I’m Everlasting… – Rakim

Chicago’s HNHH.Com speaks to The R about Hip-Hop’s growing number of mature fans and artists.

Live Review – Rakim

Venue: The Jazz Cafe, London  Date: 2 June 2011

Unlike other golden-age Hip-Hop icons such as KRS-One, De La Soul and Big Daddy Kane who have all hit the UK on a semi-regular basis over the years, until his recent handful of shows, Rakim, the first emcee to “let a rhyme flow down the Nile”, hadn’t performed on British soil for well over a decade. So even after his recent shared dates with De La and Black Star, it really wasn’t a surprise to find that this one-off gig at London’s intimate Jazz Cafe venue had sold out relatively quickly.

The Long Island lyricist really needs no introduction. Having influenced everyone from Nas and Pharoahe Monch to O.C. and Common, the fingerprints of the god are all over the rap game, with Rakim championed by many as the greatest emcee of all-time, despite the fact that his output has been relatively minimal since he parted ways with Eric B. following their fourth album, 1992’s “Don’t Sweat The Technique”.  Such was the impact of the cerebral, Islam-influenced, streetwise rhymes Ra first began delivering in his trademark slow-flow style a quarter of a century ago, the emcee’s rap royalty status will be forever unquestionable.

By the time The R’s Bronx-raised wax spinner Technician had hyped the crowd with a quick-fire selection of classics from the likes of Slick Rick, Camp Lo and Jeru The Damaja, anticipation for the 18th letter was building quickly.

When Tech threw on Doug E. Fresh’s old-school classic “Play This Only At Night” and announced Rakim with all the drama of a heavyweight title fight, for a moment it seemed like the second coming of Jesus as the Strong Island legend made his way downstairs onto the stage, standing silent for a few moments as the crowd roared at the sight of their Hip-Hop hero with a sea of arms waving in unison. “All this love feels real good,” stated a typically low-key Rakim. “I ain’t been in the UK for a minute, but we’re definitely going to make up for that tonight.”

With that, the opening keys of the Marley Marl-produced classic “My Melody” threw the crowd into a further frenzy, with Rakim, decked out in a Carhartt hoodie and Yankees cap, proceeding to spend the best part of the next hour-and-a-half dropping almost non-stop classics from his impressive back-catalogue.

In the past, Rakim has been criticised for performing over full vocal versions of his own tracks, but that definitely wasn’t the case here. Ripping through timeless joints such as “I Ain’t No Joke”, “Juice (Know The Ledge)” and “Let The Rhythm Hit Em”, Ra dropped every line with perfect clarity and didn’t miss a beat.

Although the crowd was reminded regularly by both Rakim and his deejay of the old-school artist’s most recent release, 2009’s largely disappointing “The Seventh Seal”, the New York icon made the wise decision not to force the album into his performance, dropping only a few cuts from the project, including its highlight, the David Axelrod-sampling “Holy Are You”.

On wax Rakim has always appeared cool, calm and collected with something of a serious demeanour, yet tonight, clearly comfortable in his surroundings, the artist responsible for some of the most intensely intricate rhymes in Hip-Hop history dropped jokes about becoming a future rap-addicted grandfather still sporting box-fresh sneakers, gave a little insight into how Ra impresses the ladies, and also jumped behind the turntables to show that rhyming isn’t his only talent.

At one point the show did seem like it could possibly lose a little momentum when the standard split-the-audience-in-half-and-see-which-side-can-make-the-most-noise routine went on far much longer than it needed to. But Rakim soon picked up the pace again with flawless performances of “In The Ghetto”, “Microphone Fiend” and, of course, the 80s money-making anthem “Paid In Full”.

With the crowd rhyming almost word-for-word with Rakim throughout the show, it could be argued that, when it comes to solo performers, possibly only KRS-One could match the God emcee’s sheer volume of universally acclaimed classics. And still Ra kept them coming – “Move The Crowd”, “Eric B. Is President”, “Mahogany”, “Don’t Sweat The Technique”, “It’s Been A Long Time”.

Ending with an acapella rendition of the first verse from 1988’s “Follow The Leader”, Rakim dropped his scientific rhymes slow and deliberate, as if to remind both himself and his fans that the words he committed to a notebook over two decades ago still outshine many of today’s verses thanks to the vision and sheer poetic brilliance of their creator.

The majority of the crowd in attendance tonight had obviously grown up with Rakim, respected him, studied him, and now, finally, had the chance to celebrate him. Ra is to rap lyricism what John Coltrane was to the saxophone or Jimi Hendrix to the guitar, a completely original talent and a total physical embodiment of his craft who has left an indelible stamp on his chosen artform.

With Rakim thanking everyone for the unconditional love shown and promising to return to the UK again next year, those in attendance left the Jazz Cafe on a Hip-Hop high probably stronger than any other they’ve felt in recent times due to the performance they had just witnessed.

And on that note, we say peace!

Ryan Proctor

Rakim performing “Follow The Leader” at The Jazz Cafe.