eMusic Interview: Rakim

You know who’s a good rapper? Rakim. #Uncontroversialopinions

Oh, wait, this isn’t Twitter. Whoops! Sometimes I forget that some thoughts require more than 150 or so keystrokes to communicate. That one, however, doesn’t really need anything further; Rakim is, well, he’s Rakim. In advance of his latest album, The Seventh Seal, which hits eMusic on Tuesday, Ben Westhoff sat down and talked with the original God MC, and I gotta say: I can’t imagine how it would feel like to sit down and talk with this dude. So I admire how Ben Westhoff kept his cool in this one, asking some probing questions of one of the most legendary rappers still breathing. Rakim, for his part, is extremely candid about the rough, uncharted road that a rapper over 40 faces, even one who basically invented rapping as we currently know it. Check out the Q&A below, and be sure to come back for The Seventh Seal next week.

eMusic Q&A: Rakim

By Ben Westhoff

Though Rakim hasn’t been relegated to the oldies circuit like many trailblazing New York area rappers who gained fame in the 1980s, he’s had a hard time maintaining his relevance. Best known for his albums with DJ Eric B., the Long Island native may not have had many big hits, but he revolutionized hip-hop with his dense verses and complicated internal rhyme schemes.
His latest album, The Seventh Seal, has been years in the making; early in the decade he moved to Los Angeles and began recording with Dr. Dre for Aftermath, but the two artists fell out over creative differences and their tracks were shelved. Now set for release on Rakim’s Ra Records, The Seventh Seal is heavy on biblical themes — the title references the Book of Revelation – and features Maino, Busta Rhymes, Styles P and Jadakiss.
Shortly before the album’s release, eMusic’s Ben Westhoff spoke with Rakim about his fallings-out with Dre and Eric B. and the emcee’s personal evolution.

Are you satisfied with being a “favorite rapper’s rapper,” or do you wish you were a household name?
I think things happen for a reason, and the things that happened are why I’m still putting out an album in 2009. I could have put out 10 albums in my first 10 years, and then just gotten tired and not wanted to rap no more. I could have made a boatload of money and then not wanted to rap no more.

In your opinion, what’s the biggest accomplishment of your career to date?
I think the day my label called, this had to be 10 years ago, and told me I was picked in The Source as the greatest emcee of all time. It made all my sacrifices worthwhile. That was my reward for not wanting to be a pop rapper. That was my reward for not coasting on my records. That was my reward for staying true to what I thought hip hop was.

The Seventh Seal’s long delay has been due both to your label situation and your perfectionism when it comes to your songs, correct?
Yes, it took me a while to get everything in place as far as the label. I didn’t just go to a major label and ask for a deal, I went to investors and told them to give me some money and I’d give them “X” amount of money back. It takes a long time to get your hands in people’s pockets, and then it took even longer to get the chemistry of the album right.

Do you have any animosity toward Dr. Dre?
Not at all. I actually thanked him for the opportunity. It was my choice to leave. I was in control of my destiny, and he was in control of his. I actually learned a lot from him — I got to learn what makes icons, icons. Watching Dre stick to his guns is what made me realize I had to stick to my guns.

How did he stick to his guns?
Dre always uses the formula he knows works. Even though people know that Rakim is more of a conscious rapper, Dre wanted me to bring the guns back out and talk about gangsta shit. Gangsta rap is his formula, but I did that already. I think the world wants to hear something different, which is what I tried to do with The Seventh Seal.

Speaking of the album, where did you acquire your interests in spirituality, bible study, and numerology?
A lot of it came from my upbringing, what my moms and pops instilled in me. And then I got knowledge of self like a year before I made a record. Once I got knowledge of self I felt I had a responsibility to tell everyone what I learned.

How did you achieve this knowledge of self?
I was at a point where I was looking for something to turn to. I’d been arrested enough times, to the point where I didn’t want to get arrested no more.

What did you get arrested for?
Guns, man. I loved guns when I was a little kid. I never sold drugs, but I was arrested with guns for the first time when I was like 11 or 12. After I became famous, I was arrested a couple more times with guns. It was to the point where I wouldn’t be caught nowhere without a gun. And, maybe in certain situations I needed it, if only to make me feel comfortable and have the swag to get by in a [tough] situation. Now you could say I grew out of them. After a while, you mature. I had to stop hanging out in some of the places I liked hanging out in, and stop doing things that I knew wasn’t good for me. Project, ghetto life is not good for a person that’s trying to live a positive life. I’m a family man now. I like being around my wife and kids a lot.

You had a bitter split with Eric B. but nowadays talk to him occasionally. Could you forsee a musical collaboration at any point?
Nah, I don’t think that’s going to happen. We kind of grew apart, to the point where we don’t speak much. I wish him the best, but I’m so used to doing things the way I’ve been doing them the last few years that there’s really no future with me and him. When we split up, it wasn’t a cool situation.

Could you elaborate?
After Don’t Sweat The Technique I [presented him with] a contract, but he didn’t want to sign the contract. So that messed up my situation — it held up my money for like six months. At the end of the day he could’ve avoided all of that by just signing the contract. So that’s why we ain’t together now. We didn’t get to blows or nothing so it ain’t ugly, but it ain’t nothing nice, neither.