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William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of golden age hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: Paid in Full (1987), Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992). He also released four solo albums: The 18th Letter (1997), The Master (1999), The Seventh Seal (2009), and G.O.D.'s Network: Reb7rth (2024).
Rakim is considered a transformative figure in hip hop. He helped to pioneer the use of internal rhymes and multisyllabic rhymes, and was among the first to demonstrate the possibilities of sitting down to write intricately crafted lyrics packed with clever word choices and metaphors rather than the more improvisational styles and simpler rhyme patterns that predominated before him. Rakim is also credited with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic old school flows to more complex flows. Rapper Kool Moe Dee explained: "Rakim is basically the inventor of flow. We were not even using the word flow until Rakim came along. It was called rhyming, it was called cadence, but it wasn't called flow. Rakim created flow!"
Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, while Rakim himself was ranked No. 4 on MTV's list of the Greatest MCs of All Time. Steve Huey of AllMusic stated that "Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs – perhaps the greatest – of all time within the hip-hop community". The editors of About.com ranked him No. 2 on their list of the 'Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)'. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 1 on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time".
However, after being introduced to local DJ Eric B. by his friend Alvin Toney, he began writing lyrics to fit Eric's instrumentals and chose instead to focus on a career in music. Then known as Kid Wizard, he made his first recordings live at Wyandanch High School in the year 1985.
Rakim was initially introduced to the Nation of Islam in 1986; he later joined The Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as the 5 Percent Nation) and adopted the Arabic name Rakim Allah. He also chose to use “Rakim Allah” as his stage name, although it was most often shortened to simply “Rakim”. During his career he has been nicknamed the "God MC" because of his acclaimed status as an MC and a reference to the "Allah" in his stage name, which is the Arabic word for God.
On July 7, 1987, the duo released their debut album, Paid in Full, on the Island Records-subsidiary label 4th & B'way Records. The album peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200 chart and produced five singles: "Eric B. Is President", "I Ain't No Joke", "I Know You Got Soul", "Move the Crowd", and "Paid in Full"."". Allmusic. Accessed August 4, 2008.
In 1992, Eric B & Rakim released their fourth and final album, Don't Sweat the Technique. The title track was a minor radio hit. "Casualties of War" was also released as a single. "Know the Ledge" first appeared in the film Juice under the title "Juice (Know the Ledge)". However, Eric B. refused to sign MCA's release contract, fearful that Rakim would abandon him. This led to a long, complicated court battle involving the two musicians and MCA. The legal wrangling eventually led to the duo dissolving completely.
In June 1999, Rakim appeared on three tracks of "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" by Art of Noise. AllMusic's Keith Farley notes that "the album charts the artistic use of sampled – pioneered by the Art of Noise themselves – with nods to '80s hip-hop plus their '90s equivalent, drum'n'bass.""Farley, Keith" [2] allmusic.com. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
In November 1999, Rakim released The Master, which received good reviews but sold poorly.
Rakim was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label in 2000,Elon Johnson and Heather Parry (October 27, 2000). " Rakim Signs With Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records ". MTV. Retrieved January 24, 2008. for work on an album tentatively titled Oh, My God. The album underwent numerous changes in artistic direction and personnel and was delayed several times. While working on the album, Rakim made guest appearances on four Aftermath projects, including the hit single "Addictive" by Truth Hurts and its remix (which featured a different Rakim verse from the main version), the Dr. Dre-produced "The Watcher Part 2" by Jay-Z, and Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack album with the track "R.A.K.I.M".
However, Rakim left the label in 2003 and Oh, My God was indefinitely shelved." Q & A w/ Rakim: Guess Who's Back? " ThaFormula.com (2005). Retrieved January 24, 2008. After Rakim eventually left Aftermath Entertainment, he stated that the reason he departed the label was because of creative differences with Dr. Dre. Discussing the period later, Rakim discussed how he was seeking to write conscious material, while Dr. Dre was encouraging him to pursue gangsta rap narratives instead.
In another interview with Billboard in 2009, he stated,
The Seventh Seal was released on November 17, 2009, after several delays on Rakim's own Ra Records, TVM, and SMC Recordings and distributed through Fontana Records and Universal Music Group. Considered a comeback album after a ten-year gap between releases, the album features the two singles: "Holy Are You", which was released on July 14, 2009, and "Walk These Streets" which was released on October 7, 2009. It features production from several renowned hip hop artists, including Nottz, J. Wells, Needlz, Jake One, and Nick Wiz. The album sold 12,000 copies in the United States by November 22, 2009, according to SoundScan. Hip Hop Album Sales the Week Ending 11/22/2009 . HipHopDX. Retrieved on November 25, 2009. Upon its release, The Seventh Seal received generally mixed or average reviews from most music critics; it holds an aggregate score of 59/100 at Metacritic. The Seventh Seal (2009): Reviews . Metacritic. Retrieved on November 25, 2009.
In 2012, Rakim announced that he and Eric B. would release a 25th anniversary edition of their 1987 album Paid in Full, which would contain new tracks recorded by Eric B. & Rakim, by the end of 2012; Rakim announced he would release a new solo album by the end of 2012. He performed at the annual The Roots' Picnic in Philadelphia in June. In an interview with The Detroit Free Press he announced he was in the studio with Pharrell Williams working on a new album set to be released in 2013, saying the first single will be released before the end of the year.[7]
On September 24, 2013, he released a collaborative single with DMX entitled "Don't Call Me".
