Rap legend Rakim pulled out never-before-heard verses from some fallen rappers on his new album, G.O.D's Network (REB7RTH).
On the seven-track project, where The God Emcee serves as both artist and producer, are contributions from the late Nipsey Hussle ("Love Is the Message"), Fred the Godson ("God's Playground"), and Prodigy on final track "Sign of Se7en."
Prodigy, who was a member of rap duo Mobb Deep, died from complications of sickle cell disease in June 2017. Two years later, at 33 years old, Hussle died from a fatal shooting in April 2019. The following April, Fred the Godson died from coronavirus-related complications.
Rakim and his A&R, Matt "M80" Markoff, spoke to GRAMMY.com about the album's process, with took four years. While the three late rappers were alive, Markoff worked with each, and he said the verses were "in my stash or under my ownership," which he looked to utilize on REB7RTH.
On Hussle, Rakim said, "We kind of glorified who he is, and came up with the title ‘Love Is the Message' to put everything in perspective. So everybody vibed off of that and everything that we implemented had to have that feel or had to be in that direction."
Listen to "Love Is the Message" below featuring Planet Asia, Louis King, and Snoop Dogg.
On "God's Playground," Rakim fans get to hear Fred the Godson and some closing words by DMX. Listen below.
On "Sign of Se7en," Prodigy delivers a memorable verse alongside Method Man. Listen below.
In addition to releasing his new all-star-assisted record, Rakim's spoken on contemporary rap, recently telling Billboard that the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef showed the differences between "real" and "mainstream."
"The battle put a lot of things in perspective — because it showed the difference between real hip-hop and mainstream hip-hop," he told the publication. "Younger artists now know that there’s a difference. A lot of them didn’t even understand that. They just listened to the majority, not knowing that a lot of people don’t categorize what they were hearing as real hip-hop. The battle was very needed for the genre. I tip my hat to them brothers. Let’s just hope that it stays to the music."
You can stream Rakim's new album on all streaming services.
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