Eric B & Rakim "Microphone Fiend" Long Version 12" OOP orig WLP Public Enemy and

$

20

Eric B. & Rakim "Microphone Fiend" 12" UNI Records L33-10003 (US)

Vinyl is VG+, Jacket is generic

Out of Print!!

Original!! 

Track Listing:

Eric Barrier (Eric B.) and Rakim Allah (Rakim) were a hip-hop duo known as Eric B. & Rakim. The pair is generally considered to be one of the most influential and groundbreaking groups in the hip hop genre because of the duo’s dark production and Rakim's rhyming style, which was smooth, seemingly effortless, and used complex rhyming schemes involving internal rhymes and sophisticated metaphors. Their single "I Know You Got Soul" borrowed extensively from the Bobby Byrd record of the same name, and was one of the era's stand-out James Brown-influenced recordings.

Eric B. & Rakim began recording together in the middle of the 1980s with "Eric B. Is President" (1986 in music), originally released on Zakia Records in Harlem, New York City. The single, produced by Marley Marl, who incorporated the bassline from the R&B club hit "Over Like a Fat Rat" by Fonda Rae, quickly became a hip-hop anthem. Paid in Full and Follow the Leader were the duo’s first two full-length albums and were hits by hip hop's standards at the time. In 1989 the pair teamed up with singer Jody Watley for the Billboard pop chart top-ten hit "Friends," one of the first collaborations of pop and hip hop artists, featured on Watley's Larger Than Life album. Much of the duo’s initial impetus and influence can be attributed to its now deceased mentor and deejay, FLAME 3 of the TPA graffiti crew. The Coldcut "Seven Minutes of Madness" remix of "Paid in Full" is considered a milestone in hip-hop, remixes, and sample-based music and is arguably the duo’s most-recognized hit. Despite its world wide success which led to the track entering many overseas top ten music charts, the duo claimed not to like the remix during its release.

The duo's last album together was Don't Sweat the Technique (1992). Its single "Know the Ledge" was the theme song of the feature film Juice and was among its most popular hits. During the recording of that album, both members expressed an interest in recording solo albums. However, Eric B. refused to sign the label's release contract, fearful that Rakim would abandon him. This led to a long and messy court battle involving the two musicians and their former label MCA Records. Eric B. did release a solo album in the early 1990s on an independent label, but without much commercial succes. Rakim released two solo albums, and a third has been in the works for many years.

In 2004 "I Know You Got Soul" appeared on popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on classic hip-hop radio station Playback FM.

"Follow the Leader" and "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em"

Follow the Leader, the duo's highly-anticipated follow-up to Paid In Full; saw their production move away from the blunt minimalism of their debut, utilizing more otherworldly samples and subtle instrumentation from Stevie Blass Griffin. On the mic, Rakim upped the ante lyrically once again, with the single "Microphone Fiend" becoming something of a signature song for the rapper. The title track and "Lyrics of Fury" were two of Rakim's most acclaimed lyrical performances. In 2003, comedian Chris Rock referred to Rakim's rhymes on the "...Fury" as 'lyrically, the best rapping anyone's ever done...' Rock also listed Follow the Leader as 12th on his Vibe Magazine list of the Top 25 Hip Hop Albums of All-Time.. Despite being hailed in the hip hop community as Eric B. & Rakim's second classic album, the record went largely unnoticed by the mainstream music industry. Despite their spotty commercial success, the influence of the duo was beginning to become more evident in rap music. Rakim's inventive wordplay and smooth delivery had set him apart from bombastic, declarative MCs like Run and DMC of Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, Chuck D. of Public Enemy and other top rappers of the mid-80s. His upbringing as a member of the Nation of Gods and Earths also was reflected in his rhymes; while he wasn't overtly 'conscious' or 'political'--he always subtly referenced Afrocentric themes and concepts that reflected his Islamic faith. By 1988, the influence of Rakim was evident in the music released by rappers such as Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, and Ice Cube of N.W.A. Even rappers that had established themselves before Eric B. and Rakim's debut were affected by Rakim's lyrical innovations; Run's delivery became more polysyllabic as he began to use more internal rhyme, and KRS-One of Boogie Down Productions began to incorporate more Afrocentric imagery into his lyrics—although this could also be attributed to his more conscious persona emerging in the wake of his partner DJ Scott La Rock's murder.

In 1989, the pair teamed up with dance pop singer Jody Watley on her single "Friends" from the album Larger Than Life. The song would reach the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and was one of the first notable collaborations between hip hop and dance pop. Despite their continued acclaim in amongst hip hop aficionados, Eric B. & Rakim rarely collaborated with other rappers. This was especially evident in early 1990, when KRS-One's Stop the Violence Movement put together the charity single "Self-Destruction." The song featured numerous notable rappers, but Rakim was noticeably absent from the proceedings. He told HalftimeOnline.com years later, "I don't think they hollered at me or they hollered at Eric B. and he didn't say anything to me. I was a little bitter with that shit because I felt I had something to do with bringing consciousness in hip hop to the table. I came out and did what I did in '86 and then you know people started running with it. Then when it comes time to do something they didn't holler at me so I was a little bitter. At the same time a lot of reasons I didn't do records with people is because I never wanted their light to reflect on me. I don't have a problem with it but everybody who knows at that time knows they were trying to say I was responsible for gangsta rap, too. They thought I was that dude in the hood so maybe they didn't holler at me for a reason. I love Kris, though—he definitely contributed a lot to hip hop. I've been on tour with him and I know him as a person. He's a good dude. I like Kris, but they definitely didn't holler at me for that man because I would have definitely did it."

Their 1990 album Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em wasn't as successful commercially as their first two LPs, and, after De La Soul's debut 3 Feet High & Rising helped launch alternative rap into the popular lexicon; and N.W.A.'s gangsta rap classic Straight Outta Compton exploded onto the national stage, many felt that the duo were too steadfast in their devotion to classic hip hop minimalism. Rakim had long been one of the most mysterious rappers in hip hop; but seemed to relish his 'outsider' status in rap circles. He even references his enigmatic reputation on the song "Set 'Em Straight": "Here's the inside scoop on the fiend/They want to know why I'm seldom seen/Cause who needs the TV screens and magazines/Or shooting through the city in fly limousines/Cause one thing I don't need is a spotlight/Cause I already got light..." He later said about his relative lack of commercial success: "You could sell a couple records and keep your integrity or you could go pop and sell a bunch of records and be gone tomorrow. I was trying to stick to my guns at that point."

Many celebrated their consistency; Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone stated:

"There's nothing trendy about this impassive duo, no Steely Dan bites or bits of Afrodelic rhetoric here. Eric B. and Rakim are hip-hop formalists devoted to upholding the Seventies funk canon and advancing rap's original verbal mandate. Almost every track on their third album is built on poetic boasts and wicked J.B. samples, but dismissing Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em as some sort of conservative reaction – a gold-chain throwback – completely misses the point. Masters of their appointed tasks, rapper Rakim and DJ Eric B. are also formal innovators. They both can riff and improvise like jazzmen, spinning endless variations on basic themes and playing off each other's moves with chilly intuition. The resulting music is as stark, complex and edgy as Rakim's stone-cold stare on the album cover."

The album was

one of the first to receive the honor of a 5 mic rating in The Source. But, much like their acclaimed debut, there exists controversy over the production credit. Acclaimed producer Large Professor produced a large amount of the album's tracks, but wasn't credited on the album.

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