Ra had been dormant for 10 years in 2008, and released a "Live, Lost, and Found" compilation on Koch (E1) with 4 new songs. A producer named Nick Wiz was featured, and one track by JUST BLAZE called "It's Nothing", this was the track that got me hype for a full album again.
He would then follow up with that album in 2009 released on his own label in joint with indie labels SMC Recordings and TVM, distributed by Fontana/Universal.
The first single "Holy are You", was again produced by Nick Wiz, and was decent, although you could tell Rakim had not evolved his flow at all since his heyday.
The second single was with poppin (at the time) artist MAINO. It was the most modern sounding song Ra had made, produced by NEEDLZ. He floated pretty well on it, and along with a music video we had a glimpse of the God Emcee "Getting with the times" and holding his own doing so.
The Seventh Seal dropped, and had beats from notable producers Nottz, Neo da Matrix, Jake One, and Ty Fyffe, but the majority of the album was handled by Nick Wiz, and a few no-namers. They would contribute production that was the boom-bap Ra loved and chose for his big comeback. The problem was, that to the masses, it was way too dated, and to the underground the beats were painfully average. He could have called in favors from so many super producers, but probably had flashbacks to his failed endeavor with Dre on Aftermath, and chose to stick to his bread and butter. Still, there was nothing from some of the producers that were exactly his fit, 9th Wonder, Premier, Pete Rock, etc. How was Ra's pen game though? His story telling and message in the lyrics are still A1, but in 2009, using a flow that once pushed the genre, now is terribly boring. Along with still refusing to incorporate wit like punchlines into his lyrics, the album fell with all pockets of fans.
What did you brehs think? I just revisited this after bushing it in the first year it came out. It's been another 10 years and Ra has been ghost again, content with getting royalties and doing small gigs here and there, I guess he just enjoying his private life now. Still, can never take away the fact that for a period of time in Hip-Hop, he was the absolute best and dropped a slew of classic songs.
He would then follow up with that album in 2009 released on his own label in joint with indie labels SMC Recordings and TVM, distributed by Fontana/Universal.
The first single "Holy are You", was again produced by Nick Wiz, and was decent, although you could tell Rakim had not evolved his flow at all since his heyday.
The second single was with poppin (at the time) artist MAINO. It was the most modern sounding song Ra had made, produced by NEEDLZ. He floated pretty well on it, and along with a music video we had a glimpse of the God Emcee "Getting with the times" and holding his own doing so.
The Seventh Seal dropped, and had beats from notable producers Nottz, Neo da Matrix, Jake One, and Ty Fyffe, but the majority of the album was handled by Nick Wiz, and a few no-namers. They would contribute production that was the boom-bap Ra loved and chose for his big comeback. The problem was, that to the masses, it was way too dated, and to the underground the beats were painfully average. He could have called in favors from so many super producers, but probably had flashbacks to his failed endeavor with Dre on Aftermath, and chose to stick to his bread and butter. Still, there was nothing from some of the producers that were exactly his fit, 9th Wonder, Premier, Pete Rock, etc. How was Ra's pen game though? His story telling and message in the lyrics are still A1, but in 2009, using a flow that once pushed the genre, now is terribly boring. Along with still refusing to incorporate wit like punchlines into his lyrics, the album fell with all pockets of fans.
What did you brehs think? I just revisited this after bushing it in the first year it came out. It's been another 10 years and Ra has been ghost again, content with getting royalties and doing small gigs here and there, I guess he just enjoying his private life now. Still, can never take away the fact that for a period of time in Hip-Hop, he was the absolute best and dropped a slew of classic songs.
