Rakim

“Eric B.” Barrier and Rakim’s debut studio LP, Paid In Full, was a paradigm for the golden age of hip hop. Released in 1987, it boasted complex lyrical flow by Rakim and influential heavy sampling by Eric B., setting the stage for rap’s next era. “I always wanted to kind of make the listener feel like it was them that I was talking about, or to the point that I could say the rhyme, and feel like it’s them saying it,” Rakim said.