Happy 30th Anniversary to Eric B. & Rakim’s third studio album Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em, originally released June 19, 1990.
I have no idea why I don’t rank Eric B. & Rakim’s Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em higher on my personal “Greatest Albums of All Time” list. Sometimes I feel like I have it hard-wired into my brain that both their debut album Paid In Full (1987) and their follow-up Follow The Leader (1988) are definitively better albums. But in reality, the pair’s third offering is just as good, if not a possibly better album, and in the upper echelon of the best hip-hop albums ever released.
Thirty years after its release, Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em stands as Eric “B” Barrier and William “Rakim” Griffin’s most dynamic and energetic album. It also features the strongest lyrical performance by Rakim, which is no easy feat, considering that even by 1990 he was comfortably considered the God of Emceeing. As the years pass, my love for this album only grows.
Eric B. & Rakim released Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em a little less than two years after Follow The Leader. Back then, that was a long time between projects. Rakim wrote in his autobiography Sweat The Technique that his lack of output was the result of his father’s death in 1989. This loss was devastating to him, and he explained that for months afterwards he “felt paralyzed in my soul.” He recounts sitting in his house for weeks, listening to Bob James’ “Nautilus” and Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” glued to the couch, feeling trapped in the “gilded cage” that was his career. “I didn’t want to write rhymes anymore,” he wrote. “I didn’t want to hear hip-hop. I was done. For months I wouldn’t even touch a mic. … I couldn’t even set foot in the studio. … I wasn’t in my own body.”
Rakim added that what eventually got him to rap again was pioneering producer and friend Paul C playing him an early version of the beat that would become “In The Ghetto.” Rakim heard it and recognized that it was something that his father would have liked, and that he could use the track to talk about the man who meant so much to him. Newly inspired, he began the process of putting together what would become Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em.
“[N]o one was going to take my spot,” Rakim wrote. “There had to be something that I could do better or some way that I could be better. I had to go further and deeper. I had to take my songs to the next level. The only challenge to my throne was complacency.”
Rakim is certainly not complacent on Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em, finding an extra gear that allows him to go further and deeper. He raps as if anti-freeze pumps through his veins, moving with an effortless cool and steely resolve from track to track. The imagery through the album is more vivid, from the descriptions of the consequences of facing the God to story rhymes about impressing members of the opposite sex.
Musically, Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em’s production is also top notch. Most of the tracks move at hyper speeds to keep up with Rakim’s hyper flows. Tracks approach 110 BPM, occasionally getting close to hitting 120 BPM. The tracks are often built around heavy James Brown-era grooves, with some smooth soul and straight jazz thrown into the mix. Still, the tracks feel as stark and lacking in pretension as anything released during the era. There are rarely any “hooks” to speak of, with the choruses occasionally being filled by scratches, but more often just the funkiness of the original sample.
As usual for an Eric B. & Rakim album, the accuracy of the production credits has come into question. The duo receive credit for all of the tracks on the album, but they likely had a lot of help. It’s generally accepted that the aforementioned Paul C, who was tragically murdered in 1989, did a lot of the initial production, either putting together the skeletons for the songs, or often finding the records to sample. Current production luminary Large Professor, who worked as Paul C’s assistant at the time, has said that he put together the finished versions of at least a few of the beats that his mentor started.
One of the tracks Paul C did early work on was the title track, which also became the album’s first single. Rakim carries himself with a dead serious demeanor throughout the song, sounding understated yet dominant. Musically, the track is one of the album’s darkest and most complex, mixing elements from Bob James’ “Nautilus” and his version of “Night On Bald Mountain,” with drums from the Commodores’ “Assembly Line.”
Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em is at its best when Rakim rhymes at a breakneck pace. Despite firing words and phrases with the force of Gatling gun, he still moves with incredible precision and clarity. On “No Omega,” he kicks one long verse with the occasional brief pause, devising devious ways to execute wack emcees and speaking to the prowess of Eric B.’s scratching ability (which is a bit of a stretch).
