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Eric B. & Rakim were an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York, in 1986, composed of DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. They first received acclaim for their 1987 debut album Paid in Full, which featured versions of the popular singles "Eric B. Is President" and the title track. They followed with three successful albums: Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992).
Benny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career. Golson is known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art Farmer in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s Golson was in demand as an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he and Farmer re-formed the Jazztet in 1982.
William Michael Griffin Jr., better known by his stage name Rakim, is an American rapper. He is one half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: Paid in Full (1987), Follow the Leader (1988), Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990), and Don't Sweat the Technique (1992). He also released three solo albums: The 18th Letter (1997), The Master (1999), and The Seventh Seal (2009).
Follow the Leader is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 26, 1988. Following their debut album, Paid in Full (1987), Eric B. & Rakim left 4th & B'way Records and signed with Uni Records, a subsidiary label of major label MCA Records. They recorded Follow the Leader at Power Play Studios in New York City. The duo produced, composed, and arranged the album with additional contributions from Rakim's brother Stevie Blass Griffin, who contributed with various instruments. Eric B. & Rakim worked with audio engineers Carlton Batts and Patrick Adams on the album. In a similar manner to their first album, a "ghost producer" was brought in for two songs. In a 2007 interview with Unkut.com, The 45 King said he produced both "Microphone Fiend" and "The R". "Microphone Fiend" was originally made for Fab 5 Freddy, until 45 King gave it over to Eric B., the group's "DJ".
Grover Washington Jr. was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist and Grammy Award winner. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders and legends of the smooth jazz genre. He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer.
Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career.
Louis Eric Barrier is an American rapper, record producer, and DJ from New York City. One half of the golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he formed the group in 1986 and served as its primary producer and DJ. Their debut album, Paid in Full (1987) was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, and the duo were nominated in 2011 for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Paid in Full is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 7, 1987, by Island-subsidiary label 4th & B'way Records. The duo recorded the album at hip hop producer Marley Marl's home studio and Power Play Studios in New York City, following Rakim's response to Eric B.'s search for a rapper to complement his disc jockey work in 1985. The album peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard 200 chart, No. 8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and produced five singles: "Eric B. Is President", "I Ain't No Joke", "I Know You Got Soul", "Move the Crowd", and "Paid in Full".
Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em is the third studio album by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on June 19, 1990. The group's sound develops further, with Rakim adopting a deeper, more aggressive tone of voice, and more mature and serious subject matter. Musically, the production ranges from smoother soulful tracks such as "In the Ghetto" to the hard-edged assault of the title track "Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em."
Don't Sweat the Technique is the fourth and final studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on June 23, 1992, by MCA Records. It was recorded and produced by Eric B. & Rakim at The Hit Factory in New York City. The album builds on the sounds of 1990's Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em, with Rakim sounding more aggressive on Eric B.'s jazzy, soulful production.
The Master is the second solo album by American rapper Rakim, released November 30, 1999, on Universal Records. It serves as the follow-up to Rakim's debut solo album, The 18th Letter (1997), and would be Rakim's last studio album for nearly a decade, until 2009's The Seventh Seal.
Straight-ahead jazz is a genre of jazz that developed in the 1960s, with roots in the prior two decades. It omits the rock music and free jazz influences that began to appear in jazz during this period, instead preferring acoustic instruments, conventional piano comping, walking bass patterns, and swing- and bop-based drum rhythms.
Barbara Ann "Bobbi" Humphrey is an American jazz flautist and singer. She has recorded twelve albums over the course of her career, mostly playing jazz fusion, funk, and soul-jazz. In 1971, she was the first female instrumentalist signed by Blue Note and in 1994, she founded the jazz label Paradise Sounds Records.
Classic is the second compilation and sixth album overall by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, one of the titles of the European version of Universal Music Group’s Millennium Masters series. Despite being an Eric B. & Rakim album, the back cover featured Eric B. with Chuck D. because of an editing error.
"Follow the Leader" is a song by American hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim. It was written by group members Eric Barrier and Rakim Allah and released as the first single from their second studio album of the same name.
"Microphone Fiend" is the second single released from the hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim's second album Follow the Leader. The song became a signature song for rapper Rakim, and AllMusic's Steve Huey says the song "weaves references to substance addiction throughout in explaining why Rakim can't keep away from the mic." Featuring a prominent sample of Average White Band's 1975 hit "School Boy Crush", the song was further evidence of Eric B.'s fondness for soul samples and became one of the most quoted songs in hip hop.
The discography of Eric B. & Rakim, an American hip hop duo, consists of four studio albums, five compilation albums, 15 singles, and nine music videos. Eric B. & Rakim formed and signed a record deal with Zakia Records in 1985. The following year, the duo signed a deal with 4th & B'way Records. Their debut album Paid in Full was released in 1987. In the United States, it peaked at number 58 on the Billboard 200, number 8 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It appeared on the Dutch, New Zealand, and UK Albums Chart. Paid in Full produced five singles, four of which appeared on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The fifth single "Paid in Full" (1988) peaked in the top five of the Dutch and New Zealand Singles Chart.
Geoffrey Keezer is an American jazz pianist. In 2023, he won the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy for Refuge
Jonathan Hay is an American publicist and record producer. His music career started from his hometown of St. Matthews in Louisville, Kentucky. Hay is most known for his work with "Pon de Replay", the debut single from Rihanna. He has produced six albums and a single that topped the Billboard charts in multiple genres including hip hop and jazz. Hay's Follow the Leader , a collaboration album with Eric B. & Rakim ended Michael Bublé's 38 week reign at the top of the Billboard charts and remained for 11 consecutive weeks.
Mike Smith is a Cuban American recording artist, record and television producer. He is a Number 1 Billboard charting artist and his music has had over two billion streams with over five million units sold. He is best known for being one of the stars and main judge on BET's original programming series One Shot and for co writing the hit song "A Hard Working Man" by Snoop Dogg, Billy Ray Cyrus, and The Avila Brothers. This song has been featured on NFL Thursday Night Primetime and CBS NFL Today. He is also well known for numerous hit singles including the Top 5 Billboard hit "Beautiful Day" and Billboard Top 40 hits "Hardworking Man" and "You're My Kind Of Beautiful".
References
- 1 2 3 4 Collar, Matt. "Benny Reid". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- 1 2 3 "Take Five With Benny Reid". All About Jazz. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
- ↑ "Aaron Copland School of Music". qcpages.qc.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
- ↑ Hart, Ron (2019-09-24). "What Eric B. & Rakim Think About the 'Follow the Leader' Jazz Covers Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
- ↑ "Benny Reid". IMDb. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
- ↑ "Supreme Team (Official Series Site) Watch on Showtime". SHO.com. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
