When Eric B. and Rakim's first hooked up with famed producer Marley Mall to record their first single, "Eric B. Is President", I don't think either man knew what was about to come in regards to their music careers.
Sure, Marley Mall was a legend, but nothing in life is a sure thing. But after the single dropped, Eric B. and Rakim proved that they were just that, legends in the making. The landmark track is one of the best of all time, and Rakim's opening of "I came in the door/said it before" is one rap's most quoted ever.
Building on this, the duo decided to connect again with Mall, and recorded their debut album at his home studio (Power Play Studios) in New York City. When "Paid In Full" was released in the summer of 1987, the album ultimately ended rap’s status as novelty music and ushered in a new school of hip-hop.
Throughout the album Rakim showcases his adept lyrical skills by smoothly and confidently spitting complex verses that are full of literate and distinct imagery. Eric B.'s turntable fueled backgrounds and beats represented the beginning of heavy sampling on hip-hop records. The combination of these two truly meant a step forward into the modern era of hip-hop.
While the album has only 9 tracks, Eric B. and Rakim definitively prove that quality outweighs quantity. "Eric B. Is President" is obviously fantastic, but "Paid in Full", "Eric B. Is on the Cut", "I Know You Got Soul" and "I Ain’t No Joke" are all excellent tracks as well.
"I Know You Got Soul" is one of the best tracks on the album, and it pretty much started off the industry’s trend of sampling James Brown songs. The bass line and the beat on the track are just amazing, and Eric B. & Rakim show off the lyrical prowess that they posses so naturally with some flashy lyrics.
The track opens with one of the best verses on the album as they rap: “It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you/Without a strong rhyme to step to/Think of how many weak shows you slept through/Time's up, I'm sorry I kept you/Thinking of this, you keep repeating you miss/The rhymes from the microphone soloist.”
“Eric B. Is President” was the debut single released by the duo, and is one of the most memorable songs in hip-hop history. This track also samples James Brown, but it’s the funky beat and the sample of “The Champ” by The Mohawks that really gets this track going.
Rakim’s opening lines have become one of the most quotable lyrics of all time, he is ferocious as he raps: “I came in the door, I said it before/I never let the mic magnatize me no more/But it's biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme/I can't hold it back, I'm looking for the line.”
The title track, "Paid in Full", is one of my favorite on the album. Although the subject matter was serious in nature, the track had a sort of fun undercurrent to it. I love how the duo attempts to embrace their future prospects about getting paid, not from the corner or the daily grind, but from their own work in the studio. The beat is amazing, and any hip-hop fan knows that this track has been sampled more times than anyone can count.
As usual, the duo shows how intelligent and unique they are as Rakim raps: “A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of/Me and eric b, and a nice big plate of/Fish, which is my favorite dish/But without no money it’s still a wish/Cos I don’t like to dream about gettin paid/So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made/To now test to see if I got pull/Hit the studio, cos I’m paid in full.”
“Paid in Full” is indispensable listening for anyone even remotely interested in hip-hop. This album pretty much set the example for what modern day hip-hop would become. Eric B. had reinstated the art of turntable mixing and soul-filled sampling became influential in future hip hop production.
“Paid in Full” helped change the landscape of hip-hop and without it, we might not have most of the great music in the industry we do today. The album is Eric B. and Rakim’s signature work, and is most definitely a classic hip-hop album.
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