Rakim played Joe’s Pub NYC

June 21st, 2012 by chocko

The legendary RAKIM, played Joe’s Pub in Downtown Manhattan on Tuesday, June 12 as in a rare one-off show sponsored by Reebok Classics. When Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid In Full album came out, that rocked my world. It sounded unique, the beats and cuts on it were superb and Rakim’s lyrical flow was and is still unparalleled. It was an honor to see one of the greatest MC’s in an intimate setting with a small crowd of fans (maybe 150 in the house?). It was obvious to see why Rakim is at or near the top of every hip hop fan’s top 5 MC’s of all time list.

Rakim was accompanied by Technician the DJ from the Bronx who warmed up the crowd with some classic old school hip hop tracks. Rakim interacted with the crowd, introduced two of his sons to the audience, showed off his brand new sneakers and even took a couple phone calls to speak to Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa’s DJ) and a fan who was trying to listen in on the show via a friend’s cellphone. Rakim performed a lot of classic material from the four albums he recorded with Eric B. He also performed “It’s Been A Long Time” a DJ Premier produced track off the 18th Letter album, “Holy Are You” from 2009’s The Seventh Seal and a couple verses from “Addictive” a 2002 Truth Hurts single. One of my favorite moments of the show was Rakim’s performance of “Know The Ledge which is the theme song of the 1992 film Juice and off the Don’t Sweat The Technique album. The bassline in that song is ill. Bonus fact: the song samples Nat Adderley’s 1968 hit, “Rise, Sally, Rise.” Check out the set list posted below and a couple of videos too.

SET LIST

Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em
Eric B. Is President
My Melody
Holy Are You
In The Ghetto
It’s Been A Long Time
Guess Who’s Back
Addictive
Mahogany
What’s On Your Mind
Lyrics Of Fury
Move The Crowd
I Ain’t No Joke
I Know You Got Soul
Microphone Fiend
Don’t Sweat The Technique
The Punisher
Lyrics of Fury
Know The Ledge
Paid In Full
Follow The Leader

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