When you look at hip-hop, I want to do that: to spit fire and take our best from the ashes to build our kingdom; to recognize all the regional styles, conscious lyrics, the tracks, underground, mainstream, the way we treat each other. Lose the garbage and rebuild our scene. Rakim Read Quote
Back in the day, rappers were ‘bump bump bump ba bump ba bump.’ They was rhyming like that, but I was like, ‘bababa bump bump babum ba babump bababa bump.’ Rakim Read Quote
My aunt Ruth Brown was a jazz musician. I got hooked on it at a young age, understanding what John Coltrane was doing playing two notes on the saxophone at the same time, which is impossible. Rakim Read Quote
I’ve always tried to insert consciousness and spirituality in my records, interpreting the writings of all cultures and religions and how they apply to life in modern times. Rakim Read Quote
My thing was, I loved music. I played music: I played the saxophone. So the little bit of music knowhow I had, I tried to implement that in every thing I did, from my style, my cadence, the way I tried to pause and stagnate it; that all came from John Coltrane and listening to jazz albums. Trying to rhyme like a jazz player. Rakim Read Quote
Without no disrespect to any artist, there’s a lot of degrading music out there as far as degrading the culture and degrading society as well. That’s individuals that choose to make that kind of music. Rakim Read Quote
Jada, Styles P, the LOX, period. You throw on one of their joints… I’m in the whip; I try to keep my cool in the whip. I don’t like bouncing around, getting my crazy on, but it’s certain joints you gotta wild out. Roll the window down, blast the joints, let it be heard. That’s one of them groups that bang it out. Rakim Read Quote
When I started rhyming, my favorite rhythms were from John Coltrane and some of the things he did on sax. And certain rhythms that I hear on drums, I try to emulate with my words, dropping on the same patterns that them beats or them notes would hit. Rakim Read Quote
