Rakim went down because industry pushed gangster, drug music instead of uplifting music.

The Paid in Full Album should be in the library of congress

he didnt sell his soul... he didnt bend over (literally) for the industry... he is PURE HIP HOP... in ite realest form!!!

Rakim said Nah Not For Me because during your visit he determined your intentions were far from pure, Vlad.

Rakim is the God and Nas is God's Son . THE END.

Rakim is even more laid back than Nas. He's not the type of guy that you will see at all of the social events, and hanging out with other rappers. He's the classic M.C.

The reason the R stepped out of the limelight was he didn't want to sell his soul...

The 18th letter by Rakim is so slept on. It's one of the most underrated albums ever.

Rakim didn't want to sell his soul.

Rakim is the best emcee in the world hes humble kind never disrespects his wife never embaresses his kids n supports talent hes a hero

Rakim tweeting like he spitting, SMOOTH AF 🔥🔥

"Industry rule number 4,080, record company people are shady" - A Tribe Called Quest

Rakim like the Pyramids of Egypt, you don't need quantity when you got master quality. You don't even know how the masterpiece was first built. You just wonder in amazement and awe of how it was done. Eternally number one.

Speak Rakim. Rakim a true legend. These new youngsters can't hold a candle 2 Rakim.

Rakim isnt just the God MC but also a rap genius ,a true poet He was 1 of the only rappers dropping science / knowledge and never cuss in any of his songs and it was still dope with timeless classics 💯

Rakim was rare! Best flow, best lyrics, best voice all wrapped in one. Most of the greats lack all three

To me, Rakim is like Sade....they only say something or record when they have something to say.

Just for the record, “Let the rhythm hit ‘em” went platinum as well.

The simple fact that Rakim doesn't have nearly as many albums as his contemporaries and is still being compared is testament to his greatness.

I've been saying this for years. Rakim single handedly not only changed but saved hip hop. There had never been an artist or group that had more influence on hip hop than Rakim did

18th letter By Rakim is a Classic to me !!!!!

Lord Jamar gets interviewed like 12 times a year but I don’t mind

And Jay Z had the nerve to say, "...God MC, me, Jay Hova" on 'Takeover'. Jay's thorough, but to us old heads, Rakim will ALWAYS be the God MC.

Rakim is honestly one of the most influential people he is one of my few heroes 😘❤🖤❤🤴🏾

Rakim is everything Hip Hop! He’s freakin legendary. I’ve always been a fan! Real RAP!!

Rakim 100% true

Rakim for me will always be one of the greatest rappers of all time. But, there are two other rappers that I only recently looked back on as being close to number one also and that's Big Daddy Kaine and LL Cool J. These two rappers had incredible lyrical style and mass appeal back before there was such a thing as hip hop. But Rakim is the G.O.A.T

Rakim is straight up a REAL ONE. A PIONEER, LEGEND, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL RAP MC’s who grandfathered REAL RAP as we know it. The flow, wordplay, style and swag, he had it all and introduced it to everybody. But most importantly… HE DID IT HIS WAY! NOBODY CAN NEVER TAKE THAT AWAY. Straight up REAL ONE, and REAL ONES ACKNOWLEDGE HIM and what he did. Gotta show respect and give the flowers while he is here. 💯

When vlad said I’m going to play devils advocate,the look Jamar had on his face was priceless !!...it said you ‘you ARE the devil 😈

Rakim didn't sell out......

Vlad: “I’m a Nas Fan” Lord Jamar: 😑

The "R" stil reigns Supreme end of story!

If Rakim would have died after Paid In Full he would have easily been considered the greatest of all time.

Rakim stated that wasn't him. He doesn't even rock with social media.

Who else bust out laughing when Jamar did the RunDmc line???😂😂...he's absolutely right tho

Rakim came first. That's why. End of story. The same way John Lee Hooker, Little Richard, and Fats Domino aren't remembered for their contributions to rock and roll, but Chuck Berry is a legend. The originator never gets the credit for what someone else makes mainstream.

“You think I’m gonna disagree with THE GOD” 🤣💀

Nas making big moves now , no time for vlad nonsense lol

That "Seventh Seal" was dope. Rakim changed the game. He brought a new style to hip hop and kinda started the triplet flow. "Bless the mic for the Gods..." 🎤🎤🔥💯✌

I’m so glad someone has educated us that there is a difference between Rap and Hip Hop!❤️

Nas is to DJ Vlad as Drake is to DJ Akademiks as Kendrick Lamar is to Peter Rosenberg.

