Eric B and Rakim

Biography

Eric B. & Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York in 1986, composed of DJ Eric Barrier (Eric B.) and MC William Michael Griffin Jr. (Rakim). Eric B. was born in Elmhurst, Queens, and came up as a mobile DJ for radio station WBLS before the two connected through mutual acquaintances in the Long Island scene. Rakim grew up in Wyandanch, Long Island, in a deeply musical family — his mother Cynthia Griffin was a jazz and opera singer, his brother a pianist, and his aunt the legendary R&B vocalist Ruth Brown. Rakim had played saxophone and was deeply shaped by the modal jazz of John Coltrane, as well as the lyrical precedents set by early MCs like Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz. Their 1987 debut single "Eric B. Is President" announced an entirely new paradigm, and the album Paid in Full — recorded in a week, with Rakim writing lyrics in real time in the studio — is now widely regarded as one of the most important records in hip hop history. The iconic cover featured custom Gucci outfits crafted by Harlem's legendary designer Dapper Dan.

What separated Eric B. & Rakim from their contemporaries was a combination of sonic weight and lyrical sophistication that had no real precedent. Eric B. built beats from hard James Brown samples — triggering one of hip hop's earliest sampling lawsuits when Brown sued over the uncredited use of "Funky President" on Paid in Full — and his taste for gritty, heavy funk helped launch the golden age of sample-based production. Rakim's contribution was equally revolutionary: he abandoned the simple end-rhyme patterns of early rap in favor of internal multisyllabic rhymes, enjambment that ignored bar lines, and a cool, measured delivery that critics compared to Thelonious Monk. His lyrics drew heavily on Five Percenter Nation theology, injecting conceptual depth and spiritual seriousness into a genre that had largely been party music. Three more albums followed — Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992) — before a contractual dispute over solo releases led to the duo's acrimonious split in 1992.

Their legacy is foundational to virtually every strand of serious hip hop that followed. AllMusic wrote that during rap's golden age, Eric B. & Rakim were "almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop," and scholars and peers alike have traced a direct line from Rakim's flow to the styles of Jay-Z, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Eminem. The duo were the first rap act to sign a million-dollar record deal (with MCA). After 23 years apart, Eric B. announced their reunion via Twitter in October 2016, and they toured in 2017. They were inducted into the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, cementing their standing as one of the genre's most consequential acts.

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Fun Facts

• Rakim wrote the lyrics to 'Paid in Full' in under five minutes, just hours before the label deadline — the entire album was recorded in roughly a week, with Rakim going straight from pen to booth.
• The duo's first recording session reportedly began when Eric B. borrowed records from Rakim's brother and started cutting them in a basement; Rakim was so amused by the sample choice (Fonda Rae's 'Over Like A Fat Rat') that he spit his beer across the wall.
• Eric B. & Rakim were the first rap act to sign a million-dollar record deal, entering a three-album agreement with MCA.
• Their split in 1992 was triggered not by artistic differences but by a contractual standoff: Eric B. proposed solo albums mid-contract, then refused to sign off on Rakim's solo release — a dispute that neither publicly resolved for over two decades until their 2016 reunion announcement on Twitter.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Melle Mel - Rakim cited Melle Mel as one of his primary lyrical inspirations and early templates for serious MC-ship [Early 1980s]
• Grandmaster Caz - Rakim listed Grandmaster Caz among the foundational MCs who shaped his approach to rhyming [Early 1980s]
• John Coltrane - Rakim was a saxophonist deeply influenced by Coltrane's modal jazz; his cool, unhurried delivery and melodic approach to flow are frequently attributed to this jazz influence [Formative years]
• Afrika Bambaataa - Broader hip hop pioneer whose work helped define the East Coast DJ and MC culture that Eric B. and Rakim emerged from [Early 1980s]

Key Collaborators

• James Brown - Not a direct collaborator — Eric B. heavily sampled Brown's back catalog, most notably 'Funky President,' which led to one of hip hop's earliest sampling lawsuits [1987–1992]
• Jody Watley - Collaborated on her 1989 single 'Friends' from the album Larger Than Life, one of the first notable hip hop / dance-pop crossover hits, reaching the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100
• Dapper Dan - Harlem designer who crafted the iconic custom Gucci outfits worn on the Paid in Full album cover

Artists Influenced

• 2Pac - Rakim's introspective lyricism and narrative depth were cited as touchstones by the next generation of MCs including 2Pac [Late 1980s onward]
• A Tribe Called Quest - Eric B.'s jazz-and-funk sampling aesthetic and Rakim's lyrical complexity were direct precursors to the Native Tongues movement that ATCQ helped lead [Late 1980s onward]

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia