Rakim
Halftimeonline: Just out of curiosity I know that back then it was the norm for cats to not be credited but he was credited with producing most of those songs. Was that something you knew about just rolled with at the time?
Rakim: Yea. What I was doing was trying to stick to that teamwork. You do the beats and I do the rhymes. At the end of the day they respected him, even though he wasn’t doing the beats, for doing his half of the job which made the group that much bigger. Back then all I cared about was rhyming and making beats. That was my trade, my hobby. I didn’t really care about who made what or who they said got the credits for this or that. I wish I paid a little closer attention to the business side back then but everything worked out good.
Halftimeonline: You mentioned football and I’ve always heard how you were planning on going to college and playing football and everything. I know it took a definite side trip when you started emceeing but did you ever get a chance to dedicate yourself to school and do you ever think about what it would have been like if you would have went and experienced that whole school experience?
Rakim: I never went to college. I think about it a lot. I can’t watch a game without thinking where I would have been if I had ga head and went to college and pursued my career. Things happen for a reason. I think half of our life is written out for us and things happen the way their supposed to happen. I think rap was a better move for me but football’s been my love since I learned how to walk. I was gonna be a running back or quarterback. That was my life. That was it but things happen for a reason. I wouldn’t trade this in for nothing.
Halftimeonline: Since you so deep into it who are you rooting for since you aren’t on the field?
Rakim: I’m a NY diehard fan man. NY Giants and you see what the Knicks been doing I’m a Knicks fan too so you know I’m a loyal fan. Giants are looking pretty good this year we got Demps from ya’ll. They needed some help on the defense so hopefully that will be the missing link and we can get some things popping. They did good last year too so big up to the Giants.
Halftimeonline: I’m a lil worried about the Knicks with Isaiah taking the bench man. That’s kinda scary.
Rakim: Haha. I seen it coming though man. I used to watch him stand off to the side of the bench. If I was the dude I’d be up in the spot sitting in a comfortable chair watching the game. But Isaiah loved it too much and you could tell by how close he was to the floor that he was gonna be sitting in the coach’s chair. I hope they do what they do. I’m gonna stick with them again.
Halftimeonline: One of the questions I’ve always wanted to ask you is about the competitiveness between you and Kane and how everybody wanted you guys to battle. I heard you had at least six bars for him on “Let the Rhythm Hit Em” but you took them off. What were those bars man? I gotta know.
Rakim: It’s foul man. What happened was Eric B’s brother Amp Live hung out with Kane and G Rap. We all hung out back in the day but Eric’s brother knew them personally. I was hearing things in the nigga record and had people coming back to me like Kane trying to get fly boom boom boom. I don’t tell people what I’m gonna do but when I went to the studio it was like a done deal. I had like eight bars, two of the bars are still in the song but the other six are gone. After I did it Eric B’s brother took the tape and played it for Kane. Kane called me from his crib and was like yo Ra I heard the joint man it’s not like that. I know people are trying to tell you I’m saying this and people are telling me you are saying this but it ain’t like that. So I took the shit out but I think the last two bars were “rippin your ass in half / now who gets the last laugh.” But yea I had a lil something in there for Kane and it goes on today too man. A lot of rappers say little slick shit and sometimes they are speaking about the person they are trying to get at but when their confronted they be like it ain’t like that. The majority of the listeners are gonna put one and two together the way they want anyway. That was part of the game. Like you said it was real competitive and everybody wanted to be that dude.
Halftimeonline: I know they tried to set up a battle with ya’ll one time but what would it have taken for ya’ll to go head up back then?
Rakim: I think they called me up when they were doing a pay per view joint. I think I was like fuck it give me fifty thousand. It was supposed to be me and Kane and a couple other people. It is what it is and it was what it was but when you look at things today some of it was a little childish but at the end of the day everybody wanted that throne. Sometimes I sit back and look at it from a bigger aspect than hip hop. You look at R&B singers they weren’t battling man. If this dude was doing his thing and he had the number one album this year they wouldn’t try to battle him. They would just try to make a good album on their next one. Hip hop has always been competitive and always had that getting at you type shit but I always try to be mature about the shit. That’s the reasons I took the bars out of the joint. There’s room out there for all of us. Get your money and as long as nobody is stepping on my wad then we’re good.
Halftimeonline: We talked to O.C. and he was talking about how artists feed off each other and when somebody writes a hot line it makes you go damn let me go back and write mine. I think with ya’ll it was just at the height of that because ya’ll were real fierce with the competition that it made everyone step their game up. Did you ever hear a joint from somebody and be like yea ok…
Rakim: No question man. I’m a fan. I’ve always been a fan of hip hop and there are cats out there that I admire. It’s like damn near every couple of months you hear something and be like oh ok and be like yo duke I’ma holla at you I got something to do at the crib man and you go and hit the notepads. It still goes on now but back in the day it was more from an artistic standpoint where you were playing with words and trying to get the illest word that had the most definitions and the most syllables. Now it’s more on a witty thing where people are using a lot of idioms and shit. I just gotta go with the flow. It’s a little different for me now. When I think of the words I used to put together and what people are doing now they aren’t really messing with the words. It’s just slang and who can say some fly shit but it ain’t really like who can get the biggest syllable word or find the word nobody fucking heard of before.
