A couple of weeks ago on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SIRIUSXM OutQ, I talked about current hip-hop music. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I've been listening to the art form since about 1985 (Run-D.M.C.'s King Of Rock came out that year, I was in high school) so I feel I can claim it a little bit. Anyway, one of the callers lamented the lack of "actual content" in current hip-hop music. I don't disagree, I consider myself a big hip-hop fan, but I am rarely impressed with most of the big names today, without mentioning any names. To be fair, I wouldn't want to compare too many of today's rock bands with The Beatles or Zeppelin, either.
Anyway, one record that won't get the same promotion or press that, say, Lil Wayne's every move does, is the new Rakim album, The Seventh Seal, which comes out Tuesday. For a long time, he was working with Dr. Dre on his album, which was supposed to come out on Dre's Aftermath label (also home to Eminem and 50 Cent). Eventually Rakim bailed on what seemed like a great opportunity, because Dre was trying to position Rakim for maximum sales by making him "gangsta." In this interview with 17 Dots, he explains why he wasn't cool with that.
Anyway, I predict that this will be a really good album, and hopefully it will be a great one. On a similar note, here's hoping that Eric B & Rakim will be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one of these days. I think they're that influencial on hip-hop and all the music that is inspired by hip-hop.
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