Posted on 10.10.1996

Eric B. & Rakim
Album : Paid in Full
Release Date : October 10, 1987
Label : Fourth & Bway

Review :
This debut album, basically a collection of early singles ("Eric B. Is President," "I Know You Got Soul," the title track), is the motherlode of late-’80s New York rap—assured, serious, and hugely influential. Rakim, a rapper’s rapper, is the Chow Yun-Fat of hip-hop : cool as steel, absolutely calm, absolutely deadly. His verbal wit and rhythmic gift go hand-in-hand. He flows like a waterfall, playing around the beat, leaping from one ingenious phrase to another, letting the words do all the work. And Eric B. ? He comes up with some straightforward but effective backing tracks (he favors James Brown grooves), scratches on a couple of block-rocking instrumentals, and makes room for the master to do his thing.
—Douglas Wolk

Tracklisting :
1. I Ain’t No Joke
2. Eric B. Is on the Cut
3. My Melody
4. I Know You Got Soul
5. Move the Crowd
6. Paid in Full
7. As the Rhyme Goes On
8. Chinese Arithmetic
9. Eric B. Is President
10. Extended Beat

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