Yet another complaint about the list, but I dont see how the FUCK this didn't make it...easily one of Rakim's best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk2aejdfEKk

Punisher is fuckin dope. This list should seriously be 20 Rakim tracks, 10 KRS-One tracks, 10 Big Daddy Kane tracks, and the remaining 60 is whatever.



Eh, yea he had. He was already head shoulders above everyone else, its just with each subsequent album he got better. But still, those songs should be on here.

I love your taste, I MUCH prefer that era of hip-hop (roughly '86-'93).

I dont know how much of Rakim's stuff you've heard, but I've heard about 90% of it and I'm trying to make a top 10 lyric performances for him (on that particular thread). Was wondering if you wanna help?
I have a rough draft up but it's not quite right yet...

I'd say...
1. Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em (illest rhymes ever spit)
2. Casualties Of War
3. Follow The Leader
4. Waiting For The World To End
5. In The Ghetto
6. Lyrics Of Fury
7. The Punisher
8. Untouchables
9. The 18th Letter
10. My Melody

I've heard all of his stuff except 18th letter and The Master.

I dont really like his solo stuff as much, with a few exceptions. His lyrics were still incredible, but the sound was more of a Tupac 'gangsta' kind of sound, which I dont think suits him. But some of the performances are killer. Check out Waiting For The World To End.

Seriously though, Melle Mel's verses in The Message ("a child is born" to be specific) and Beat Street Breakdown should be here.

Tell me one thing that isn't ill about this:

A newspaper burns in the sand, and the headlines say ‘Man destroys Man!’
Extra! Extra! Read all the bad news on the war for peace that everybody would lose
The rise and fall, the last great empire, the sound of the whole world caught on fire
The ruthless struggle, the desperate gamble
The game that left the whole world in shambles
The cheats, the lies, the alibis
And the foolish attempt to conquer the skies
Lost in space, and what is it worth, huh?
The president just forgot about Earth
Spending multi billions, and maybe even trillions
The cost of weapons ran into zillions
There’s gold in the street, and diamonds under feet
And the children in Africa don’t even eat
Flies on their faces, they’re living like mice
And the houses even make the ghetto look nice, Huh!
The water tastes funny, it’s forever too sunny
And they work all month and don’t make no money
A fight for power, a nuclear shower
And people shout out in the darkest hour
Of sights unseen and voices unheard
And finally the bomb gets the last word
Christians killed Muslims, and Germans killed Jews
And everybody’s bodies are used and abused, Huh!
Minds are poisoned and souls are polluted
Superiority complex is deep rooted
Leeches and lice’s, and people got prices
Egomaniacs control the self-righteous
Nothing is sacred and nothing is pure
So the revelation of death is our cure
Hitler and Caesar, Custer and Reagan
Napoleon, Castro, Mussolini and Begin
Ghengis Khan and the Shah of Iran
Men spill the blood of the weaker man
The peoples in terror, the leaders made the error
And now they can’t even look in the mirror
‘Cause we gotta suffer while things get rougher
And that’s the reason why we got to get tougher
To learn from the past and work for the future
And don’t be a slave to no computer
‘Cause the Children of Man inherits the land
And the future of the world is in your hands

Memory Lane-Nas???

What are you trying to say, pave?

i'm just laughing at how when posters come to the rap forum they immediately change their vocabulary.

but it ain't no thang homie, we good.

Describing music of any other genre as dope really does sound wrong.

Nuttin but a G thang, mah nigga.

Can't believe I never saw this til now.

But yea, Beat Street Breakdown and The Message totally need to be here and at least in the top 10.

Question - while Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em is undoubtedly Rakim's most 'impressive' lyrical performance (with the Eric B. days anyway), should it really be ranked his highest on this list?
As far as "greatness", I'd think something from Paid In Full or Follow The Leader would rank highest. Though I prefer Rhythm over most of them by far, for it's razor-sharp lyrical perfection.

Also does anyone object to "Set It Off" remaining #1? It really is a beast of a performance, especially for that time period.

Only one Bone Thugs song? Where is Krayzie Bone's performance from "Flow Motion".