I’m more of a wordsmith, so I like taking different words and trying to see what I can do with them – as many things as possible. Rakim Read Quote
You can’t have 12 records on your album and none of them sound alike. You gotta kind of have something to make them say, ‘That sounds like Rakim.’ Rakim Read Quote
I had a lot of respect for Prodigy. He brought the hood to the booth. When we were trying to shape this rap thing into something, he was one of the cats I respected for bringing the hood into the booth. Rakim Read Quote
I was heavily influenced by Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, but I kind of wanted to take it somewhere else. Rakim Read Quote
I’m not a mainstream artist. But I’ve seen my kids being born; I’ve seen them take their first steps, I’ve seen them grow up and start school. That’s worth more to me than any umpteen million dollars. Rakim Read Quote
The golden age was when people were starting to understand what hip-hop was and how to use it. I was lucky to come up then. Everybody wanted to be original and have substance; it was somewhat conscious… There was an integrity that people respected. Rakim Read Quote
I love Kanye for that. Being a producer, making beats, and being a rapper. He does it all. Rakim Read Quote
