Sheldon Taylor's Souls of Black Notes

                                                                                                                             "If you can see if you can solve the mystery, the answer revolves around your history."  The opening hook to Rakim's 1997 The Mystery (Who Is God?) easily defines the mystic legacy of the legendary emcee who changed the creative direction of hip hop music back in 1986. Golden era peers like Slick Rick and Big Daddy Kane lamped in the spotlight in all their bejeweled glory. Rakim chose to play the background---oblivious of his popularity but always in tune with his greatness. His line from 1990's Set'Em Straight said it all: " one thing I...

“From century to century/you’ll remember me/in history, not a mystery /but a memory.” The poetic value of these lyrics are uncontested but they would prove to be just as prophetic. Twenty-seven years ago this month, Eric B. and Rakim dropped Follow the Leader , the follow up to their debut Paid in Full (1987). Released on the heels of seminal two-sided single Eric B is President/My Melody (1986), Paid in Full was a departure from other mid-eighties Hip Hop albums like Radio and Raising Hell.   Instead of the booming b-boy anthems that sounded as if they were delivered from the heavens, Rakim moved mountains with a syncopated flow and intricate rhyme patterns, setting a new standard for lyricism catapulting him to the top of the heap of rap's elite emcees. Released on July 26, 1988, Follow the Leader continued the group's trailblazing ways advancing their brand of esoteric sophisticated street poetry. Souls of Black Notes does the knowledge and explores a bon...