Rakim

The 18th Letter unfolds like a hip-hop version of a Lewis Farrakhan tract: name-dropping biblical characters; discussing the superiority of the Asiatic black male; and drawing parallels between hieroglyphics and graffiti as well as the earth's rotation and that of a turntable. And this is just the first song.

His canon has a clarity his comeback can't match ("When I'm Flowin'," "It's Been a Long Time") (Grade - **)