Personnel: Rakim (raps), Eric B. (scratches).
Recorded at Power Play Studios, New York.
This is an Enhanced CD which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Eric B. & Rakim: Rakim (rap vocals); Eric B. (DJ).
Additional personnel: Matt Black, DJ Cell (scratches).
Producers: Eric B. & Rakim.
Reissue producer: Jerry Rappaport.
Recorded at Powerplay Studios, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Tom Terrell.
Digitally remastered by Suah Gur.
Disc two is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Rakim (rap vocals); Eric B. (scratches).
Recorded at Power Play Studios, New York, New York.
PAID IN FULL is perhaps the most important album of the middle-school era of hip-hop--"I Know You Got Soul," "I Ain't No Joke," and "Eric B. Is President" are as classic as hip-hop songs get. Eric B. & Rakim pioneered the minimalist sound that would form the new-school of hip-hop aesthetics with Eric B.'s innovative distillation of James Brown samples to pure drum and bass-line splendor and Rakim's narcissistic monotonal lyrical bombast. The title cut forwarded the manifesto that all others in hip-hop were to follow: the eternal search for dead presidents.
PAID IN FULL is perhaps the most important album of the middle-school era of hip-hop--"I Know You Got Soul," "I Ain't No Joke," and "Eric B. Is President" are as classic as hip-hop songs get. Eric B. & Rakim pioneered the minimalist sound that would form the new-school of hip-hop aesthetics with Eric B.'s innovative distillation of James Brown samples to pure drum and bass line splendor and Rakim's narcissistic monotonal lyrical bombast. The title cut forwarded the manifesto that all others in hip-hop were to follow: the eternal search for dead presidents.
The platinum edition of PAID IN FULL also includes a CD of all the official U.S. and U.K. remixes, the most famous of which is Coldcut's infamous "7 Minutes of Madness" mix of the title track. The remix doubles the length of the track and brings in sampled guest appearances by then television announcer Don Pardo and then little-known Egyptian vocalist Ofra Haza. Other standouts on the second disc include Derek B.'s remix of "Paid in Full," featuring snatches of John Cougar's "Jack and Diane" and Richie Rich's mix of "I Know You Got Soul," which showcases the guitar riff from Rufus & Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody."
PAID IN FULL is perhaps the most important album of the middle-school era of hip-hop--"I Know You Got Soul," "I Ain't No Joke," and "Eric B. Is President" are as classic as hip-hop songs get. Eric B. & Rakim pioneered the minimalist sound that would form the new-school of hip-hop aesthetics with Eric B.'s innovative distillation of James Brown samples to pure drum and bass line splendor and Rakim's narcissistic monotonal lyrical bombast. The title cut forwarded the manifesto that all others in hip-hop were to follow: the eternal search for dead presidents.
One of the most influential rap albums of all time, Eric B. & Rakim's Paid in Full only continues to grow in stature as the record that ushered in hip-hop's modern era. The stripped-down production might seem a little bare to modern ears, but Rakim's technique on the mic still sounds utterly contemporary, even state-of-the-art -- and that from a record released in 1987, just one year after Run-D.M.C. hit the mainstream. Rakim basically invents modern lyrical technique over the course of Paid in Full, with his complex internal rhymes, literate imagery, velvet-smooth flow, and unpredictable, off-the-beat rhythms. The key cuts here are some of the most legendary rap singles ever released, starting with the duo's debut sides, "Eric B. Is President" and "My Melody." "I Know You Got Soul" single-handedly kicked off hip-hop's infatuation with James Brown samples, and Eric B. & Rakim topped it with the similarly inclined "I Ain't No Joke," a stunning display of lyrical virtuosity. The title cut, meanwhile, planted the seeds of hip-hop's material obsessions over a monumental beat. There are also three DJ showcases for Eric B., who like Rakim was among the technical leaders in his field. If sampling is the sincerest form of admiration in hip-hop, Paid in Full is positively worshipped. Just to name a few: Rakim's tossed-off "pump up the volume," from "I Know You Got Soul," became the basis for M/A/R/R/S' groundbreaking dance track; Eminem, a devoted Rakim student, lifted lines from "As the Rhyme Goes On" for the chorus of his own "The Way I Am"; and the percussion track of "Paid in Full" has been sampled so many times it's almost impossible to believe it had a point of origin. Paid in Full is essential listening for anyone even remotely interested in the basic musical foundations of hip-hop -- this is the form in its purest essence. [This album was also released in a "Platinum Edition" featuring a bonus disc of remixes.] ~ Steve Huey minimize