By Malice Intended
Starting your career at the top of your game can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the sense that you make your mark immediately, a curse in the sense that you peak at the very beginning. Your first release helps to revolutionize a genre or medium seemingly overnight. This puts you in a precarious position. Everything that comes after will be held to an unfair level of scrutiny, which makes it hard for your legacy to be assessed from a truly objective standpoint.
In the late 80’s, Rakim was at the forefront of a new generation of MC’s that ushered rap music into the “super-lyrical” era and away from its block party roots. His deep voice, slow flow and emphasis on wordplay was revolutionary for the time, leading many to dub him the greatest MC of his generation, if not ever. This quarter he returns with his first solo release in nearly a decade, The Seventh Seal.
Things get off to a shaky start with the album opener, “How to Emcee”, produced by DJ Slyce. The Rock guitar loop and awkward chorus hardly provide a suitable introduction for the God MC. “Walk These Streets” featuring Maino and Tracey Horton is an unexpectedly successful collaboration. Needlz provides a track that is reminiscent of Dr. Dre, complete with sinister piano keys and strings over plodding drums.
”Documentary of a Gangsta” is very similar to “Walk These Streets” from a production standpoint. Y-Not uses piano keys to create a horror movie vibe. Rakim’s patented slow flow fits nicely with it. The title is self-explanatory as the song chronicles the mentality and exploits of a criminal. The song is neither celebratory nor cautionary. Rakim tackles the subject matter from a detached perspective.
”Won’t Be Long” featuring Tracey Horton and produced by Jake One is an inspirational cut which has Rakim dropping conscious rhymes over piano keys and hard-hitting 808’s. The adrenaline infused drum track carries Rakim’s rhymes with the force of a freight train. “Workin’ for You”, also produced by Jake One, has Rakim promising to change his ways and work hard to earn the love of his woman over a nicely chopped violins and guitar sample.
”Put it All to Music”, produced by Poppa Pillz, is a true high point. Over a funky guitar loop, Rakim celebrates the role that good music plays in our lives. The song would be right at home on any of Rakims early releases with Eric B. It perfectly captures him at his most basic and thoughtful.
As a whole, The Seventh Seal is plagued by the same problems that have haunted just about all of Rakims solo releases: Uninspired and indistinct production that never quite suits the majesty of his image and vocal presence. At times it’s as if the producers didn’t feel compelled to dig deep enough and find the right sound to truly have Rakim soaring above the clouds. Two offerings by Nick Wiz, “Holy are You” and “Still in Love”, are perfect examples. Both tracks are at odds with the energy Rakim brings. “Man Above”, produced by Nottz, features a predictable synth heavy track with choral singing that would fit right in on a gospel rap compilation. The album closer, “Dedicated”, is a love poem to Rakim’s mother. Again, the beat seems at odds with the heartfelt subject matter.
The repetition of themes and ideas is also problematic. There are no less than three songs dedicated to the ladies, and an over abundance of choruses and hooks provided by R&B vocalists. It comes off as a contrived attempt to make the album more appealing in today’s marketplace.
The Seventh Seal is a mediocre addition to Rakim’s catalog, highlighted by a handful of enjoyable songs but weighed down by an abundance of filler. Hard core fans will be left seriously wanting, and younger fans will be baffled as to why this man holds such a place of honor in the annals of rap music. That is a real shame. Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect Rah to reinvent the wheel yet again at this stage in the game, but one still wishes for a more inspired work than The Seventh Seal.
2.75 out of 5
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Terence Jordan
Your review sucks. 2.75 fo real? its 4.5 at least. How dare you commit blasphemy against the God MC.
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Dante the Weedeater
album is even worse than The Master, and is Ra’s weakest to date…production is terrible, ideas are unimaginative, and to think he could have done an entire record with Dr. Dre…that just makes me like this album even less.
2/5
mark
the album is no classic, but i think with a few listens its worth the buy, because there are some good songs on here, my fave songs are “Dedicated” a very sad song, “put it all to music”, “working for you” and “documentary of a gangsta”. its a shame Rakim had to wait so long and not get any DJ Premier or even Dre production. I was being realistic about this album because i always knew it wasn’t gonna be a classic so this album is satisfactory for me.
MPM
I need to get the album still but I agree with the assessment that many of his songs of late have had not bad production but production that’s simply not in sync with Ra’s style. However, a lot of opinion varies: for instance, about half of hip hop fans loved It’s Nothing, and the other half thought it sucked because of the beat. Holy Are You isn’t the greatest production but I really think Ra’s lyrics save it and it makes a decent track – you can’t just judge based on production on these tracks you gotta assess lyrical ability as well (obv. bananas with Rakim usually). Also saying Ra peaked early is unfair – the 18th Letter arguably was his best album and one of the greatest I’ve ever heard (in large part thanks to Premo, granted). It was head and shoulders above his last album with Eric B. and showed he could modernize his style without especially going mainstream. Also that was a really balanced album in subject material and it sounds like this one may or may not be depending on how you look at it, and that quality is a big plus for me (this is why I can’t get into Lupe Fiasco, almost every song sounds the same and he tries too hard to be Jay Z).
