LimeWire Music Blog

“It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you, without a strong rhyme to step to.” Ten years to be exact, Rakim. Fans of the legendary New York MC, who spat the above rhyme on 1987’s classic “I Know You Got Soul,” will finally get to hear a new album from hip-hop icon Rakim – who now goes by Rakim Allah – when The Seventh Seal hits the streets Nov. 17th. The long-awaited follow-up to 1999’s The Master, features cameos by Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Maino, Tracey Horton, IQ, Styles P and Rakim’s own daughter, Destiny Griffin. Of the new disc, Rakim says: “The Seventh Seal is my own revelation…my way of taking the best of what Hip-Hop has to offer, what we as a culture and a community have to offer, putting my stamp on it and leading us forward while constantly respecting what we’ve already accomplished. When you’ve been blessed with a career like mine, you develop a deep relationship with the music, and that love is recognized by the true heads that share it with you. You’ll see us keep building as we break through each Seal…showing the best of what I can do in many forms, bringing the energy and having fun, but first I’m laying that foundation and give my longtime fans the conscious fire they expect.”

Rakim was there in hip-hop’s infancy and was among the stars of the genre’s golden age in the early 1990s. He did his finest work in the late ’80s with DJ/producer Eric B but the two had a nasty split over money and control. Unfortunately, there’s no reunion here.
But it should be interesting to see what this rap trailblazer has to say this time around . . .