After posting this I was thinking about what Rakim said. He says that he brought the struggle back to hip hop lyrics as opposed to KRS' first album Criminal Minded and PE's first Yo Bumrush. However, thinking back about Paid In Full there's not really any conscious songs on there, it's mainly songs about emceeing. He has a more serious tone obviously than others at the time and not to take anything away from Ra but I'd argue that Criminal Minded with P is Free etc. had more to do with the struggle than anything on Paid In Full. Even Follow the Leader doesn't have much conscious stuff especially compared to By All Means which came out first. Ra didn't really get on that style until Let the Rhythm Hit Em with In The Ghetto etc. So him being upset about not being included in 1988 on Self Destruction is possibly a little iffy using his argument, as a top MC of the time though there is no reason he shouldn't have been on there.

Patrick