Eric B. And Rakim
Paid In Full (The Platinum Edition)
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NATN Recommended
Eric B. And Rakim
Paid In Full (The Platinum Edition)
Island, 1987
RiYL: Public Enemy's Fear Of A Black Planet, Gang Starr |
Originally released in 1987, Paid In Full continues to stand as one of the most sampled (and thus, influential) R&B LPs of the century. Island's new retrospective includes the original Paid In Full along with a 10-track remix album that, in some instances, actually surpasses the studio album in ass-shaking splendor.
From Paid In Full's maiden rhyme, the New York City duo sets lyrical and rhythmic standards yet to be equaled more than a decade later. Repulsed by the listless hip-hop of today? Paid In Full is your antidote.
Eric B. & Rakim's music stands the test of time because of its creativity and originality. The six-minute plus, rhythmically barren "My Melody" would fall apart in another group's hands, but Rakim's keen verbiage deflates the competition and sings its own praises simultaneously: "Why waste time on the microphone? / I take this more serious than just a poem," he declares. The message: If you don't have anything to say then shut the fuck up.
The group's lean funk doesn't appear until Paid In Full's fourth track, the classic "I Know You Got Soul." With swift lyrics flowing over Bobby Byrd's ditty of the same name, Rakim lays it down with authority: "It's been a long time / I shouldn't have left you without a strong rhyme to step to / Think of how many weak shows you've slept through."
The variety of Rakim's rhymes injects intellect and humor into a genre devoid of anything like it. On the orgasmic title track, listeners are treated to the essence of the DJ/rapper collaboration. Eric B. introduces the "def" beat he's put together and invites Rakim to unleash some "def" rhymes. The next thing you know, Rakim is on fire, only to be interrupted by Eric B. bemoaning his girlfriend's displeasure at the amount of time it has taken the group to finish the album. Solution: they leave the beat going in the background and exit the studio.
Space prevents lauding all of Paid In Full's gems (Coldcut's remix of the title track is essential). Suffice it to say this is a record that rewrote the book on original hip-hop in 1987 and still sounds just as ahead-of-its-time right this minute. Thoroughly mesmerizing.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"