Return of The God

Rakim

Looks like we could see a new album from Rakim, folks!

I want to jump for joy and be excited, but I choose cautious optimism.

I leave you with this though:

 

Rush with adrenaline, how long has it been again
to be in the state of mind that Rakim is in?
—Rakim, “It’s Been A Long Time”

About tlewisisdope

I write. I live in DC.
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4 Responses to Return of The God

  1. I’ve heard the leaked tracks, and while the production needs work, Ra’s verses are quality. He sounds hungry, eager to wrap himself around good tracks. Now if ‘ye would get his head out his….

  2. Tyler says:

    Dude – I’m sorry, Kanye is wack. Period. His flow is clunky and his punchlines are predictable and corny. As a figure, he’s beguiling and inspiring. But as a a lyricist, he’s subpar.

  3. I mean ye as a beatmaker.
    Tyler, I agree with you. Everytime he flows, he hurts my ears. What makes Kanye important is his fragile, tenous, complex lineage to the best tradition of beatmakers, people like Pete rock, the bomb squad, Dre, Eazy mo bee, Timbaland and dilla. The Asthethics of making beats pertain to black men and modernism, two things Americans are scared to death of and dont understand.
    Kanye understand this, and it his his anxiety over his need to be popular that makes him the Nutty Nigga that he is. There is a part of him that wants to be Pete Rock so bad it hurts, but he doesnt want pete rock’s ending. He knows that fewer people in the history of music have done more and gotten less. He knows that Jay-Dee Crafted Mary’s J’s sound, and Puffy screwed him Don King Style. He knows these brothers have created complex, stunning beautiful sound collages that would have made Romare Bearden smile, and received as much credit and money as they worked at burger king. So he wears the mask to get attention, to get noticed, to get his work out. But fame is the mask that eats the face, Tyler. And it’s taking a chunk out of his.

  4. Tyler says:

    Ahh, yes. As a producer and beatmaker, yea Kanye is terrific. I was thinking you were talkin bout rhymes. I got ya.
    I actually hadn’t given any thought to what Rakim would sound like over a ‘Ye track. Could be good. I wonder though if Rakim needs more sparse production (an Erick Sermon or a Primo, maybe). Maybe a blend of the two. Who knows. I don’t doubt he could do whatever the hell he wants to do, but yea The God and ‘Ye…I’m intrigued.

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