Eric B. & Rakim
36 281 fans
Artist's top tracks
| Don't Sweat The Technique | Eric B. & Rakim | 04:21 | |
| Paid In Full | Eric B. & Rakim | 03:48 | |
| Follow The Leader | Eric B. & Rakim | 05:32 | |
| I Know You Got Soul | Eric B. & Rakim | 04:44 | |
| I Ain't No Joke | Eric B. & Rakim | 03:52 | |
| Keep The Beat | Eric B. & Rakim | 04:15 | |
| Juice (Know The Ledge) | Eric B. & Rakim | 04:01 | |
| Microphone Fiend | Eric B. & Rakim | 05:13 | |
| Eric B. Is President | Eric B. & Rakim | 06:17 | |
| Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em | Eric B. & Rakim | 05:24 |
Most popular release
| I Ain't No Joke | |
| Eric B. Is On The Cut | |
| My Melody | |
| I Know You Got Soul |
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Biography
Erik. B and & Rakim are widely
credited as advancing hip-hop in ways that were still apparent decades after
their break-up. Queens native Erik Barrier honed his turntable skills while
working as a mobile DJ for a local radio station while still a teenager. It was
during that job that he formed a partnership with Rakim, born William Griffin
Jr, who took the name Rakim Allah after converting to Islam as a teenager. Their
initial singles, “Erik B. Is President” and “My Melody” would
both go on to appear on their debut album, 1987’s Paid In Full. The
combination of Rakim’s poetic rhyme schemes and laid-back, jazz-inflected flow
with Erik B’s heavy sampling of old soul records, particularly James Brown on “I
Know You Got Soul”, set the template for hip-hop’s future. The 1988
follow-up Follow the Leader did better on the chart than their debut,
and it solidified their status as the premiant hip-hop artists with songs like
the title track and “Lyrics of Fury”. The cracked the pop charts for the
first time as a featured artist on Jody Watley’s “Friends”, a number 9
hit in 1989. 1990’s Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em gave them their biggest
charting single to that point with the title track hitting number 2 on the rap
chart, and the title track from 1992’s Don’t Sweat the Technique topped
it. With their contract up, and each considering solo projects, the duo split
after just four LPs that all reached the top 10 of the R&B album chart.
They reunited for the first time in 2017 in order to play a series of live
dates.