, 1997
1999 The Master - - - - US72 (2 weeks)
US
First published: November 30, 1999
2009 The Seventh Seal - - - - US67 (1 week)
US
First published: November 17, 2009

Compilations

  • 2008: The Archive: Live, Lost & Found (First published March 4, 2008)

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1998 Guess Who's Back
The 18th Letter
- - - UK32 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: January 1998
Stay a While
The 18th Letter
- - - UK53 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: August 1998

As a guest musician

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1990 Contribution
Contribution
- - - UK33 (4 weeks)
UK
-
First release: September 1990
Mica Paris feat. Rakim
1998 Buffalo Gals Stampede
Buffalo Gals Back To Skool
- - - UK65 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: September 1998
Malcolm McLaren vs. Rakim & Roger Sanchez
2002 Addictive
Truthfully Speaking
DE9 (14 weeks)
DE
AT20 (20 weeks)
AT
CH3 (28 weeks)
CH
UK3 (16 weeks)
UK
US9 (20 weeks)
US
First published: April 23, 2002
Truth Hurts feat. Rakim
2014 Guilty All the Same
The Hunting Party
DE32 (7 weeks)
DE
AT48 (1 week)
AT
CH50 (2 weeks)
CH
- -
First release: March 7th, 2014
Linkin Park feat. Rakim

swell

  1. a b c d e f biography at Laut.de
  2. a b c biography on allmusic.com
  3. SPIN. limited preview in Google Book search
  4. a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  5. Rakim publishes live album, on hiphopjudge.com from March 2nd, 2008  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.hiphopjudge.com  
  6. Eric B. and Rakim Confirm Reunion Tour for 2017. spin.com, October 22, 2016, accessed on January 26, 2017 .

Web links

Commons : Rakim  - Collection of Images