Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
January 28, 1967
Place of Birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Social Media
Rakim
Biography
William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (/rɑːˈkɪm/), 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 four solo albums: The 18th Letter (1997), The Master (1999), The Seventh Seal (2009), and G.O.D.'s Network: Reb7rth (2024).
Rakim is considered a transformative figure in hip hop. He helped to pioneer the use of internal rhymes and multisyllabic rhymes, and was among the first to demonstrate the possibilities of sitting down to write intricately crafted lyrics packed with clever word choices and metaphors rather than the more improvisational styles and simpler rhyme patterns that predominated before him. Rakim is also credited with creating the overall shift from the more simplistic old school flows to more complex flows. Rapper Kool Moe Dee explained: "Rakim is basically the inventor of flow. We were not even using the word flow until Rakim came along. It was called rhyming, it was called cadence, but it wasn't called flow. Rakim created flow!"
Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, while Rakim himself was ranked No. 4 on MTV's list of the Greatest MCs of All Time. Steve Huey of AllMusic stated that "Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs – perhaps the greatest – of all time within the hip-hop community". The editors of About.com ranked him No. 2 on their list of the 'Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)'. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 1 on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time".
Description above from the Wikipedia article Rakim, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | All Up in the Biz | Self |
| 2023 | The Crossover: 50 Years of Hip Hop and Sports | Self |
| 2023 | A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop | Self |
| 2022 | Off-Time | Mack Griffin |
| 2021 | You're Watching Video Music Box | Self |
| 2021 | Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell | Self - Hip-Hop Artist (archive footage) |
| 2017 | Word is Bond | Self |
| 2017 | From Scratch: The Birth of Hip Hop | Self |
| 2012 | Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ | Self |
| 2009 | DJ Cinema Presents: Masterpiece Theater Blend Dvd | Self (archive footage) |
| 2005 | The MC: Why We Do It | Self |
| 1993 | Gunmen | Rakim |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sean Combs: The Reckoning | Self (archive footage) |
| 2018 | The Last O.G. | The Siz |
| 2016 | Marvel's Luke Cage | Rakim |
| 1997 | The Chris Rock Show | Self |
| 1988 | Yo! MTV Raps | Self |
| 1959 | The Grammys | Self |