Ahhh, Rakim. Has there ever been an artist who upped a genre’s game overnight as much as The God from NYC? The story’s well-worn by now, but it deserves to be told at every opportunity, lest we forget: the man invented flow, straight up. Before Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid in Full (1987) , MCs divided their syntactical units by the bar or half bar and mostly stuck to end-line rhymes, with rudimentary and stilted cadences (by today’s standards– I’m not knocking the pioneers by any means). Take, for example, the first four bars of Melle Mel’s 1982 stone cold classic, “The Message:”

Broken glass everywhere,

People pissin on the stairs, you know they just don’t care

I can’t take the smell, can’t take the noise

Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice

Dope, no doubt– but it’s in couplets, with mostly single-syllable end-line rhymes (with the exception of “stairs” at the half bar). This type of rhyme scheme and sing-songy cadence can be found in a wide variety of music, and even nursery rhymes.

Now look at the first four bars of Rakim’s breakout hit “Eric B. is President:”

I came in the door, I said it before:

I never let the mic magnetize me no more

But it’s bitin me, fightin me, invitin me to rhyme

I can’t hold it back, I’m lookin for the line

Now I’m not gonna mark up the meter for you but notice, for example, that the cadence of the first measure is divided into two sections with the exact same number of syllables, all stressed/unstressed in the same spots (it only gets more complex from there). Even if these lines were written poetry, the meter alone would be downright musical. And indeed, all of his lines have this percussive quality, and they interact with the rhyme scheme in incredibly nuanced ways (this intersection of rhythm and rhyme is flow, for the uninitiated).

… All right, I can resist mapping out the rhyme scheme no longer:

I came in the door, I said it before:

I never let the mic magnetize me no more

But it’s bitin me, fightin me, invitin me to rhyme

I can’t hold it back, I’m lookin for the line



By my count, that’s only nine syllables out of forty-seven that aren’t assonant. That means he’s rhyming 89% of the time (!) in these four bars, and that’s not even counting consonance. Moreover, not only is he dropping three-syllable rhymes, he’s doing it up to three times in a single measure, with extra rhymes and variations thrown into the mix.

Holy shit. I can’t even imagine being a hip-hop fan in 1987 and hearing this for the first time. Even over a quarter century later, after I’ve heard innumerable MCs build on his foundation, I’m still blown away by the intricacies of Rakim’s flow. It’s no wonder that rappers ever since have paid tribute to The God MC by inserting his lyrics into their own. So without further ado, here are ten tracks compiled by the Off The Dome crew that interpolate some of Rakim’s immortal lyrics (along with a playlist of the original tunes). And yes, despite my brethren’s objections, the Lyte Funkie Ones made the list.

Michael Bolan

1.

Rakim – “I Know You Got Soul”

“It’s been a long time– I shouldn’ta left you without a strong rhyme to step to”

Aaliyah – “Try Again”

“It’s been a long time– we shouldn’ta left you without a dope beat to step to” – Woody

2.

Rakim – “My Melody”

“Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar”

50 Cent – “Hate It or Love It” (The Game)

“My favorite rapper used to sing, ‘Check, check out my melody’” – Jeff

3.

Rakim – “Paid in Full”

“Thinkin of a master plan– cause ain’t nothin but sweat inside my hand”

Lil Wayne – “I’m a Dboy”

“Thinkin of a master plan– I get money” – Jeff

4.

Rakim – “My Melody”

“Rockin party to party, backyard to yard

Now tear it up, y’all, and bless the mic with the gods”

Clipse – “Grindin’”

“From ghetto to ghetto, to backyard to yard

I sell it whipped, unwhipped, it’s soft, the hard” – Bolan

5.

Rakim – “Move the Crowd”

“How could I move the crowd?

First of all: ain’t no mistakes allowed

Here’s the instruction: put it together.

It’s simple, ain’t it? But quite clever”

Ghostface Killah – “Ghost Deini”

“Ayo– how can I move the crowd?

First of all: ain’t no mistakes allowed

Here’s the instructions: put it together.

It’s simple, ain’t it? Well, quite clever”- Woody

6.

Rakim – “As the Rhyme Goes On”

“I’m the R, the A, to the K I M

If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?”

Nas – “Got Ur Self a Gun”

“Yo, I’m the N to the A to the S I R.

And if I wasn’t, I musta been Escobar” – Woody

7.

Rakim – “My Melody”

“I take seven MCs, put em in a line

And add seven more brothers who think they can rhyme

Well it’ll take seven more before I go for mine

Now that’s twenty-one MCs ate up at one time”

Eminem – “I’m Back”

“I take seven kids from Columbine, stand em all in line

Add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine,

A MAC-11, and it oughta solve the problem of mine

And that’s a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time” – Pete

8.

Rakim – “Eric B is President”

“Taking off my coat, clearing my throat”

2pac – “Got My Mind Made Up”

“Bear witness to the dopest fucking rhyme I wrote

Taking off my coat, clearing my throat” – Woody

9.

Rakim – “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em”

“You ask me how I did em?

I let the rhythm hit em”

MF Doom – “Figaro”

“Let the rhythm hit em

… It’s stronger in the other voice” – Bolan

10.

Rakim – “Eric B is President”

“I came in the door, I said it before:

I never let the mic magnetize me no more.”

LFO – “Summer Girls”

“I came in the door, I said it before:

I think I’m over you but I’m really not sure” – Bolan