After the successful 1987-debut, Paid in Full, Eric B & Rakim picked up where they left off with, Follow The Leader. But did it live up to the hype? Let’s chop it up!
As he did in his debut, Rakim let his fellow emcees know that he was supreme lyricist. In fact, many thought he took a shot at Big Daddy Kane in “Microphone Fiend.”
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“Smooth operator operating correctly,” The God-MC spits.
The album would be responsible for other hits such as “The R,” “Lyrics of Fury,” and the album’s title track, propelling the album to Gold status.
Although Follow The Leader’s subject matter was all about Rakim’s rap skills being elite among his peers, Rolling Stone critic Mark Coleman thought it was too excessive.
“Rakim spends too much time trashing other rappers and reasserting his supremacy in the genre. Still, he has point.”- Mark Coleman (Rolling Stone)
Mr. Coleman had a point considering artists like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions had begun to used their voice to bring awareness to real life issues. However, this was still during the B-Boy era–and bragging about your emcee skills were the norm.
Ironically, the album got much praise by being selected as one of The Source’s 100 Best Rap Albums ten years later.
But that’s the critics take. What are your thoughts?
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Eric B & Rakim’s ‘Follow the Leader’; Classic, Dope, Regular, or Garbage?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Classic! – 74%
Regular – 13%
Dope – 13%
Garbage – 0%