Chairman Mao interviews legendary God M.C., Rakim

Which M.C. would you want to spend two hours with? To learn from and hear about their influences and life story? Are you new school...Lil' Wayne or B.O.B. May be you're in between..."mid school" like Wu-Tang or Tribe Called Quest? Or real old school...Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Melle Mel?

Top three on my list would be Rakim. This Red Bull sponsored interview has so much unheard dope stories. Did you know Rakim's original M.C. name was Kid Wizard? And that he used to rock the mic with Biz Markie at Rakim's high school? This is the first time in my hip hop habit that I've heard these rhymes! That's insane - I've been in this game since 1983! Go collect those original mixtapes from 1980s. I'm on the search!


Lecture: Rakim (New York 2013) from Red Bull Music Academy on Vimeo.

Only after watching this interview did I learn about the history of Rakim's "take seven M.C.s in a line..." lyrics from "My Melody."

CHAIRMAN MAO: "...explain to the people what that is....'I take seven M.C.s in a line...'" 

RAKIM: "Bascially, the whole concept right there came from my name. My government name is 777. I came up with the three sevens and started doing different rhymes off it....battling in the park, battling in high school, battling in Harlem. So, I started incorporating battle rhymes..This one here was mostly freestyle. Whenever I got down with Biz it was off the top of the head and just throw a couple of joints you had made already in there. That was when I started doing a lot of battle rapping and that little 'seven M.C.' theory just came into play."   

CHAIRMAN MAO: "But that's one of the most famous lyrics of hip hop history, especially from your catalog. That lyric for people who don't know is from the song "My Melody" which is the b-side of Eric B and Rakim's first single. And often quoted, endlessly quoted, but yet you had it already at least a year before.It's interesting that this was something that was in a high school jam, but then became this iconic lyric."  

RAKIM: "No doubt, it was one of those things that I figured had some value to it. So I brought it with me from my old style to converting it to the Rakim that we know now. It's ill that we can look back and hear things like this. It tells you where I came from and tells you where I started...It's not too far from where anyone starts. But it's how much you want it and how much you want to take it to the next level is what counts. This is good to play to a new artist that may not think he's good enough or may thinks he needs to be the best person in the world or you gotta quit. Nah, man...I came out and I was a regular dude, but I loved it so much I just tried to get better and luckily I did!"

Watch the video...all 105 mins of it and you'll get schooled in hip hop history. Do you know who Marley Marl is? Or M.C. Shan? What about the Bronx vs. Queensbridge battle rhymes? Oh, man! This is what kept me excited about hip hop. Always some drama! ;)

Who is Chairman Mao? He was the editor in chief at rap magazine, Ego Trip, in the 90s. This is a cool interview with him done at UCLA.

Big up to Red Bull!

#Rakim hits the UK...25th anniversary tour

Rakim, the microphone fiend, is in the UK!

And sources tell me he's hitting my hometown of Bristol this Saturday, May 7th, for his "Paid in Full" 25th anniversary concert (even though Eric B won't be on stage.) So if you're within 50 miles you have to reach and support. It's gonna be one hell of a show....Rahzel (of The Roots) and Rakim. Hot!

"In the history of Hip-Hop, few artists have had as great an impact on the development and progression of the art form's lyrical style as Rakim. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the release of 'Paid in Full', consistently regarded as the greatest Hip Hop album of all time - and to celebrate and commemorate, Rakim plays Bristol for the first time ever - on Saturday May 7th."

Tickets are £22.50 (stbf) - available from The O2 Academy Box Office and these fine outlets:

Rakim getting the pat down, Los Angeles 2006

• Bristol Ticket Shop – Broadmead (0117) 929 9008
• Wanted Records - St Nicholas Market (0117) 929 0524
• Cooshti - Park St (0117) 929 0850
• Prime Cuts – Gloucester Rd (0117) 983 0007
• Online.

#Rap and #Yale University Press - The Anthology of Rap

A new book charting the rise of rap music has been released by Yale University Press. "The Anthology of Rap" was written by Andrew Bradley and Andrew DuBois two Professors of English at the University of Colorado and the University of Toronto.

Type bookstore, Canada

Why is rap so interesting to these academics of the English language? NPR recently interviewed Professor Andrew Bradley, one of the co-authors, and we learn how our favorite raps tunes can be broken down to the intricate lyrics, social commentary and syncopation. These Professors are telling us why we love these tunes!