Halftimeonline: How would you describe your writing style? Do you jot down ideas or whole verses? Matt (Ra’s manager) told me you was writing from the bottom of the paper up to get over writer’s block. What’s the science behind your writing?
Rakim: Yea J with me it’s like I don’t believe in writer’s block for one. I never fixed my mind to believe in that shit because half the shit we do is psychological anyway. If you start thinking some shit you’re damn near gonna believe that until it comes true. You say you got writer’s block then you gonna sit there and be like damn I got writer’s block. I’ve been writing rhymes for so long I got like five or six different ways I write a rhyme. It might be from the last word in the verse to the first or sometimes I sit there, toy with it and I might come up with sixteen of the illest words I can and write the rhyme to fit in. That’s just when I’m fucking around or when it’s a little slow for me and I’m not in the mood to write I know how to force it out. I’ve been writing for so long I got a lot of different ways to write. Everything becomes too normal after a while. I’ve been writing for so long it’s like how could I do this different. How can I make it seem like I’m not writing a rhyme today. Those are just some things I do. People bug out when they see me grab a paper and start writing from the bottom. People be like what are you doing? Just slow down. By the time I get to the top I’m done. They like done with what and I be like this is sixteen bars. I just wrote a rhyme nigga. It’s crazy man.
July 8th, 2006
good looks. definitely a quality interview.
July 11th, 2006
To theGOD RAKIM ALLAH.I am a 34 year old father of four.My oldest is my daughter Destinee
July 11th, 2006
THE GREATEST MC EVER BAR NONE
July 13th, 2006
Best interview I’ve read all year - got me HEAVILY anticipating pt. 2. Absolutely dope. Keep up the good work, star.
July 14th, 2006
Yo, this is one of the illest interview with The God, yet! Real dope man, real dope.. can’t wait for the second part. Props to Halftime and especially to Ra..
July 15th, 2006
Damn that’s an interesting interview. Props to Jbutters.
July 19th, 2006
This was flawless! Cannot wait for that pt. II. (Big shouts to my dude Jesse for putting me on to this) Keep up the great work. Peace
July 27th, 2006
Good man great interview, up front Rakim. Everything coming out the truth baby.
July 31st, 2006
This interview was WHASSUP! Rakim, man I love you and keep being real. P.S. You DO still look good!
August 1st, 2006
Thats a good interview, so where’s part 2?
August 2nd, 2006
damn 90% of the production?
August 4th, 2006
I went to school with this brother since the 1st grade “The Jackson 5″ smile!
and he knows he’s got the support of the ENTIRE neighborhood.
later pop
August 9th, 2006
Who’s number 1?, If not best, then better? Here’s a hint, the 18th Letter! Hands down the “Greatest Emcee” ever to touch a MIC.
August 28th, 2006
I feel blessed with the knowledge that Ra just dropped in this interview. Thanks a lot to Halftimeonline.com for bringing this incredible series.
September 25th, 2006
FREDDIE FOXXX VS RAKIM?
FROM MTVNEWS.COM
http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/092506/
Someone is getting ready to do the absolutely unthinkable: call Rakim out on a record by name. It’s not going to be anything like the subliminal sparring that was rumored to be going on between Rakim and Big Daddy Kane in the ’80s. This person is going to dis the God, one of the greatest MCs ever. Who has enough courage to do so? None other than Mr. Fearless himself, Freddie Foxxx a.k.a. Bumpy Knuckles. The song is called “The King Is Down” and appears on his new LP, Amerikkkan Black Man.
“I will eat Rakim’s ass alive on any record, any stage,” Bumpy Knuckles asserted recently. “When I finish with him, every bit of legendary status he had is gonna go out the window. I swear on everything I stand on, I will eat that n—a alive, bar by bar. I’ll tell him to his muthaf—in’ face.”
So now you’re gasping for air, and wondering why Freddie — a legendary hip-hop figure in his own right, who’s earned respect for street pedigree as well as rap skills — is going at Ra. Well according to Foxxx, it goes back to the ’80s in Wyandanch, New York, where Foxxx’s rap team Supreme Force used to be competitive with Ra’s team the Love Brothers. This was pre-Eric B. and Rakim.
“We got a history, you know. We got a real long history,” Foxxx explained. “We from the same part of town. Ra has always had an attitude towards me that he was better than me — on the mic and more successful. How dare he think he can out-rhyme me. He has one style, that’s all he’s ever had.”
What really got Foxxx upset, he said, was a Q&A with Rakim he read on hip-hop Web site Halftime Online. Rakim was asked about a battle that supposedly took place back in the day between the Love Brothers and Supreme Force squad.
