Crazy opener
Dope single
2 Preemo bangers
2 Pete Rock bangers
Remember That
The Mystery

What? People were mad at the joints for the ladies?

Those two are dope too

I’ll agree that he didn’t need the Guess Who’s Back Remixes...

And he didn’t need to individually track and list the skits...

But shit...top to bottom this shit is dope!

Did I forget to mention When I’m Flowin’?

Nah...but that shit is so dope I had to mention it again!

It's a shame none of the singles caught listeners' attention because it is a solid 4 1/4 star project.

It's an album for the heads. At the time, it felt lacking that there wasn't a big single like Know the Ledge or I Ain't No Joke. That being said, his lyrics were as good as at any other time.

I'd love it if he made another album this good in 2020.

It's a shame that time has forgotten him in many ways. This is meant in the best way but he's a product of a time that doesn't exist anymore - an MC who focuses solely on his craft and isn't interested in personal branding or leveraging his notoriety into success in another field of entertainment. His public modesty is refreshing and much needed, but selfishly it would bring happiness to my life to know he's still releasing dope new music.

#GOAT

<--- Me when my head hits the pillow

>an MC who focuses solely on his craft
>and isn't interested in personal branding or leveraging his
>notoriety into success in another field of entertainment.

A hermit who only cares about getting better at putting words together. It's just too bad that the product he puts out is absolutely abhorrent.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Perhaps Rakim focused on solely his craft but his craft was predicated on his style and how he projected his image.

His whole persona revolved around everyone thinking he was “the coolest”.

Eminem really doesn’t use that as the basis of his craft.

With that said, I agree that Rakim was a bit forgotten about in 97-98 but I don’t think it’s because he was just another MC and others passed him out like DJ said below.

It’s more about people just not fully valuing what he brought to the game anymore.

At that point you needed to combine skill with commercial appeal which is why Nas, Jay, Biggie, Pun etc were popular.

So I can see why people maybe wanted a big single which is probably what they though Guess Who’s Back would be.

Rakim was always a tid bit ahead of his time, and when he was suppose to release his first solo album without Eric B. aka his 5th album in 1995, MCA Records got sold & changed under the Universal Music Group, when all those people got fired & three to four songs got leaked ("Remember", "Shades Of Black", & "Once Upon A Rhyme", "I Get Visual"), so Universal scrapped that album and wanted him to record a new material for UMG which eventually became "18th Letter"; surprisingly they kept "Remember That" from the old sessions.

Even though most would never want to tarnish Rakim's legacy to me Rakim became one of those emcees who wasn't in a class of his own anymore, it was a lot of talented emcees out in 97/98, between Loud Records & Rawkus Records it was the time of dope underground artists were getting their shine and with dope producers to match, and to me Rakim got lost in that mix of thinking he was the leader of the pack when he was now just another kat in the crowd.

Yeah "18th Letter" had production from Premier & Pete, but so did a lot of other rappers, it was the norm to have one of those guys producing a track for a rapper/emcee, to me the album was solid but lacked something special, to me those remixes at the end should've been left off, a few of the old leaked songs should've been on there especially "Various Shades Of Black", "Stay A While" & "When I'm Flowin'" was too long both should've been three minutes tops, plus he needed an uptempo song on there.

https://tinyurl.com/y4ba6hog

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"We in here talking about later career Prince records
& your fool ass is cruising around in a time machine
trying to collect props for a couple of sociopathic degenerates" - s.blak

his career. I still really dug this album. rhymes were dope.

that suave house remix was a good look. it gave him a diff background to paint over.

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme

i kind of put it on the myth that Ra had become by 97, 98. That was an impossible standard to live up to. But i really loved that album and still do.

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the way he does what he does is timeless, he's been on point for 35 years

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CHOP-THESE-BITCHES!!!!
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Garhart Ivanhoe Poppwell
Un-OK'd moderator for The Lesson and Make The Music (yes, I do's work up in here, and in your asscrease if you run foul of this

it was first released as there were a few ho hum tracks and the vibe wasn’t as exciting as I was hoping. But yeah, it’s got several bangers.

Related question, how did/do people feel about the follow up, The Master? I didn’t give it nearly as much burn as the 18th Letter but this post made me revisit it. I’m enjoying this one a lot. Not as polished as 18th Letter but some fun tracks and he seems a little looser on it. When I Be On The Mic might be my favorite Rakim solo joint. Premo made a timeless one right there. It’s a good album overall, maybe a little too long.

Honestly, at the time, I remember thinking that outside of the two Preemo joints, the production was terrible.

his rhyming has never fallen off. needed to be shorter tho and more uptempo beats. he kills when I b on the mic.

I'd have to listen again to see what I'd cut, but I remember feeling like it was too long.

Y'all buy those labels, I was born supreme