In nineteen eighty-six, sixteen year old Rakim started to work with the New York City music producer,Eric B.

VOA: special.2009.10.14

Rakim added different beats to the music and began using poetic words to spread his message.

VOA: special.2009.10.14

Many international socially conscious hip-hop artists say they became interested in hip-hop when they heard Rakim.

VOA: special.2009.10.14

Big Daddy Kane, Rakim and Kool G Rap, all 44, were game changers, trailblazers even, but their catalogs get thinner the deeper you move into the '90s.

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"I think that if Lil Wayne is the best rapper alive, that's a slap in the face to not only Jay-Z and Nas rappers we've seen in our own generation but Rakim, Kool G Rap, Ice Cube, so many of the torch carriers who have passed us throughout the era, " Paine says.

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