![\"rakim\"](\"http:\/\/jamesrichardson.net\/jtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/rakim.jpg\")
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Today is the birthday of William Griffith, better known in hip hop circles as Rakim, also known as Rakim Allah, a.k.a. the microphone fiend<\/a>, a.k.a. the God MC, a.k.a the Greatest MC of ALL TIME in my humble opinion. He is turning 47 today.<\/p>\n Rakim took his name from Sun God RA and the ancient Egyptian kingdom of KIM. He was one of the first MCs to move from simplified verses into a style that blended complex metaphors with internal and multisyllabic rhymes culminating in a laid back delivery. At a time when other contemporaries like LL Cool J<\/a>, KRS-One<\/a>, and Run-DMC<\/a>. delivered their vocals with screams and force, Rakim defied those conventions by developing a flowing style capable of verbally deconstructing an opponent all while making it seem like he wasn’t even breaking a sweat.<\/p>\n When he released the track “Follow the Leader”<\/a> and I heard how complex verses could be inter-weaved with social and cultural issues, all while still retaining the bold and braggadocious style that defined hip hop, I could never truly look at MCs the same way again. He single-handedly changed the game and sent me back to the lab to rebuild my own style<\/a>. I tore up my book of rhymes<\/a> and started again from scratch. I both loved and hated him for that. The R was no joke<\/a>! Rakim to me was the Robert Frost of Hip Hop.<\/p>\n Happy Birthday Rakim! Long live the King.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is the birthday of William Griffith, better known in hip hop circles as Rakim. I can easily say without hesitation that he is my all time favorite MC. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,6],"tags":[710,708,767,606,711,604,608,540,609,709,607,707,272,605],"class_list":["post-4434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hip-hop","category-lifestyle","tag-eric-b","tag-follow-the-leader","tag-hip-hop","tag-hitem-high-hitem-low","tag-i-aint-no-joke","tag-ill-flow","tag-j-rock","tag-mc","tag-mic","tag-microphone-fiend","tag-music-industry","tag-rakim","tag-rap","tag-rewind"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t