Rakim moves at a similar tempo on “Run For Cover,” conducting verbal warfare and laying waste to entire cities over a sample of Tony Alvon & The Belairs’ “Sexy Coffee Pot.” He raps, “Whoever's living large better wear camouflage / Prepare to be bumrushed when I yell, “Charge!’”
“Untouchables” is like a smoother version of “Follow the Leader,” with Rakim channeling his latter-day Mafioso persona over a sped-up sample of Herbie Hancock’s “Oliloqui Valley” and the hard-hitting drums from Young-Holt Unlimited’s “Bumpin’ On Main Street.” Rakim flows as effortlessly as purified mountain spring water on top of the liquid bassline and sprinklings of keys. Addressing the immense power of his mental abilities, he raps, “Thoughts bounce around till my skull is fractured / Inside my brain it’s all manufactured / As we go deeper it’s hard to find / Don’t even think about it, ’cause you can't read my mind.”
“Keep ’Em Eager To Listen” is another lyric heavy bonanza, with Rakim hitting the sped-up sample of Funk Inc.’s version of “Message From The Meters” like a heavy-bag. The song is a four-verse testament to the power of his rhymes, with the second verse being an overlooked testament to his skill, as he describes the effect his raps have on his opponent’s body and mental state. “Opponents are found paralyzed from the mic down,” he states. “Left with a little sight, ears still hear the sound / Try to clear your mind, but it's still there / Give him about a year, then give him a wheelchair.”
Occasionally the pair do slow things down a bit. They’re most effective on the aforementioned “In the Ghetto,” the album’s second single and one of the best songs in the duo’s discography. It’s a grim ode to the poverty-infested neighborhood of Rakim’s youth, as he narrates his experience growing up in an environment where hope is a rare commodity. The mood is set by a sample of “Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth” by the obscure soul group 24-Carat Black, along with the extra-crispy drum break from Bill Withers’ “Kissing My Love.”
The song is one of Rakim’s poetic masterpieces, as he leaves “fossils and dents” on the streets and sidewalks, maintaining awareness of his dire situation, but never succumbing to despair. “I'm God, but it seems like I'm locked in Hell,” he raps. “Looking over the edge, but the R never fell.” Later, he reflects, “I thought the ghetto was the worst that could happen to me / I’m glad I listened when my father was rapping to me.”
On “Mahogany,” the album’s third single and one of its strongest offerings, Eric B. & Rakim travel new ground, releasing their first “for the ladies” story track. Built around a sample from Al Green’s “I’m Glad You’re Mine,” Rakim tells the story of meeting a fly, no-nonsense woman at the Palladium club, earning her affection not through physical lust, but rather by sparking her intellect. The song also features one of the most accurate depictions of Rakim’s mentality, as he raps, “She asked how come I don’t smile / I said, ‘Everything’s fine, but I’m in a New York state of mind.’”
Rakim’s mystique is an essential part of his persona as an artist, and its one that he’s rarely allowed to crack throughout his lengthy career. It wouldn’t be quite accurate to say that Rakim reveals more of himself on the album-closing “Set ’Em Straight,” but at least he pulls back the curtain on the reasons why he never pulls back the curtain.
With his first verse, “the Black sheik” delves into why he eschews the glitz that frequently goes along with being a rap superstar. “Who needs the TV screens and magazines,” he states. “Or shooting through the city in fly limousines / There’s one thing I don't like, it's the spotlight / ’Cause I already got light.” During his second verse, he goes into the persistent rumors that his hiatus was in fact due to him serving time at Rikers Island for selling crack. “If I go to jail, it won't be for selling keys,” he responds. “It'll be for murdering emcees.”
Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em remains the sleeper in Eric B. & Rakim’s catalogue, tucked between their beloved first two albums and Don’t Sweat The Technique (1992), their final collaboration together. It was respected at the time of its release, earning the coveted 5 Mics award from The Source, back when the ratings actually meant something.
It’s a shame that as the years have passed Let The Rhythm Hit ’Em isn’t as revered as it deserves to be. But for heads who really know, the album has a special place in the pantheon of great albums and even greater lyrical performances. The album shows that the God knew when it was time to step up in the face of tragedy and still perform at the absolute highest level.
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