"Now, even with my poor MCing skills, you can hear within that something pretty tremendous. And what that is, is this is what I've discovered by actually transcribing it [Rapper's Delight]. It's written in ballad stanza. This is the form of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' But it's also the form of the 'Gilligan's Island' theme, you know, the ballad stanza of storytelling form that's been with us in our culture and finds its way, whether intentionally or not, into these lyrics." Adam Bradley (Co-editor, "The Anthology of Rap") discussing The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 classic, "Rapper's Delight."

"The Anthology of Rap" explains how the original M.C.s were actually party D.J.s. And if you watch Doug Pray's 2002 "Scratch" documentary you'll also hear various hip hop legends explaining how the hip hop D.J. (or in the 70s more likely a break D.J.) ceded the spotlight to the M.C.

"What developed out of DJing was the very concept of MCing, of putting words in rhyme to the music. So some of the early innovators in the art of rapping are actually DJs: Eddie Cheeba, DJ Hollywood. Even Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, these are people who started often as DJs and then made the transition into the lyrical art." Adam Bradley

Legends vs. The Hits This isn't a book about the best-selling rap records. There's no Vanilla Ice, M.C. Hammer or even Young M.C. The Anthology is about the lyrical prowess of rap and the artists that wrote those rhymes. In particular, Rakim is held in high regard. No doubt! God M.C.

"People had to go back and really start over with their lyrics once they heard Rakim. He's that kind of artist. Take one of his most famous lyrics, 'Microphone Fiend': 'I was a fiend before I became a teen. I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream.' Just that little play of language." Adam Bradley

The Last Word

"What do I want people to take out of the book? I think I want people to take away a sense of rap in full. I think rap at its best is a keyhole into American culture over the last 30 plus years. It's a way in to think about all of the things that matter to us about this past four decades. And it's also something you can dance to. So how good is that?" Adam Bradley

Rakim on NPR radio

Last.fm interview about the latest album, The Seventh Seal


On the way back up to LA from my trip to Tijuana, Mexico I heard a familiar voice on NPR...but wait. What's Rakim Allah doing talking to the middle-class of America?

Guy Raz managed to get an interview with Rakim to discuss his first album for over a decade. There's a lot to be learnt from the interview, even for an old skool b-boy like myself. Did you know Rakim plays the saxophone?! The interview is interspersed with new tracks from "The Seventh Seal," including the title track and banger "Holy Are You" (which samples the Electric Prunes classic produced by David Axelrod.)





Rap's Guardian Rakim has been recognized by his platinum-selling peers as the "God M.C.," yet he isn't resting on his laurels. With this new album Rakim is taking responsibility to stop rap's dilution and urges New York rap artists' to uphold a higher lyrical standard.

"Some rappers that may have been a little more conscious when they came out — they're a little more party-rap right now," he says. "We gotta let hip-hop grow. We gotta let it go through its different phases throughout the different places that's accepting it. But I feel: Certain places, like New York, we need to keep our integrity and make sure that it's doing that thing that caught the world's ear in the beginning.

"Lyrical content is getting a lot of slack right now, and it's making hip-hop look less of what it is," Rakim says. "If we can get back to the essence of it — I'm trying to make it a little more melodic, where people are respecting it more as a genre."

Going back in time Rakim recounts the tale of being a high-school student on Long Island and what happened after playing Eric B a demo tape of his raps. "At the time, I was trying to go to Stony Brook [University] and play quarterback," Rakim says. "I love football. ... I had a little tape that I had, ready to go to college with me; just in case there was any rappers up there, I can just put my tape in, you know?

"But I played that for Eric B, and he was interested, told me, 'We can make a record.' And things turned out where I couldn't go to college. I had to focus on my rap career; things kind of took off fast. Man, I had no idea it was going to be that big."

B-Boy Party of the Year?

Nike held its 25th AF-1 anniversary party in New York...and a few other cities I hear.

This jam looks like it could've/should've been frigging amazing! KRS-One in the house! You know the invites for this would've been seriously sweated. Looks like only 250 people got to party that night...! But at times the vibe looked a bit lame (on YouTube)...not quite the jump off! That's what happens when things get too corporate...come on Nike do something brilliant!

But here's when the party started to get live...looks like it turned out ok...Rakim, KRS-One (and Kanye on stage...)

Addendum: I read in Vapors magazine that there were 400 guests in NYC on 10th December 2006 in Gotham Hall. The sneaker exhibition was designed by Sartoria Lab and a select few received Stash's award-winning AF-1. Nike has got a very cool website for the 25th Anniversary. It features the "Classic" video: Rakim, KRS-One, Nas and Premier...word! Ok...with the documentaries below it looks like Nike did something special here. I hate to say it...

...and the documentary. I found this one on YouTube...this is #1, there are 3 - collect them all! ;-)