Takeover Magazine 1st issue april 15th 2016 | Page 22

4. Rakim
The dividing line between old-school and new-school isn’t a year, it’s a
person: Rakim. His 1987 debut with Eric B, Paid in Full, was a
quantum leap in terms of mic techniques, from its complex internal
rhyme schemes to his soft-spoken delivery. The street-conscious
tightrope he walked in his lyrics -- criminal, intellectual, everyman,
god, all at the same time -- set a blueprint that rappers from Nas to
Kendrick Lamar still follow today.

....................................................................................................................................................................................................
20