Article on Kane/Rakim (Suge, Rakim Aftermath sessions, discussed)

[me1]

http://grantland.com/features/rakim-big-daddy-kane-hip-hop-icons/

Not a ton new here but nice nonetheless.

In particular, Mr Porter talks about Rakim on the Heat beat (the one from 50's debut)

[Desert Lord]

thx for sharin'...too bad that rakim didn't put that album out back then. it might had become a interesting project

[me1]

Man, on paper what a collabo. Chemistry wasn't there, though. Work ethic may not have been there either on the part of Rakim.

Couple interesting points for those that don't want to read it all:

*Suge offered Kane 1MM to join DR in 1996
*Rakim was supposed to be on Til I Collapse but didn't get his verse done in time.  Dude had an opportunity to be on one of Eminem's top 3 tracks at the time Em was at his apex/prime and he couldn't get his verse done. Not saying dude was lazy, but if this is indicative of his work ethic in any way it speaks to one of the reasons he and Dre weren't on the same page. Sounds like they had creative differences as well. As Rakim has mentioned in the past, Dre wanted him "to bring the guns out" and Rakim was going for more conscious content.
*Rakim's version of Heat:  “Rakim murdered the song,” Porter says. “It was a different perspective from 50. It was still a street perspective, but imagine somebody teaching and preaching over that beat. It was incredible.”
*Rakim and Premiere submitted 4 tracks that they did together to Dre and Dre rejected them all

Anyhow, interesting to hear behind the scenes stuff on what does or doesn't get released.

Props to The Source for breaking this story, more or less, back in 2002. They printed an article that basically said that Rakim's project was dead in the water when Rakim had everyone believing it was to be imminently released.

That article was discussed in this thread a while back: http://dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=6280.0

[Dargine]

Rakim would've only made "'Til I Collapse" weaker, he can't rap like that. Right now that's one of the best songs on The Eminem Show.

At the time Aftermath had a lot of artists that were much more suited to be on Aftermath beats that didn't drop either. Rakim a legend but he don't sound right on the beats that was comin' from the Aftermath camp. Even the "R.A.K.I.M" beat sounded better when G-Unit did it.

I'd much rather have a Joe Beast album with beats by Mel-Man and Dr. Dre.. let Rakim stick to old school New York beats.

[me1]

Rakim would've only made "'Til I Collapse" weaker, he can't rap like that. Right now that's one of the best songs on The Eminem Show.

At the time Aftermath had a lot of artists that were much more suited to be on Aftermath beats that didn't drop either. Rakim a legend but he don't sound right on the beats that was comin' from the Aftermath camp. Even the "R.A.K.I.M" beat sounded better when G-Unit did it.

I'd much rather have a Joe Beast album with beats by Mel-Man and Dr. Dre.. let Rakim stick to old school New York beats.

I'm right there with you on all that

[k1000]

Rakim would've only made "'Til I Collapse" weaker, he can't rap like that. Right now that's one of the best songs on The Eminem Show.

At the time Aftermath had a lot of artists that were much more suited to be on Aftermath beats that didn't drop either. Rakim a legend but he don't sound right on the beats that was comin' from the Aftermath camp. Even the "R.A.K.I.M" beat sounded better when G-Unit did it.

I'd much rather have a Joe Beast album with beats by Mel-Man and Dr. Dre.. let Rakim stick to old school New York beats.

I'm right there with you on all that

me too

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

Rakim would've only made "'Til I Collapse" weaker, he can't rap like that. Right now that's one of the best songs on The Eminem Show.

At the time Aftermath had a lot of artists that were much more suited to be on Aftermath beats that didn't drop either. Rakim a legend but he don't sound right on the beats that was comin' from the Aftermath camp. Even the "R.A.K.I.M" beat sounded better when G-Unit did it.

I'd much rather have a Joe Beast album with beats by Mel-Man and Dr. Dre.. let Rakim stick to old school New York beats.

I agree that "Til I Collapse" is fine like it is, but "R.A.K.I.M" was a great song and better than anything G-Unit could've done.

I also thought that Rakim's "After You Die" track was some of his best work during that period.  It was a solid track, and it's a shame that they couldn't have just had Busta do some adlibs or spit a 16 and used that version for the Big Bang, instead of the tired, Rakim-less version that got released on that album.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

Interesting about Suge offering Kane a mill... Pac and Kane did record a track back then... judging from the song... I can't imagine that they really considered Kane had much left in the tank, maybe they were more interested in gaining the loyalties of an East Coast icon to gain greater advantage in the beef with Bad Boy

[Remedy360]

Rakim would've only made "'Til I Collapse" weaker, he can't rap like that. Right now that's one of the best songs on The Eminem Show.

At the time Aftermath had a lot of artists that were much more suited to be on Aftermath beats that didn't drop either. Rakim a legend but he don't sound right on the beats that was comin' from the Aftermath camp. Even the "R.A.K.I.M" beat sounded better when G-Unit did it.

I'd much rather have a Joe Beast album with beats by Mel-Man and Dr. Dre.. let Rakim stick to old school New York beats.

I also thought that Rakim's "After You Die" track was some of his best work during that period. 

Yeah, I always thought that track god overlooked. Rakim killed it.