#228 - Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full (1987)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
BACKGROUND – ERIC B. & RAKIM
Eric B. & Rakim are a duo made of DJ Eric B. and MC Rakim. The two worked in the late ‘80s and early '90s and are considered to be one of the best and the most influential duos of all time. The duo made their big break in 1987 with today's album, which is considered to be one of the best rap albums of all time. Note that Eric B. is the DJ, not the rapper. In early hip-hop, the MCs often shared some lyrical love with their DJs, who were trapped behind the turntables. Run-DMC, for instance, often paid tribute to Jam Master Jay.
Eric Barrier was born in 1963 and raised in Queens, New York. He played trumpet and drums throughout high school, and later switched to experimenting with turntables prior to graduation. Eric B. started deejaying with his younger brother and two friends at a roller rink. He attended High School under a basketball scholarship. "I thought of becoming a pro ball player," he said. "But music became a priority." The newly dubbed "Eric B." soon began DJing for radio station WBLS in New York City, including WBLS' promotional events around the city. Barrier wound up meeting Alvin Toney, a promoter based in Queens. Eric B. had been looking for rappers and Toney recommended he use Freddie Foxxx, a Long Island MC. Toney took Eric B. to Foxxx's home, but Foxxx was not there, so Toney suggested another option: William Griffin, a.k.a. Rakim
Rakim is the nephew of the late R&B singer and actress Ruth Brown. He grew up on Long Island. He wrote his first rhyme at seven years old, about the cartoon character Mickey Mouse. He initially aspired to play professional football, and was a quarterback on his high school football team. However, after being introduced to local DJ Eric B. by his friend Alvin Toney, he began writing lyrics to fit Eric's instrumentals and chose instead to focus on a career in music. Then known as Kid Wizard, he made his first recordings live at Wyandanch High School in the year 1985. Rakim was initially introduced to the Nation of Islam in 1986, and adopted the Arabic name Rakim Allah. He also chose to use “Rakim Allah” as his stage name, although it was most often shortened to simply “Rakim” During his career he has been nicknamed the "God MC" because of his acclaimed status as an MC and a reference to the "Allah" in his stage name, which is the Arabic word for God.
Eric B. and Rakim met in 1985 after Eric B. looked for a rapper to complement his turntable work, and Rakim responded to Eric B.'s search for "New York's top MC". The first track they recorded, "Eric B. Is President", was released as an independent single. After Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons heard the single, the duo were signed to Island Records and began recording today's album in Manhattan's Power Play Studios in early 1987. The album's success led to a contract with Uni and MCA Records, where they released their second album, Follow the Leader (1988). This saw their production move away from the blunt minimalism of their debut. The title track and "Lyrics of Fury" were two of Rakim's most acclaimed lyrical performances. Comedian Chris Rock referred to Rakim's rhymes on the "...Fury" as 'lyrically, the best rapping anyone's ever done. In 1989, the pair teamed up with Jody Watley on her single "Friends" from the album Larger Than Life. The song would reach the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was one of the first notable collaborations between hip hop and dance pop. Eric B. & Rakim rarely collaborated with other rappers. Their 1990 album Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em was not as successful commercially as their first two LPs. The album was one of the first to receive the honor of a 5 mic rating in The Source.
The duo made an appearance on the soundtrack for the 1991 comedy House Party 2, and also recorded the theme for the film, Juice. Both singles were included on what would become the duo's last album together, Don't Sweat the Technique was released in 1992. The album was not supposed to be the last; but their contract with MCA was due to expire. During the recording of the album, both members expressed an interest in recording solo albums. However, Eric B. refused to sign the label's release contract, fearful that Rakim would abandon him. This led to a court case involving the two musicians and their former label. The legal wrangling eventually led to the duo dissolving completely. Eric B. has clarified that the monetary problems stemmed from labels like Island and others claiming ownership of the masters — not from any financial disputes between him and Rakim: "The money got split 50/50 from the door, because I remember people would try to keep shit going. When we first came out, people were saying 'Eric was getting all the money' and 'he was trying to shine more than Rakim,' but that's not true. [I] would go to all the interviews, [because] Rakim didn't want to go to the interviews. He didn't like that part of the business. [But] we split all the money from dime one. I don't care what money I spent in the past, that money is never coming back. Whatever money we made, we split 50/50. Even up until now, we split every dime 50/50."