Buk
man, i listened to it, and felt the same way you did. you WENT IN HARD on the producers.
i wanted SO MUCH MORE…maybe i’m expecting way too much.
Malice Intended
“Terence Jordan said:
Your review sucks. 2.75 fo real? its 4.5 at least. How dare you commit blasphemy against the God MC.”
I’m not going to give a subpar album a classic rating simply because it happens to be by “The God” MC.
Rakim is one of my favorite rappers of all time, but I can’t give him preferential treatment.
PK90
2.75 / 5 ???
that’s crazy, his lyrics were ill, the beats were definately not wack. You’re rating is way too harsh, it’s a 4/5 at least. The Holy Are You track is dope, it’s raw, and the lyrics have not been precendented by anyone in 2009 so far (including Jay-Z on The Blueprint 3 + more than half of the production on BP3 is wacker than the production on The 7th Seal). It was definately better than Royce Da 5’9″ ‘s Street Hop, yet The 7th Seal is getting rated lower? (not to talk down on the man Royce but I gotta keep it real) Shit even 50 Cent got a higher rating while let’s not be fronting, lyrically Rakim owns all of them on any track and the beats are banging too, there is not one track I’ve skipped.
The reason I think you rated this a 2.75 / 5 is because you expected it to be different and have more dr. dre like beats, but lets be honest, dr. dre played out, get over it.
Hmmm
We all know he has a terrible cringe-worthy chorus in most of his songs.. so don’t act like the rating is unprecedented.
Hiphoplives c3
Rakim is a mysterious cat to say the least and it is hard to figure out what he is thinking often times. His long hiatus, the move from ny-to-cali-and back again? What I do know is that he is standing on his principals and trying to fit it into hip hop,and Im ok with that. He said the ‘Seventh Seal’ was his revelation on life AND hip hop. This album addresses both topics from his point ofview and his way of doing things. Remember, Ra never did things very orthodox and that is what makes him great.
What I love…..
1. Lyrical spittage….
-How to emcee is a manual- peep 3rd verse my dudes and dudettes ,
-Doc. of a gangsta is like a movie that we seen in every urban hood
-Satisfaction Guarenteed-fire every verse ‘Is he MOSES or Drugs? either way its a Prophet” damn thats tight……….
-Still in love, is just 3 straight verses of fire
2. Very little Profanity, which means he has a great vocabulary people…
3. He succeeded in painting the picture of the hood and how to overcome
-Man above ’2nd verse’
‘to get a buck its getting rough,and my lady friend beefin, ends aint meeting, we just an arguement away from splittin up…its gets lonely, my fam disowned me, call me the black sheep, cuz i act street’…..fyi peep let the rhythm hit em…for the black sheep line(go to the hip hop archives)
-Wont be long’ Mic sick lyrics is still locked in the brain, like Mike Vick, sittin in jail watchin the game’
Does the album have flaws yes…lets look at them
a) Message in the song: chipmunk is off beat (BUT lyrics are butter..2nd verse
‘latin kings and black gorillas, government sitback hoping either that or crack will kill us’ who is spittin that?????? Damn he even put his daughter on(one love)
b) You and I, Psychic Love or Working for you….ok I will give you one maybe two , but lyrics on Working for you-2nd verse is craZy…give him credit though its not the same ol’ i wanna f*uck you or get out my car b%tch’
——-Biggest dissappointment there was no Jada or Styles???? Bonus track otw…..
———————-Nice album, solid 4 give or take your preferences—————-
PK90
wait, this review was written 2 days before the album got out… how does that work? bootleg? should’ve called it a preview.
Malice Intended
“PK90 said:
The reason I think you rated this a 2.75 / 5 is because you expected it to be different and have more dr. dre like beats, but lets be honest, dr. dre played out, get over it.”
LOL
I wanted production that was a bit more suited to Rakim’s abilities and presence. It has nothing to do with Dre (IMO Dre’s production wouldn’t be a good fit for Ra either).
taeb
How can u say that the album is a 2.75..I didn´t love´d it as i heard it for the first time neither…but you should re listen to the album a couple of times..there are some good beats….how to mc is banger…holy are u too…they both show the lyrical skills of the god mc in high form…Plus i can´t agree with some comments that say that the master album was weak…Have u listen to “flow forever” , “when i b on the mic” …those beats..”waiting for the world to end”, “uplift”…
but the point here is not defending the master (wich i do) but to praise this new album…
I think that a lot of the people who commented here (and on other sites like hh dx) and especially the reviewer, need to hear this album again…listen to the lyrics. Plus the beat are not that bad, they could´ve been better. But despite that this album is still better than 95% hip hop nowadays…In my top 5 from the year (with krs & buckshot, raekwon, M.O.P., and …and im waiting for chamillionaire album to drop
peace from argentina
OmegaThaMajestik
Wow Hiphoplives c3 just KILLED the review. I enjoyed readin that much more than the original review. I don’t think Ra’s new album is worthy of a 4 but I’d give it a solid 3 or maybe a 3.5 out of 5.
steez
listen to the first track again.that’s not rakim.listen to it!.it’s his words, but that ain’t him.am i the first one to spot this?