Umm no. He was one of the first to use "multi's" and he's a great lyricist, but come on. This is not the 80s, it's not the 90s, it's not even the 00s. You haven't heard of Jay-Z, Eminem, and Nas? What about Immortal Technique? Rakim is great, but man I'm so tired of people referring to him and KRS-1 like they're "still" the best in the game. It's like saying Nintendo is still best game system ever (maybe bad example cause I still love to play the orginals).
Yes, it was a bad example as was your argument. Rakim paved the way for everyone you mentioned and many more. So he's irrelevant because his time was 3 decades ago? Are Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan irrelevant because of when they played? Kids these days. I'm kidding bro cuz I have no idea how old you are. But seriously, that is a weak argument.
1) No this argument was not about who paved the way. If that was the case, then Jackie Robinson would be the best baseball player ever because he was black and he paved the way for black athletes. 2) Michael Jordan was, and still is the best basketball player that has ever played the game. This is an extremely bad example. 3) Rakim did pave the way for some rappers, but he had much less of an effect as Tupac but you don't hear people say Tupac was the best lyricist. 4) Rakim has less lyrical skill than Eminem, Jay-Z, and Nas, in the same way the Nintendo has less power, graphics, and control than a PS3. Kids these days? Do you think that "back in the day" music was better than anything else "fairly recent"? Maybe a case of nostalgia? On what basis is Rakim better than Eminem? I dare anybody to respond. Multi's - Eminem [not even close] Delivery - Eminem [he can rap at different speeds and change the way he sounds, unlike Rakim] Flow - Eminem [not even close] Story Telling - Tie Content - Tie
Rakim is one the greats. And if you get a chance watch Ice T's documentary "Something Out of Nothing". The way Rakim describes how he writes is ridiculous. Can't wait to see him at FFF. Was front row last year when he was supposed to do a set and ended up breaking foot the day before so he canceled. Am not missing him this year.
Multi-syllable rhyming, which is much harder than just the normal ABAB rhyming scheme. Rakim was one of the first to use this, but Eminem is much better.
I totally agree with this; as you said he's "one of the greats". I just wanted to point this out as people may misunderstand my argument.
To me he's like Super Nintendo. I can still play Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country and feel like it still holds up. Same thing with Rakim. There are few people from the 80's that lyrically and production wise still hold up. Rakim being one.
