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(Rating 5.0/5.0)
When I heard that the one of the most influential rappers of all time (Rakim “The God MC”) had returned, my eyes lit up and my heart began beating hastily. There was a loss for words as my eardrums anticipated hearing the rhythmically original, metaphoric, heavily stylistic and educational flow that first introduced me to hip-hop. “The 5 Percenter” has ascended from the depths of rap music’s turbulent ocean! Rakim’s lyrical periscope is basically responsible for turning simple rapping into an exceptional height of internal rhyming. His influence on the game is pretty much unprecedented. The colloquy genius has given us his blessing with another ground breaking and poetically astonishing LP. In an era where the integrity and quality of hip-hop has been questioned, Rakim has chosen to metaphorically title his 3rd solo album “The Seventh Seal”.
If you are yearning for 56.9 minutes of pure lyrical bliss, then this is the album that you’ve been longing for. Verbs, adjectives, synonyms, antonyms and run-on sentences have been constructed into unmarred poet grammar. Covering every subject from spirituality (“Holy Are You”/“Man Above”) to women (“Pyschic Love”) to criminal activity (“Documentary of a Gangsta”) this album measures up to what is expected from rap monarchy.
Ra chose to envelop his bars around the beats of mostly underground/local producers who further help to solidify this record. It’s not like he needs mainstreamers on his LP to make it jump anyway, so that move is well understood.
Rakim has been recognized on each and every avenue of hip-hop. Almost every trendsetting rapper (Jay, ‘Pac, Ghostface, Em, 50, Killa Priest, Wayne, Nas – to name a few) has paid him homage along the way. A lot of artist could the craft of cleverly dialoging 16-bars from the veteran rap guru; and he acutely reveals this notion on the opening track “How to Emcee”.
This release further reveals Kim’s uncanny ability to raise the bar at any given moment. Every “radio head” can identify with Rakim as he chants his unconditional love for music and conveys his genuine devotion to the rap game on this LP.
Being that the game is currently lacking enough emcees with level-headed content (part of the reason hip-hop had a heart attack) this album is much needed. That’s not a diss to anyone, just a reality. There are still some credible heavy hitters out there, Rakim has only returned to lighten the load.
Ra best describes his current release in the song “Satisfaction Guaranteed” by stating, [...I got what ya’ll need/phiens run up and ask where I been/nuthin’ to get ‘em high/ it’s a bag of Rakim….it turns fans to fanatics/hip-hop heads to addicts/phiens hit off that/deejays cut it/let the streets step on that/still a 100% pure…]
Well stated Rakim. Well stated. The "Seventh Seal" is a must have, great for the IPod or a wonderful stocking stuffer. Shout out to “The God MC” – thank you for helping to keep hip-hop alive.

# of songs on album: 14
# of songs worth a listen: 14