Rakim BiographyRapper Rakim has long been considered a preeminent talent in a genre whose leaders are often quickly replaced. Billed as a hardcore East Coast rapper because of his penchant for blunt imagery, he has nonetheless avoided profanity and held to an unfaltering message that deplored violence and praised God and peace. In some respects a throwback to the 1960s, this emcee and lyricist has offered listeners a markedly updated twist on the peace-and-love philosophy of that era. Employing the accelerated beat of turn-of-the-century rap and hip-hop, he remained immensely popular among his peers even as other early rap artists fell into obscurity. After coming to fame as the emcee of the Eric B. & Rakim
