Eric Barrier and Rakim Allah are the rap duo known as Eric B. & Rakim who are known for their jazz influenced rap of the 80's. Eric was into James Brown and interjected this type of R&B soul into his rapping, which makes him very well known as the invention of "Godfather Rap".
Eric was a DJ in the early 80"s and was so good on the turntable it received the job of DJ on "WBLS-FM roadshow". Rakim met Eric at one of the shows and that is when they joined forces. Rakim perfected his style by the way he wrote, it was almost like a poem. He took his time writing and always made sure the rhyme made sense and it showed. He was quoted one time, "Compared to the simple-minded nastiness of 1990's thug-lifers, Rakim comes off like Hannibal Lector in a room full of B-Movie Baddies, his measured modulation only adding to the menace." While Eric B. was the soulful one, who always had drum-kicks and hand clap samples which made their music a hit.
They had an album "Eric B. is President" that gave them two huge hits and then made one with Jody Watley called "Friends" that was also a hit.
They made one last album together called, "Don't Sweat the Technique", and the single from it called, "Know the Ledge" was the theme song to the urban film, Juice. They went their separate ways and started on solo albums. Eric B. made his self-titled album in 1995, but it was not well liked by the music community. Rakim also created two solo albums. The first was titled, "The 18th letter" and the second, "The Master". The first one became a success while the second got harsh criticism. In 2000, he signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, the two started on an album called, "Oh My God", but in July of that year they parted ways, which was never released.
"I Know You Got Soul" was on the videogame, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The group had four albums and out of those four, three went either gold or platinum and was on the Billboard Charts.
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