The blueprint. Every MC after 1987 is downstream.
Rakim rewrote the rules of MCing: internal rhyme schemes, laid-back delivery, complexity that made everything before it sound simple. Over Eric B.'s James Brown-heavy production, the duo cut four albums between 1987 and 1992 that anchor any Golden Era collection.
Paid in Full (1987) is the essential document. Original Fourth & Broadway pressings are getting scarce in clean condition, and the earlier Zakia 12" of "Eric B. Is President" b/w "My Melody" (1986) is the real grail; original Zakia copies command serious money. The Coldcut "Seven Minutes of Madness" remix 12" of "Paid in Full" is its own collecting lane.
The albums stayed in print through various reissues, so check labels and dead wax before paying original-pressing prices. The 12" singles catalog (I Know You Got Soul, Follow the Leader, Microphone Fiend) is an affordable way in and where a lot of the DJ history lives.
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