In 2014, Rakim is featured on the collaborative single with American rock band Linkin Park, titled "Guilty All the Same". The song was released on March 6, 2014, by Warner Bros. Records as the first single from their sixth studio album, titled The Hunting Party. He contributed his rhymes during the bridge for the main version of the song; however, he is not featured on the radio edit of the song. The song was officially released on March 7, 2014, for digital download.
On April 27, 2015, Rakim announced he was working on a new album and planned to release it in the middle or end of 2015. He said "This is one of those albums where I can have fun. My last album, The Seventh Seal, was somewhat of a conscious album. I wanted to make a statement on that album."
On October 20, 2016, it was announced via Twitter that Rakim had reunited with Eric B. after 23 years. The duo teased a potential reunion tour the next morning, hosting a poll for the fans to give their opinion on what city Eric B. & Rakim should start the tour. Four locations were the potential candidates: New York City, Las Vegas, London, and Australia. Since the announcement of the reunion, fans have speculated if the two will drop a new studio album in the near future.
In late-June 2018, a new song, "King's Paradise", was released on . Rakim performed the song for the first time on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts series along with former A Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad and producer Adrian Younge.
In May 2024, Masta Killa teased an image of Rakim, Kurupt and himself with the upcoming release of a single on June 21, 2024, titled Be Ill. Two weeks later, it was announced that Rakim's fourth studio album would be titled G.O.D.'s Network: Reb7rth, and would be fully produced by Rakim himself. The limited special edition of the album has been announced to feature artists such as Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, Planet Asia and Kobe. On May 29, 2024, Rakim posted a video of a potential video shoot of the new single on his Instagram. G.O.D.'s Network: Reb7rth was released on July 26, 2024.
Rakim collaborated with Hus Kingpin on the Big Ghost-produced single "Now Is The Time," the second release from his album The Re-Up, which was dropped on August 8, 2025, alongside the official music video, ahead of the album's full release.
On May 21, 2025, Rakim was awarded the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America, the highest honor bestowed by the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Artists and critics often credit Rakim with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic old school flows to more complex flows. Kool Moe Dee says, "any emcee that came after 1986 had to study Rakim just to know what to be able to do. ... Rakim, in 1986, gave us flow and that was the rhyme style from 1986 to 1994. ... From that point on, anybody emceeing was forced to focus on their flow." Kool Moe Dee explains that before Rakim, the term 'flow' wasn't widely used – "Rakim is basically the inventor of flow. We were not even using the word flow until Rakim came along. It was called rhyming, it was called cadence, but it wasn't called flow. Rakim created flow!" He adds that while Rakim upgraded and popularized the focus on flow, "he didn't invent the word".
Rakim's subject matter often covered his own rapping skills and lyrical superiority over other rappers.Darby, Derrick; Shelby, Tommie; West, Cornel (2005). Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason. p. 42. Open Court Publishing. . AllMusic editor Steve Huey comments that "the majority of his lyrics concern his own skills and his Islamic faith." He also notes Rakim for his "complex internal rhymes, compounding, literate imagery, velvet-smooth flow, and unpredictable, off-the-beat rhythms."Huey, Steve. . Allmusic. Retrieved on October 19, 2009. Pitchfork writer Jess Harvell described his rapping as "authoritative, burnished, and possessing an unflappable sense of rhythm".
Rolling Stone magazine listed it at number 227 on "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", calling it "Ice-grilled, laid-back, diamond-sharp: Rakim is a front-runner in the race for Best Rapper Ever, and this album is a big reason why."" 227 Paid in Full ". Rolling Stone (November 1, 2003). Accessed July 15, 2008. Similarly, Blender magazine included the album in its "500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die"." 500 CDs You Must Own: Hip-Hop ". Blender magazine (April 2003). Accessed September 24, 2008. Time magazine listed it as one of the eighteen albums of the 1980s in its "All-TIME 100" albums; editor Alan Light acknowledged the record for changing the "sound, flow, and potential" of hip hop and that if Rakim is "the greatest MC of all time, as many argue, this album is the evidence".
Jess Harvell of Pitchfork complimented Rakim for an "endless display of pure skill" and described the album as "laidback and funky", but believed it contained "too much filler to get a free 'classic' pass". Pitchfork placed Paid in Full at number fifty-two in its "Top 100 Albums of the 1980s"; editor Sam Chennault wrote that Rakim inspired a generation of MCs and "defined what it meant to be a hip-hop lyricist".Chennault, Sam (November 20, 2002). " Top 100 Albums of the 1980s ". Pitchfork Media. Accessed September 29, 2008. The rappers who have used the unique rapping style employed by Rakim and attribute it as inspiration include GZA, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon (from the Wu-Tang Clan), Tupac, Nas, Kool G. Rap, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, 50 Cent, Cordae and many more." MTV.com: The Greatest MCs Of All Time ". MTV (2006). Accessed October 28, 2008. On July 11, 1995, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album platinum." RIAA Searchable Database – Paid in Full ". Recording Industry Association of America. Accessed September 5, 2008. As of December 1997, it has sold over a million copies.
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