Not exactly true.
Silver fox already was as advanced as rakim in queens.
Plus wore every hat as far as an emcee having to do all the jobs required to produce a record for dolo. Plus creating the forum for emcees in queens. To still be active leading up to how queens kept relevance and the skillset of its performers ready for what would become the new school way of thought.
Rakim is the new school way of thought gateway emcee. Who made everyone who was new to the new school way of thought aware of up'n skill.
Plus changing the standard rubrick accepted in the mecca for emcee'n moving forward in the new school way of thought.
Yet Melle, caz and silver fox were already savants in technical aptitude as emcee predating the new school way of thought by six to seven years on wax. Not to mention in the qctual grassroots venues.
Rakim is the new school way of thought gateway God emcee tho. So for people who lacked any wherewithal culturally about hiphop. When the golden era explosion allowed those fans a gateway. Thank the lord rakim was there.
As 1983. Set in and almost made hiphop and rap Into the fad. It originally was slated to only be and never be more than just a fad.
So if not for rakim being there as the next staple artist after bdp.
Then hiphop and rap as a profitable business would have never moved forward.
Nor produced any legacy of actual high quality submissions as well.
As rakim and krs were needed as the virtual one a and one b.
to have hiphop eventually become a gateway pop based draw.
if rhere is no rakim.
there are no quality markers to move rap forward or make it viable.
Art Barr