Eric B and Rakim

There's nothing trendy about this impassive duo, no Steely Dan bites or bits of Afrodelic
rhetoric here. Eric B. and Rakim are hip-hop formalists devoted to upholding the Seventies
funk canon and advancing rap's original verbal mandate. Almost every track on their third
album is built on poetic boasts and wicked J.B. samples, but dismissing Let the Rhythm Hit
'Em as some sort of conservative reaction – a gold-chain throwback – completel... More >

Like every rapper, Rakim boasts: "I'm pushin' power that's punishin'/Prepare to be a prisoner/The hit man is the/Brother with the charisma." But he never brags. Even at warp speed, as in the title track where the four seconds just quoted can be found if you listen up, he's always calm, confident, clear. On their third album, as on their phase-shifting 1986 debut, Eric B.'s samples truly are beats, designed to accentuate the natural music of an idealized black man's voice: it's Rakim's rhythm that hits us. Whether we find that disquieting or reassuring depends on what we were scared of going in. (Grade - A-)