They ain't no joke
Old school rap took a giant leap towards rolling with the new when Eric B. and Rakim's Paid in Full began vibrating dorm room walls and Brooklyn sidewalks in the fall of 1987. Showcasing both DJ Eric Barrier's genre-defining turntable skills and production and William Griffin's nearly unmatched rhyming prowess, the New York City duo's debut hit big upon it's initial release, and was recently named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV. Greatest hip hop album of all time is stretching it a little, but Paid in Full certainly belongs in the top 20. Unlike most groundbreaking rap albums of the early-to-mid 80's, it's just as aesthetically pleasing as it is exponentially influential. Countless rappers and hip hop beatmakers owe Eric B. and Rakim for a large portion of their sound. Rakim's vocal style and multi-syllabic rhymes gave birth to everyone from Eminem and Black Thought of the Roots to Tupac and Mos Def. Eric B's soundscapes sketched the blueprint for post-Paul's Boutique Beastie Boys and occasionally seemed to encapsulate what would eventually become rap-rock. Nearly all 10 tracks on the record are primed to blow your speakers (and your mind if you'll let them). "I Ain't No Joke," "My Melody" and "I Know You Got Soul" were the hits, but "As the Rhyme Goes On" and the title track are Barrier and Griffin at their best.