Life is good was a fire album

RAKIM IS G.O.A.T Case closed.

"You think I'ma disagree with a God? You fuckin' kidding me?" Right with you on that. "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em" is one of the best albums of any kind ever made, absolutely phenomenal, and the rest of their albums are way up on the list and I won't disagree with anybody claiming any of those first three albums as the duo's best. Even when I don't feel like listening to rap I still enjoy that album tremendously.

I think Rakim just refused to make big records that could be perceived as "going commercial"

Rakim is G-d body, he gets the ultimate respect. Hes right .These dudes that rap now is corny. They all sound like Lil Wayne...

The album Paid in Full is the original Illmatic.

Rakim's verse on Busta's new album proves he's the God MC. It is flawless and the skill level is magnitudes higher than anything out right now. And that's with being 35+ years in the game. Not too many MCs can say that.

Gangster rap...that’s what happened to RAKIM...Period. We dumbed down...the rap GOD was to evolved for RAP.

Oooh Ya boy Vlad is a Nas HATER!! Notice how Lord Jamar changed the subject to Jay Electronica and Vlad went RIGHT BACK to hating on Nas.....Hilarious!!!

Lets not forget how hard it was to get a rap album out in his day. Rakim paved the way creativity wise for most of the people considered a GOAT today. There wouldnt be a Nas or a 50 cent without Rakim.

I just love the fact that as long as we have nas,we have rakim its like you cant say kobe without letting people know about Jordan

There you go Vlads wet dreams with Nas again.

The R didn't fall off. The industry stopped fucking with real artists. I can't buy an album if I don't know it came out.

Are you gonna argue with the God? Enough said!!! Mic drop!!

Rakim is the God emcee period !

Vlad trying his hardest to bait Nas into doing his show smh

Nas doesn't need to make any more albums if he doesn't want to. Why is VLAD on NAS' nuts? maybe he's mad because NAS' investments pay off better than his? hmm? haan?

RAKIM came in and blessed the industry. Period.

There's a saying that Nas is the second coming of Rakim

"Stay" was the best song off of Nas last album

I think the reason why Rakim isn’t widely recognized is because he didn’t have drama i.e” beef” with other rappers like Nas vs Jay Z and Pac Vs Biggie so that’s why he isn’t gotten the attention he deserves!

Rakim laid the foundation of what a lyric should be in order for it to be prophetic and profound continuously. Every MC afterward can only follow due to time constraints....they simply weren't born soon enough to be the first one to do it. Shout out Kool G Rap!!😎

Paid In Full, Follow The Leader, Don't Sweat The Technique and Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em were all incredible. Then his solo stuff was even better imo. The 18th Letter and The Master were AMAZING.

Rakim=Nas, Kool G Rap=Big Pun, Big Daddy Kane=Jay-Z, Jaz-O=Twista.

"Craig Mack, 1000 degrees..."

The 18th Letter is a masterpiece! My favorite album from RA!

If we had more Rakims walking the streets the world would be a better place 🙏

Vlad wants attention from Nas soooooo bad....ffs

To me, Rakim is the GOAT. I think, if anything, he needed some bangers. Some of his beats were wack. If he could flow over today's beats...unstoppable. He was nice over that boom-bap style back in the day. :-)

Love this interview

There is no “playing” devil’s advocate with Vladimir.

"Day divides the night and night divides the day It's all hard work and no play More than combat, it's far beyond that Cause I got a kill or be killed kind of attack Area's mapped out, there'll be no, Stratego Me and my platoon make a boom wherever we go But what are we here for? Who's on the other side of the wall? Somebody give the President a call" Rakim, 1 of the illest

Rakim the greatness of all time on cap

The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you

Rakim IS the Greatest Emcee Ever. #ThisIsNotUpForDebate

Stop buggin'! A brother said, "Dig him?" I never dug him He couldn't follow the leader long enough so I drugged him.... Nuff said.

As much as I appreciate Nas and his contributions to Hip Hop over the years, Rakim is in his own category.

don't care what nobody says but "Don't sweat the technique" is a dope album. I love the songs "Casualties of War", "What's on ya mind?" and "Keep the beat"..."Punisher" are dope cuts.

Man when he said "You all know how the story go" I immediately went back to the real hip hop era and got chills.

Rakim had a 5 year stretch between 92-97 where he didn't drop an album. That's when producers like Pete, Eric Sermon, Preme, Q-Tip, Dre, Kay Gee (Naughty By Nature) were killing the game. And the next wave of rappers took over. Time passed Rakim at that point.

