Album Description: The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being "green."
To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.
UMe is the first North American music company to replace the traditional jewel case with recycled paperboard sleeves and the plastic tray with trays made from PaperFoam®, a new packaging technology from Shorewood Packaging, a business of International Paper, that is paper-recyclable and biodegradable. Shorewood Packaging is the first North American packaging supplier to produce disc trays from PaperFoam®.
Disc 1:
I Know You Got Soul
Eric B Is President
I Ain't No Joke
Paid In Full (Seven Minutes Of Madness - The Coldcut Remix)
This is how it should be done................................................ ...Cause this best of cd is identical to none! Back in the days when graffiti and breakdancing was rampant and guys rocked fades with gaudy gold chains around their necks and walked up to women with breathe that reeked of backed up septic tanks(and they wonder why they never got a number!), there was the baddest duo that hip hop has ever seen. Eric B The DJ and Rakim the god MC. If any group made you want to be in New York to experience hip hop,it had to be Eric B and Rakim. I can only imagine what the reactions of the clubs were like back then when DJs played I Know You Got Soul and Eric B Is President(back when DJs played real hip hop and not this gay-bay-bay s*** they're playing now!). Rakim giving it to you raw and uncut with his execellent delivery while Eric B compliments his rhymes with funky production and the wicked scratching. All the hits are here like I Aint No Joke, Lyrics Of Fury, Microphone Fiend, Let The Ryhthm Hit Em, In The Ghetto, Follow The Leader and the classic Paid In Full(The Coldcut mix). Rappers still sample Rakim's rhymes till this day. Samples: /I came in the door/ I said It before/(how many rappers you know took that? Dont front!) /I was a fiend before I became a teen/(Dont front. You know you heard that before). I could go on. Bottom Line: the 20th Century Masters did a great job with this best of cd and any fan of Rakim would do well with this best of album as well as their albums. My only gripe is that Dont Sweat The Technique is not on here but other than that I cant complain. It was still a great collection. Standout Tracks: I KNOW YOU GOT SOUL, ERIC B IS PRESIDENT, I AINT NO JOKE, PAID IN FULL, FOLLOW THE LEADER, LYRICS OF FURY, THE PUNISHER, KNOW THE LEDGE and the rest of this best of album!
not the best available! every true hip hop fan should already have every eric b and rakim album or cd,but for those who don't,this is not the best compilation of their work.three classic songs are missing from this "best of" collection, "move the crowd", "as the rhyme goes on" and most noticeably,"my melody",but any eric b and rakim is better than no eric b and rakim, so for the casual hip hop fan this will suffice. if you want a much more complete complilation, go with eric b and rakim "GOLD", a double cd that contains all the great hits and some not so well known songs as well!
The R If you are a fan of hip-hop, you need to cop this album, period. Every single line that the R spits is venom. Every song on this album serves as the blueprint for any song in its genre. For example, "I Ain't No Joke" and "Follow the Leader" are the ultimate battle raps, whereas "In the Ghetto" contains the best rap lyrics of all time. Listen to what Rakim is saying in this song; it is surreal. On a scale of 1 to 5, the beats on this album are a 3. Rakim's lyrics are a 5, no quesiton. Again, if you are a fan of rap, you need to study each of these songs. Note: Rakim's songs after Eric B, such as the ones he did with Premier ("When I be on the Mic" and "It's been a long time") are awesome as well.
"Now is the time for us to react, Take a trip through the mind and when you get back, Understand your third eye seen all of that, It ain't where you from it's where you're at."
Stands up after 20 years "Follow the leader" was played over the sound system between acts at the Coldplay concert in Philly last week. I thought "Man, I haven't heard Eric B. and Rakim in years." I immediately went out and bought this disc and haven't stopped listening to it yet. This is really good stuff and should be listened to by anyone who desires a full appreciation of important music of the 80s.
Check out my melody??? Ok, I am 33 so these guys are definitely staples from my era. These guys are the orignal dynamic duo. All of their stuff was the best but this album is really missing "My Melody" That would make this album truly complete.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
