Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em

Sound DNA

• Hip-Hop
• Boom Bap

• gritty
• swaggering
• urban

About

The third album from Eric B. & Rakim, 1990’s <i>Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em</i>, expands the repertoire of the storied duo. Once reigning masters of slow flows and measured precision, the pair greeted the 1990s by adding fast-raps and incorporating more storytelling—while doubling down on their tried-and-true battle gnashers and scratch workouts. At the time, <i>Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em</i> was Eric B. & Rakim’s most diverse effort, thanks it to its varied production (the music was handled by the duo, with some uncredited assists from legendary beatmaker Paul C, as well as legend-to-be Large Professor). Though <i>Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em</i>’s influence doesn’t loom as large as 1987’s <i>Paid in Full</i> or 1988’s <i>Follow the Leader</i>, the album was an artistic, commercial, and critical success—among other achievements, it was one of the first albums to receive the famed “five mics” rating in <i>The Source</i>. Reeling from his father’s death in 1989, Rakim met Paul C, and found a connection in one of the producer’s dark, unforgiving beats—a track built off a loop of the unheralded funk group 24-Carat Black. Matching its chilly feel to his own mood, Rakim wrote “In the Ghetto,” a song that released his anguish and reignited his creativity. Other tracks on <i>Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em</i> find the duo attempting to match the high-BPM style of Public Enemy: “Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em,” “No Omega,” and “Untouchables” all feature sped-up tempos, but even with that furious pacing, Rakim loses none of his labyrinthine style (“I push a power that’s punishin’, prepare to be a prisoner/The hit man is the brother with charisma”). One of the album’s most lasting tracks, though, finds Eric B. & Rakim in a romantic mood: Over a loping Al Green sample, Rakim takes the role of both lothario and yarn-spinner on “Mahogany,” a track named after the Diana Ross film. It’s easily the greatest story-rap of his career—a love song that’s sensitive but never soft. It would later be sampled on Nas’ 1994 classic “N.Y. State of Mind.”

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits