This jamandahalf drops with an instantly recognizable keyboard jingle, sampled in at least thirty songs. Rakim quickly follows up after some scratching by Eric B: there isn't time to waste in this song for anything other than hard hitting rhymes, dope wordplay, and lyricism like Rap had never seen before. Just starting to reach the early stages of its "Golden Era" in mid 1987, Rap got an incredible boost with the release of Eric B and Rakim's classic debut album Paid in Full in July 1987 (which was incredibly only recorded in one week). While early rap was fun music meant for block parties (it's impossible to forget the famous "I said a hip, hop, hip...." of "Rapper's Delight"), 1987 saw albums which really were poetry put to music, with rappers focusing on storytelling and a newfound emphasis on the relationship of the words-borrowing literary tools previously owned by Frost and Shakespeare.
Clocking in at almost seven minutes, the nineteen year old Rakim's verses are a study in rhyme structure. Moving past simple end rhymes, Rakim instead was one of the first rappers, if not the first, who adopted complexity in his schemes-mixing in multisyllabic rhymes in all parts of the line. A lyrical genius, Rakim really shines in the forth (of five!) verses. Like a young gorilla announcing that he's the next silver-back, Rakim's forth verse is him beating his chest and telling the world that he's the best that there is. Wrapping each elongated syllable around drops of the snare, the end effect is hypnotic-its impossible not to want to keep listening to see what his next punch line, impossible not to want to hear his next three syllable rhyme. An early classic that has never lost its uniqueness, this is a song that will keep surprising listeners for years to come.
Lyrics
Eric B & Rakim - My Melody (Jamandahalf.com) by jamand1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment