Rakim's Seventh Seal - Quite Possibly the Worst Master

[UrbanKlass]

Only track I enjoyed listening to which had a beat more to my taste is Documentary of a Gangster - the rest was mediocre. I wasn't really a major Rakim fan to begin with but I very much would like to see him put the vocal tracks up for grabs so people can mix their own better beats around them. Would be an excellent remix if the right beats were chosen. A lot of beat-makers/producers (90% of Soundclick) have no idea how to mix instruments together and leave no room for vocals to sit nicely. That's what the LP sounds like to me, beat and vocals fighting for room.

[yosemitesam]

Originally Posted by UrbanKlass

Only track I enjoyed listening to which had a beat more to my taste is Documentary of a Gangster - the rest was mediocre. I wasn't really a major Rakim fan to begin with but I very much would like to see him put the vocal tracks up for grabs so people can mix their own better beats around them. Would be an excellent remix if the right beats were chosen. A lot of beat-makers/producers (90% of Soundclick) have no idea how to mix instruments together and leave no room for vocals to sit nicely. That's what the LP sounds like to me, beat and vocals fighting for room.

What's a good way to leave room for vocals? Are you talking about sparser arrangements or are there specific frequency bands to leave relatively open (like 2 to 5k or something)?

[ozzborn]

I really liked track track #7,and #14 and i also like the music for #2.

what is wrong with the mix on track 14? .....I am listening to mp3s.

thanks in advance.

[Butters]

There have been innumerable rumors that Eric B didn't even do the scratches on those albums. I saw Rakim perform live one time before KRS-One. KRS was late and Rakim was on stage juggling, scratching, blending with ease... It is entirely possible that Rakim did the rapping, DJing, and producing on those albums and Eric B. was just responsible for the Suge Knight-like intimidation.

That being said, maybe Eric B. was also a good "producer" in the non-hip-hop/classic sense of the word.

Anyone have info on this? I've always wondered...

[Over Dose]

The only beat I thought was dope, was "Holy are You" I was just so caught off guard with the sample.

[Akronut]

Originally Posted by Butters

There have been innumerable rumors that Eric B didn't even do the scratches on those albums. I saw Rakim perform live one time before KRS-One. KRS was late and Rakim was on stage juggling, scratching, blending with ease... It is entirely possible that Rakim did the rapping, DJing, and producing on those albums and Eric B. was just responsible for the Suge Knight-like intimidation.

That being said, maybe Eric B. was also a good "producer" in the non-hip-hop/classic sense of the word.

Anyone have info on this? I've always wondered...

From what I understand its marley marl doing the scratches on the earliest songs, my melody etc. He also did the production, not only mixing it. Eric B wanted to do a record and booked recording time at marleys place and talked to freddie foxx to come and record, so it would have been eric b & freddie foxx if bumpy had showed up. Instead someone called rakim as a backup when foxx didnt show up cause the studio was booked and thats when they recorded "my melody". I also heard rakim brought the samples for that song that they ended up replaying.

Other than that I havent heard much except that it was actually large professor that produced most of the joints on the "let the rythm hit em" album. I know for a fact he atleast produced "in the ghetto" because he spoke on it in big daddy magazine, and that he got that break from paul c. I even think he sampled it off a cassette.

[subaltern]

Originally Posted by Butters

There have been innumerable rumors that Eric B didn't even do the scratches on those albums. I saw Rakim perform live one time before KRS-One. KRS was late and Rakim was on stage juggling, scratching, blending with ease... It is entirely possible that Rakim did the rapping, DJing, and producing on those albums and Eric B. was just responsible for the Suge Knight-like intimidation.

That being said, maybe Eric B. was also a good "producer" in the non-hip-hop/classic sense of the word.

Anyone have info on this? I've always wondered...

I've read an article where Bobbito Garcia interviewed Rakim (circa 1996) where it was revealed that he (Ra) actually did a lot of cutting on songs, yes. From what I recall I think he also played some live drums on Know the Ledge. I'm pretty sure the unimpressive Eric B scratch only songs were probably Mr B. He never really stood out for me as a decent crew DJ. Nothing like Mr Mixx, Too Tuff, Primo, DJ Undercover, DJ Supreme, or the various EPMD deejays, to name a few.