“I never f—ing turned down a battle with that muthaf—er!” Rakim is quoted as saying. “Foxxx wasn’t ferocious like that. Foxxx had two other cats that used to rhyme with him. They were a good group, but Foxxx wasn’t ferocious like that baby pa.”
“I read the article and it set me off,” Foxxx said. “He said I’m ‘not ferocious.’ How dare he? His ego kicked in. I said I’m gonna let the world who he really is. People are only calling him a legend because of what he did with Eric B. Everything after that was wack. Nobody will say it to his face.”
Foxxx said he’s not sure when the dis record will be coming out, but his LP is slated for sometime in February. WWE champion John Cena and Talib Kweli rap on a record called “Give it to the A&R,” while the Alchemist, Pete Rock, DJ Scratch and DJ Premier produced a myriad of the records.
“I’m too old to be chasing publicity,” Foxxx said when asked if he really has a legitimate gripe with Rakim or if he’s just doing it for hype for his album. “I don’t need the publicity. I ain’t no hater. But when I see he’s so quick to always shoot me in the foot, enough is enough. Why would I want to get recognition on Rakim? He’s nothing to me. Y’all see him differently than I do. On the song, I never called his name. We used to call him ‘Pop’ back in the day. I don’t call him ‘Rakim’ on the record, I call him ‘Pop.’ ”
Bumpy Knuckles also said he dares Rakim to come back at him on wax. “Turn your mic on, B,” he said defiantly. “I want him to put me in my place.”
Rakim is on tour and could not be reached for comment.
September 26th, 2006
[…] “I read the article and it set me off, ” Foxx said. “He said I’m ‘not ferocious.’ How dare he? His ego kicked in. I said I’m gonna let the world know who he really is. People are only calling him a legend because of what he did with Eric B. Everything after that was wack. Nobody will say it to his face.” […]
September 29th, 2006
Freddie Foxx is straight garbage compared to Rakim. No that’s wrong, he’s non existent. His style has always seemed OLD AND OUT DATED. ALWAYS. Even on its the Militia, I love the song and I like Foxx but he has never impressed me lyrically, musically or topic wise. He said Rakim has one style if so then explain the different styles from Microphone fiend and follow the leader. Or Let the Rhythm hit him with Punisher. Foxx on the other hand has never displayed anything remotely different than his one dimensional delivery and flow. Foxx, I understand this is something that dates back to Pre-Eric B days…but honestly Rakim? Come on, FF, stay in your place…which is in the trash.
October 15th, 2006
PEACE GOD
I HEARD THAT FOXX TRACK .THAT SHIT WAS WACK . JUST EAT THAT ASS UP TO SHUT HIM UP .I WAS IN LORD ISLAND BACK IN THE DAYS GOD AND I NEVER SEEN HIM ON WYDANCE DAY CATHING RECK .FOXX STOP IT. ANY WAY GOD CIPHER DIVINE JUST CHEW THAT ASS UP WE CAN`T HAVE NOBODY DISSING.
POWER EQUALITY ALLAH SEE EQUALITY
FATHER DIVINE 7
October 19th, 2006
This guy is like the Marvin Gaye of Rap. His music never grows old.. He needs to comeback and show the world what hip hop is all about. Cats like Rakim, EPMD, AN UNDERGROUND Group call Donald J and ez with the zoom, zoom zoom. People don’t know any thing about that. ( kING sUN, K-sOLO, STETSASONIC, and the list goes on.
October 30th, 2006
Lawd have mercy. I live in, Trinidad in the Caribbean and I’ve been following the Leader, from the very first day I heard him. I’m just glad, that he’s taking the time now, to get in touch with his people (I ain’t no fan). What Ra, got to know though, is if he doesn’t do an album, I don’t have anything to listen to! And that’s Real! I’d like to hear a lil bit more about his Knowledge of Self transition, as I think it would be instrumental, in assisting some of these other rappers, in assessing, what material they put out there.
Karma is not a bitch, but the reflection of, ones thoughts, words and deeds!
Peace!
December 1st, 2006
Rakim..Could you please drop an album man? Please? I get tire of listenin to all this bullshit out here.
December 8th, 2006
I have to agree with “FATHER DIVINE 7″ I’m sick of the half ass rappers talking junk. I was at Wyandanch day for years every body was supposed to be there to catch wreck. If FF wanted it with Ra he had all the opportunity to do his thing. But no FF no Kane they didn’t want it then and now you 40 dog let it go. I know every pawn whats to be king but damn.
November 6th, 2007
Its funny to hear fox talk this shit. I actually like foxx,he had a couple verses i thought was tight. I grew around ra peoples,when rumors was going around saying it wasnt him rhyming on the first album. The GOD is the best even today in his content,period!
August 22nd, 2008
This I think is the greatesst interview I ever heard Rakim do because someone FINALLY asked him the question I always wondered about….did Ra & Kane ever battle. I heard that they actually did battle, but I’m glad Ra confirmed everything and set it straight once and for all….NICE!!