{"id":173846,"date":"2024-07-31T12:51:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T12:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=173846"},"modified":"2024-07-31T12:51:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T12:51:47","slug":"rakim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/rakim\/","title":{"rendered":"Rakim\u2019s New Album ‘G.O.D\u2019s Network \u2013 REB7RTH’ and His Role as a Producer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rakim,<a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/best-rapper-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> one of the best rappers of all time<\/a>, released his first album in 15 years, ‘<i>G.O.D\u2019s Network\u2014REB7RTH<\/i>,’ on July 26.<\/p>\n<p>This album is a big surprise \u2014 Rakim is not just rapping but also mainly producing the tracks.<\/p>\n <!-- <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n } else {\r\n jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n }\r\n });\r\n })\r\n <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n <li>Rakim, the \"God MC,\" mainly worked as a producer on his first album in 15 years, G.O.D\u2019s Network \u2013 REB7RTH.<\/li>\r\n <li>The album features famous artists like Method Man and Kurupt and has special appearances by Nipsey Hussle, Prodigy, DMX, and Fred the Godson.<\/li>\r\n <li>The album took four years to create, starting as a simple project but growing into a full album thanks to A&R man Matt \u201cM80\u201d Markoff.<\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \n<h2>How Rakim\u2019s New Album Was Created<\/h2>\n<p>The album’s creation wasn’t easy. It <b>started as a small EP but became a full album <\/b>over four years. This was possible because of Matt \u201cM80\u201d Markoff, who never gave up on the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<i>I\u2019ve known [Rakim’s longtime manager] Matt [Kemp] and Rakim since 2007<\/i>,” says Markoff.<\/p>\n<p>“<i>They’re used to getting calls from me a couple of times a year just for, like, show referrals, verse referrals, things of that nature.<\/i>”<\/p>\n<p>During the pandemic, Markoff talked to Fat Beats, a big name in independent hip-hop. They <b>agreed to a three or four-song EP with Rakim<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>However, as Rakim worked with producers like DJ Premier and Pete Rock, the project grew. Jazzy Jeff later joined and helped shape the album into what it is today.<\/p>\n<h2>Rakim the Producer<\/h2>\n<p>Rakim <b>showed his love for making beats on this album<\/b>. “<i>I always was attached to making beats<\/i>,” Rakim told Grammy.com.<\/p>\n<p>“<i>But I got to the point where I\u2019m confident with my production now. I got the chance to produce the album and jumped at the opportunity.<\/i>”<\/p>\n<p>Rakim didn\u2019t just produce; he also added scratches and played instruments.<\/p>\n<p>He likes to add melodies and rhythms to samples, making them better. This project let him <b>fully explore his musical skills<\/b>.<\/p>\n<h2>Collaborations and Guest Appearances<\/h2>\n<p>The album features many guest artists, such as <b>Method Man, Kurupt, and Masta Killa<\/b>. It also features posthumous verses from <b>Nipsey Hussle, Prodigy, DMX, and Fred the Godson<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>These verses came from Markoff\u2019s collection and fit perfectly into the album.<\/p>\n<p>Markoff recalls the moment he secured Masta Killa’s involvement,<\/p>\n<p>“<i>I was at the first-ever Wu-Tang Clan residency in Vegas, and I told Masta Killa, \u2018Dude, I just got these Rakim beats 10 minutes ago.’ I played 10 seconds of the second beat, which was the beat for \u2018BE ILL.’ And he was like, \u2018That’s the one.<\/i>‘.”<\/p>\n<h2>The Song “Love Is the Message”<\/h2>\n<p>One standout track, “Love Is the Message,” features a verse from Nipsey Hussle. Rakim and his team made the whole song to <b>honor Hussle’s legacy<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>“<i>We kind of glorified who he is and came up with the title \u2018Love Is the Message’ to put everything in perspective,<\/i>” Rakim explains.<\/p>\n<h2>Rakim Reflects on the Album\u2019s Praise<\/h2>\n<p>Rakim feels grateful for the support from his peers. <i>“Hearing praise from my peers is beautiful,”<\/i> he says, moved by the tributes from fellow artists.<\/p>\n<p>For Markoff, the journey to bring new Rakim music to the world was a dream fulfilled.<i> \u201cDream fulfilled,\u201d<\/i> he said. <i>\u201cNow I gotta figure out what I\u2019m going to do for the rest of my life.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Finishing <i>G.O.D\u2019s Network \u2013 REB7RTH<\/i> is a significant moment in Rakim’s career, as the celebrated rapper gets to showcase his talents as both an MC and a producer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10028,"featured_media":173860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10028"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}