Despite being one of the greatest rappers to ever enter a recording studio, Rakim‘s four albums with Eric B. were pretty patchy, mainly due to the abundance of filler and sub par scratch showcases. This wasn’t such a big deal on Paid In Full, since every with vocals was amazing and 1987 rap LP’s usually consisted of a few strong singles and plenty of filler, but this formula really didn’t cut it by the time Follow The Leader dropped in ’88. I’m not sure if anyone noticed at the time though, because the first three tracks are so powerful that you’ve already been won over before you even get to the second side of the album, much like NWA’s Straight Outta Compton.
There’s no doubt that the trilogy of terror that is ‘Follow The Leader,’ ‘Microphone Fiend’ and ‘Lyrics of Fury’ sealed Rakim Allah’s place in the history books, because all three of those songs are fucking incredible. The mind’s of rap fanatics across the globe were no doubt blown to smithereens by the advanced concepts and imagery that The R was dropping on them during that first fifteen minutes. Where could we go from here? ‘Eric B Is Never Scared,’ that’s where! This repetitive scratch track slows down the pace, on first impression appears to be providing some breathing room from the previous verbal carnage. Then ‘Just A Beat’ comes in and kills whatever buzz may have been remaining, as we hear ‘Pussyfooter’ looped for two minutes with an annoying vocal sample. Who thought this was a good idea?
Flip over to the next side and things get extra musical, as his brother Steve Griffen tinkles the ivories extensively and plays bass on a few tracks. ‘No Competition’ is the highlight of the b-side, which features some decent tracks but it’s all an anti-climax after the heights reached on the first three cuts. I’m still baffled as to why Follow The Leader repeats the same sins as Paid In Full by featuring two monotonous scratch/DJ tracks and an instrumental version of one of the vocal tracks, beyond the idea that Eric B. wanted to prove his worth in the group. It wasn’t until the Paul C./Large Professor influence on Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em that things improved, with only one DJ track, stronger samples and more consistent sequencing, while their final album together was a disjointed collection of soundtrack cuts and smoother beats. Still, I shouldn’t complain – Don’t Sweat The Technique was free of Eric B. solos!
Despite these complaints, none of that really mattered because the trio of dope songs that open Follow The Leader remain as the pinnacle of that particular era of hip-hop, with Rakim cramming more ideas into a single verse than most crews were in their entire careers, so the remainder of the album is really just a bonus anyway. Still, one can’t help but wonder how high Rakim might have flown had he connected with someone like Ced-Gee to oversee an album in 1988 or The RZA during the first wave of solo Wu-Tang projects? Mark that down to another Rap Fantasy League entry…
Eric B. & Rakim – ‘Follow The Leader‘
Eric B. & Rakim – ‘Microphone Fiend‘
Eric B. & Rakim – ‘Lyrics of Fury‘
Posing those questions to Rakim would make for a fascinating interview, think about it…
@MAAD: Agreed. Sadly the opportunity has yet to present itself.
Interesting but this came at the time where the singles ruled Hip Hop. If they were dope, so we’re the albums, until you listened to them anyway. As we all know Rakim was one of those emcees critics were scared to throw shade at. A review would never present itself like this post. A truly dope backtrack of a Hip Hop classic. More needs to be done, especially the one that were slept on because of what “majority” thought.
I fux with Eric B. Never Scared and Just A Beat in my reassembled, edited version of the album which runs like this:
Just A Beat
No Competition
Microphone Fiend
Musical Massacre
Eric B. Never Scared
Follow The Leader
Lyrics Of Fury
The R
Imagine…If Paid In Full and Follow The Leader were combined into one album MINUS those DJ cuts and instrumentals??!! 15 joints of staight heat!! Just think, I Ain’t No Joke, I Got Soul, Paid In Full, Follow The Leader, Microphone Fiend, Lyrics Of Fury and No Competition all on the SAME album?? That shit would violate some sort of anti-trust or monopoly law or something. Shit would be ruled illegal…
completely agree with oska on his pif/ftl comment. i feel the same could be done with let the rhythm hit ’em & don’t sweat the technique. imagine one full lp of the best cuts from both and it’s arguably stronger than combining the first two lp’s.
let the rhythm hit ’em/no omega/in the ghetto drums rmx/run for cover/untouchables/set ’em straight/pass the hand grenade/casualties of war militant rmx/the punisher/what’s going on/know the ledge/don’t sweat the technique
@ihatework
Dude, no Mahogany???
Great article and perspective Robbie. I think “Follow the Leader” could be used as an adjective for initial greatness followed by mediocrity. Side 2 had it’s good tracks though. Trivia – Rakim did the scratching on Musical Massacre. The Wanted Dead or Alive album by G Rap & Polo has a similar track sequence to my ears. Never knew about In The Ghetto drums and Rakim remix, it sounds great. Mahogany is a crime! The R performed it live in Nottingham, but he’s forgiven.
FTL is a little spotty like Robbie said. Not sure why dudes are talking about trimming let the rhthm hit ’em though. That LP is solid front to back.
I didn’t those skip tracks too but I still say PAID & FULL and FOLLOWER THE LEADER are 2 of the best albums ever made easily top 5 of all time.
I think their most slept on album is LET THE RHYMTN HIT EM.
RAKIM is by far IMO the great MC of all time, bar none.
Cosign Robbie. I always thought Eric B and Rakim’s albums were spotty with too much filler.
I remember getting the Paid in Full album and coming home and being disappointed.
Considering that Eric B is President and My Melody were a year old and I Know you Got Soul had been out for a few months, there were really only 4 new songs; I Ain’t No Joke, Move the Crowd, Paid in Full and As The Rhyme Goes On. the rest of the album was filler/DJ tacks/instrumentals.
“Musical Massacre” is nothing more than a decent track?
Wha choo somkin son?
oskamadison-yes, Sir! “Mahogany” is one of the highlights of the album! Also, Eric B. was hands off in the studio. His role was mainly as the executive producer, the one who finances the project. Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em (1990) [Album] “The Ghetto” and “Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em” co-produced by Paul C (uncredited), Rakim and Large Professor, “Run for Cover” produced by Paul C. I’ve been told that Paul C. produced “Follow The Leader” and 3 songs from “Paid In Full”. Paul C. (R.I.P.) taught everyone from Ced Gee to Large P how he used the E-mu SP 12. Paul C. had a huge role in the creation of “Critical Beatdown”, uncredited mixing and engineering, to production-Kool Keith credits Paul C. for helping Ultra define its sound, as well as Keith’s vocals. He loved hip hop but hated contracts. He didn’t care about getting credit or getting paid, so his enormous contributions to hip hop aren’t easy to find. . There’s a new documentary about his life (in 2013 there was also a documentary about Paul’s legacy of influence) in the works.