Rakim rocks crowd of hip-hop heads

Hip-hop, birthed in the Bronx, was meant to be a form of expression that “moved the crowd,” providing joy for fans through clever yet insightful commentary on issues within that community.

That era of the genre is what Rakim called the “essence” on Sunday night as he performed for a crowd of hip-hop heads, lightly spotting the Bluebird’s concrete floor.

“Preserve the essence,” he said. “Remember the roots, so people won’t be saying hip-hop is dead.”

Dropping his first record more than two decades ago, Rakim lent a bridge from “yes, yallin’” to the fluid, punch-line filled lyrics of today with eight albums between 1987 and 2008.

The same smooth delivery he laced tracks with to the beats of Eric B. in the mid ‘80s were on display for fans who filled in every gap left by DJ the Technician as Rakim thrust his microphone toward the reciting crowd.

Performing tracks now considered the standard of hip-hop, Rakim had his DJ dig into the crates for classic records like “Paid in Full,” “Move the Crowd” and “Mahogany.”

But what most captivated those on hand was an a capella rendition of “Follow the Leader.”

Rakim bent down to the crowd, spouting off mystical lines and invoking images of the stars and moon to equate what he saw as the equivalent of his way with rhymes.   

“Let’s travel at magnificent speeds around the Universe,” he rhymed. “What could ya say as the Earth gets further and further away? Planets are small as balls of clay. Astray into the Milky Way – world’s out of sight – far as the eye can see, not even a satellite.”

Lyrics like those had a small group of fans awaiting Rakim through DJ sets and two earlier acts. The smooth rhythms of A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde and Nas kept them occupied.

Despite the blaring sounds of class tracks, some were unsettled by the weak showing for who they thought was one of the pioneers of present-day hip-hop.

“We wouldn’t have been able to get in here in '85,” said Darin Hubbard, who came to see the show from Indianapolis. “Hip-hop went to a place where it lost its way and lost its meaning. So now you have a lot of people who can’t rap, but have the music behind them and the girls dancing, and everybody’s cool with it.”

On stage, Rakim talked about mastering the craft of rhyme, speaking of the simplicity it takes to create when done correctly.

“After you start practicing and you master your craft, it’s nothing after a while,” he said. “Whatever you do in life, you want to get it to a point where it’s like: ‘It’s nothing.’”

Rakim breezed through his set, which was full of complex rhymes delivered in a nonchalant manner. As the lighting flickered and hands swayed, he broke into “Paid in Full,” the signature song from his first album.

The track introduced the world to Rakim, and senior Menelik Adisa said he remembers that song being the first he heard from Rakim. Since then, he said he has seen the lyricists’ style duplicated by newer artists.

“What attracted me to him was that he called himself the ‘God MC’” he said. “A lot of rappers emulate themselves after him, like ‘Hova.’ That’s all some form of God.”

When leaving the stage Rakim placed his microphone to the stage floor, spun it and circled the crowd to congregate with fans clamoring for handshakes.

“Thanks for the love,” he said. “ From ‘86 ‘til now.”