Eric B. released a self-titled solo album in 1995. Legal issues continued to delay Rakim's solo career, but he finally released The 18th Letter in 1997. In 1999, Rakim's second solo album The Master was released to less favorable reviews. By the turn of the millennium, Eric B. was pursuing other business interests outside of music. Rakim signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label in 2000, but the expected album never materialized. Since then, Rakim has made guest appearances with numerous other artists such as Jay-Z ("The Watcher, Part 2"), Nas, KRS-One and Kanye West ("Classic"). In November 2009, Rakim released The Seventh Seal. In October 2016, Eric B. announced via Twitter that he and Rakim reunited as a duo after 23 years and would tour in 2017. The duo's first reunion concert was held at the Apollo Theater, and then followed that up with a 17 date tour.
Eric B. & Rakim were announced as one of fifteen finalists to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in September 2011. While there's no list of grammy's or personal accolades here, they are indisputably icons of the genre, and have achieved the utmost respect of critics, and major hip hop artists that have come after them.
Rakim's rhyming deviated from the simple rhyme patterns of early 1980s hip hop. His free-rhythm style ignored bar lines and had earned comparisons to Thelonious Monk. While many rappers developed their technique through improvisation, Rakim was one of the first to demonstrate the benefits of writing, as with for instance his pioneering use of internal rhyme. Unlike previous rappers such as LL Cool J and Run-DMC who delivered their vocals with high energy, Rakim employed a relaxed, stoic delivery. MCs like Run and DMC, Chuck D and KRS-One were leaping on the mic shouting with energy and irreverence, but Rakim took a methodical approach to his microphone fiending. He had a slow flow, and every line was blunt Rakim's relaxed delivery resulted from his jazz influences; he had played the saxophone and was a John Coltrane fan. His subject matter often covered his own rapping skills and lyrical superiority over other rappers. Eric B cites deejays such as DJ Vernon, King Charles, and Grandmaster Flash as early influences, recalling: "I remember sneaking out to the armories at night, sneaking out to the parties at St. Gabriel School on Astoria Boulevard"
Rakim is credited with influencing rappers including the Wu-Tang Clan, Jay-Z, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Nas,who cited Paid in Fullas one of his favorite albums.50 Cent said that Paid in Fullwas the first album he bought. "I used to get my grandmother's tape recorder – the one she used to tape church services – and record hip-hop off the radio. And, with Eric B. & Rakim, I think that was the first moment where I felt like, 'I've got to own this. This is crucial.'""It was a record that caused trouble," remarked Busta Rhymes, "but it was one you couldn't top."Eminemborrows or interpolates lines from Paid in Fullon tracks from The Marshall Mathers LPincluding "My Melody" ("I'm Back") and "As The Rhyme Goes On" ("The Way I Am").
ALBUM BACKGROUND – PAID IN FULL
Paid in Full is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released in July 1987. The duo recorded the album at hip hop producer Marley Marl's home studio and Power Play Studios in New York City, following Rakim's response to Eric B.'s search for a rapper to complement his DJ work in 1985. The album peaked at number fifty-eight on the Billboard 200 chart, number eight on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It produced five singles: "Eric B. Is President", "I Ain't No Joke", "I Know You Got Soul", "Move the Crowd", and "Paid in Full". This album is credited as a benchmark album of the golden age hip hop. Rakim's rapping, which pioneered the use of internal rhymes in hip hop, set a higher standard of lyricism in the genre and served as a template for future rappers. The album's heavy sampling by Eric B. became influential in hip hop production. This is essential listening for anyone even remotely interested in the basic musical foundations of hip-hop -- this is the form in its purest essence.
This album was certified platinum by the RIAA in 1995 with 1 Million units sold.
This is the one and only time we'll be talking about Eric B & Rakim on T500. On the 2020 rerank, Paid In Full made a huge leap up to #61 (166 spots), which speaks to how critical this album is to the formation of the genre. It came in just ahead of Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction, but just behind Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.
The stripped-down production might seem a little bare to modern ears, but Rakim's technique on the mic still sounds utterly contemporary, even state-of-the-art -- and that from a record released in 1987, just one year after Run-D.M.C. hit the mainstream. Rakim said "The reason Paid In Full is so short is because we stood in the studio for damn-near a week. The whole album came together in a week. The duo completed the album in one week. They have said that they worked in 48-hour shifts and recorded in single takes to complete the album within budget. Rakim wrote his songs in approximately one hour while listening to the beat. He then recorded his vocals in the booth by reading his lyrics from a paper. In 2006, Rakim said "When I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes but I'm my worst critic." . In a 2008 interview Eric B. stated, "[T]o sit here and say we put together this calculated album to be a great album would be a lie. We were just doing records that felt good."
The album was named in part after the Paid in Full posse, a notorious New York collective of gangsters and rappers: including the original 50 Cent, Killer Ben, Kool G Rap and Freddie Foxxx. The Paid in Full posse are featured on the back cover of the album.