A biography for Rakimhasn’t been written yet.
“You know, 'Paid in Full' is a classic album, man. It kind of got me to where I am now, so I can never get tired of 'Paid in Full.'”
“Lil Wayne is doing his thing, and so is Drake.”
“New York is responsible for bringing that raw, that real gritty hip-hop, because we... originated it.”
“I had nothing but respect for Pac.”
“Music, life, a lot of the things that we go through in the world, a lot of questions that we have about the world inspires me.”
“The truth never wears out.”
“My approach to writing rhymes went hand in hand with the music. I'd try to make different rhythms with my rhymes on the track by tripping up patterns, using multi-syllable words, different syncopations. I'd try to be like a different instrument.”
“Every generation wants that real hip-hop. And I've always been able to bring that.”
“Eminem is a master.”
“As a young artist, especially in rap and at that time that I came out, originality was big.”
“When me and Eric did songs back in the day, we didn't go and sit down in front of no A&R. We made our album, and then, when we finished, we handed it in, and then we picked the best song for the first single.”
“I'm more of a wordsmith, so I like taking different words and trying to see what I can do with them - as many things as possible.”
“People always tell me that they grew up with me - like I'm their brother or uncle or some other family member. That keeps me going.”
“Sometimes you can't forgive, but you try to forget.”
“We need a few more Kanyes, people that's really passionate about hip-hop and who keep it alive.”
“Maybe I'm too sensitive to the struggle, but I think a lot of people that listen to music are trying to escape.”
“The young kids out there doing their thing, I can't knock them.”
“I love, you know, a lot of jazz, John Coltrane.”
“Maino is an artist that I feel walks what he talks - you can tell what he raps about and what he's been through is very similar. You've got a lot of rappers that rap about what they've heard or seen, but I think Maino is one of the rappers that has actually lived it.”
“To know that I was being heard on the radio, it made me feel as if I was, I guess, spread across New York. It was incredible.”