Unfortunately, in our community, most times, you don't want to be 1st with a "game changing" style..They will build you up, crucify you, and then bite yo ish. Das EFX, T-Pain, Ja Rule, etc..I know my examples look laughable, but if you know Hip-Hop, you know this is 💯

PAID IN FULL you know how many rapper's were inspired by that album one album can influence a million albums just because he dropped a couple of albums don't mean he ain't the KING or at least one of them

I discovered the "Paid In Full" record @ 12 years old..it blew my mind. Rakim is a genius and a living legend.

One of the major reasons why Nas (appears) to get more love than Rakim is because there was a time Nas played to the stereotypes of black street culture. When Illmatic dropped, Nas got love from pure hip-hop heads. But, at that time is wasn’t considered a commercial success. When he dropped ‘It Was Written’, he turned into Nas Escobar. He became a gangster/drug dealer/killer, etc... That album was more commercially successful and his first album to go platinum. Depending on who u ask, some people thought ‘It Was Written’ was better. Major labels will push ignorance over knowledge every time (especially with black entertainment). Rakim always stayed true to himself. When Rakim was on top of the game, being Afro-centric and being proud to be black was accepted by major labels (from a commercial standpoint). When Nas came out, Gangsta Rap was what the major labels were pushing to the masses. That’s why it took Nas so long to drop his 3rd album ‘I Am’. He was getting checked by street dudes and rappers for rapping about a lifestyle he never lived. He had to reevaluate himself and realized he was being used as a pawn to promote ignorance. Since then, Nas has produced music that had more meaning than ‘It Was Written’ (although there were a lot of jewels throughout the gangsta bravado that was projected throughout that album). No matter what, Rakim was always a truth teller from day one. Never changed. He may have suffered from that from a commercial perspective, but true hip-hop heads will ALWAYS appreciate him for staying true to himself.

The Difference between a Nas and Rakim is a Steve Stoute behind Nas Career that he actually listened too, same way Biggie having a puffy helped him go where other Mcs of his caliber couldn't take the game, business was the difference not really skill, even tho Nas took Rakims vibe to a whole other level

Life is good........CLASSIC

Rakim stood 10 toes down and said I'd rather back up, than compromise. Salute 💯 the LOVE of money is the root of all evil

5 Albums. They left out "The 18th Letter" which was without Eric B..

It's a time frame thing. For Rakim to be as popular as he is coming from that error in hip hop is amazing in itself. White kids from the suburbs were bumping that "Juice" soundtrack loud as hell. Rappers in the 90's were blessed to be in a time when hip hop pretty much took over though. And I grew up in the 90's and we had an amazing selection. I mean damn we had Biggie and Pac. Wu-tang and Jay-Z. Snoop and Dre. DMX and Em. Nas and Busta! Yo. We were fucking spoiled yo! Lol

Lord Jarmar said "That's the God!" then told @djvlad "Do you think i am gonna go against the God?" Lmao! This is epic-

Listening to this in 2022 after an incredible run from Nas having dropped 6 classic albums since this interview. This interview dropped in March of 2018. Nas released Nasir in June of 2018, then The Lost Tapes 2 in 2019, then King's Disease in 2020, then King's Disease 2 in 2021, then Magic in late 2021, then King's Disease 3 in 2022.

What Rakim says is gold... F.k what anyone have to say. My top 3 Rakim 2pac and Nas in that order. Rakim is THE GOD not Em.

The single was called “Daughters”. It was about his daughter and anyone who has a daughter across the world. They both get an L 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Waited and waited for 18th to drop...then BOOM. Another classic. The God as always

Rakim wouldn't sell his soul to the music business. Nas embraced the essence of lyricism on behalf of Rakim and actually did compromise his soul... a bit.

That wasn’t Rakim that tweeted that. He said it was someone who handles the Eric B and Rakim twitter account.

No Vlad you hate Nas. Nas has earned the right to put shit out when he wants to. Vlad you culture vulture.

''When are we getting a Jay Electronica album??" EXACTLY! i don't see him dropping an album ever though unfortunately.

You left out The 18th Letter which was a double CD (album) that went gold (because it was a double CD). I was lucky enough to have an artist that toured in the band with him for this album, including all of the TV appearances. They rehearsed at SIR (which is where I first met Ra). So 5 albums in all, not 4. His single for the movie "Juice" hit Billboard like a bullet.