Paid in Full (album)

Paid in Full (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Paid in Full
Type = studio
Artist = Eric B. & Rakim


Released = July 7, 1987
Recorded = 1986–1987
Genre = East Coast hip hop, hardcore hip hop
Length = 45:08
Label = 4th & B'way, Island, PolyGram
444 007
Producer = Eric B. & Rakim
Reviews = *Allmusic rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:69zyxdkbjolk~T1 link]
*Pitchfork Media (7.8/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17495 link]
*Robert Christgau (B) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=428&name=Eric+B.+%26+Rakim link]
*"The Source" rating|5|5 [http://www.listsofbests.com/list/12875 link]
Last album =
This album = "Paid in Full"
(1987)
Next album = "Follow the Leader"
(1988)

"Paid in Full" is the debut album by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 7, 1987 through 4th & B'way Records. Many critics consider "Paid in Full" one of the most influential hip hop albums of the 1980s. [http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/A716.htm Acclaimed Music - Paid in Full] . Acclaimed Music. Accessed September 17, 2008.] Described as an artistic benchmark in the genre, the album has sold over a million copies.Ehrlich, Dimitri (December 7, 1997). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E6D71F3AF934A35751C1A961958260 RECORDINGS VIEW ; A Rap Pioneer Defies the Odds] . "The New York Times". Accessed July 16, 2008.] It is the first full-length album on an Island Records subsidiary that was distributed independently before its acquisition by PolyGram in 1992. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album platinum in 1995. [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Paid%20in%20Full&artist=&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25 RIAA Searchable Database - "Paid in Full"] . Recording Industry Association of America. Accessed September 5, 2008.]

Background and recording

Eric B. and Rakim met in 1985 after Eric B. looked for a rapper to complement his turntable work at the WBLS radio station in New York City. [Simon & Schuster (2001). [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ericbandrakim/biography Eric B and Rakim: Biography : Rolling Stone] . "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll". Accessed September 5, 2008.] After Rakim responded to Eric B.'s search for "New York's top MC",Ogg, Alex (2002). "The Men Behind Def Jam: The Radical Rise of Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin", p. 105. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711988730] Rakim's friend and roommate Marley Marl allowed him to use his home studio. The first track they recorded—"Eric B. Is President"—became the album's first single in 1986. After Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons heard the single, the duo were signed to Island Records and began recording the album in Manhattan's Power Play Studios in early 1987. Rakim wrote his songs in about one hour while listening to the beat. He then recorded his vocals in the booth by reading his lyrics on paper. In 2006, Rakim revealed, "When I hear my first album today I hear myself reading my rhymes but I'm my worst critic." [JButters (August 1, 2006). [http://halftimeonline.com/hip-hop-icon-series/rakim-pt-2/4 Rakim Pt. 2] . HalftimeOnline.com. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Despite the duo not initially expecting their records to make it on radio, they completed the album in one week. In a 2008 interview with AllHipHop, Eric B. stated, "to sit here and say we put together this calculated album to be a great album would be a lie. We were just doing records that felt good."Berrios, Martin A. (February 29, 2008). [http://allhiphop.com/stories/reviews/archive/2008/02/29/19357057.aspx Class Of '88: Paid In Full] . AllHipHop. Accessed September 6, 2008.]

The album's success led to a contract with Uni Records and MCA Records in 1988, where they released their second album, "Follow the Leader". [Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2002). "All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul", p. 374. Backbeat Books. ISBN 087930653X.] Eric B. & Rakim are credited as officially producing "Paid in Full". Although Marley Marl claimed to have produced two tracks ("My Melody" and "Eric B. Is President"), Eric B. argued that Marley Marl was only an engineer. In 2003, Eric B. alleged the duo had not been fully paid for their work, and launched a lawsuit against its immediate current parent Island Def Jam Music Group, Lyor Cohen, and Russell Simmons. [Strong, Nolan (October 17 2003). [http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2003/10/17/18128455.aspx Eric B. Wants To Be Paid In Full, Suing Island Def Jam] . AllHipHop. Accessed July 15, 2008.]

Music

Rakim's rapping deviated from the simple rhyme patterns of early 1980s hip hop. His free-rhythm style ignored bar lines and had earned comparisons to Thelonious Monk. "The New York Times"' Ben Ratliff wrote that Rakim's "unblustery rapping developed the form beyond the flat-footed rhythms of schoolyard rhymes".Ratliff, Ben (December 18, 1998). [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDB1E3DF93BA25751C1A96E958260 Pop Go the Holidays (With Jazz, Reggae and Rap) -- Hits and Live Albums; ERIC B. AND RAKIM: "PAID IN FULL: THE PLATINUM EDITION" (Island/Polygram)] . "The New York Times". Accessed September 5, 2008.] While many rappers improvised their delivery, Rakim was one of the first to write and prepare lyrics.Huey, Steve. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:39fwxqtgldde~T1 allmusic ((( Rakim > Biography )))] . Allmusic. Accessed September 5, 2008.] Unlike previous rappers such as LL Cool J and Run-D.M.C. who delivered their vocals with high energy, Rakim employed a relaxed, stoic delivery.Light, Alan (November 13, 2006). [http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/0,27693,Paid_in_Full,00.html The All-TIME 100 Albums] . "Time" magazine. Accessed September 29, 2008.] According to MTV, "We'd been used to MCs like Run and DMC, Chuck D and KRS-One leaping on the mic shouting with energy and irreverence, but Rakim took a methodical approach to his microphone fiending. He had a slow flow, and every line was blunt, mesmeric." [http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2005/greatest_albums_0505/index11.jhtml MTV.com: The Greatest Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time] . MTV (2005). Accessed July 15, 2008.] Rakim's relaxed delivery resulted from his jazz influences; he had played the saxophone and was a John Coltrane fan.Taylor, Steve (2004). "The A to X of Alternative Music", p. 20. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0826482171] Freedom duLac, Josh. (October 2, 2006). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100101132.html A Stop-and-Go Hip-Hop Show] . "The Washington Post". Accessed September 5, 2008.] [Jbutters (July 6, 2006). [http://halftimeonline.com/hip-hop-icon-series/rakim-2/3 HalftimeOnline.com » Rakim] . HalftimeOnline.com. Accessed September 5, 2008.] [ [http://www.rapstation.com/files/archives/archive.php3?id=324425 Rakim: Tha Return Of Tha Mic God] . Rapstation. Accessed September 28, 2008.]

Allmusic's Steve Huey stated that Rakim "basically invents modern lyrical technique" with his "complex internal rhymes, literate imagery, velvet-smooth flow, and unpredictable, off-the-beat rhythms."Huey, Steve. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:69zyxdkbjolk~T1 allmusic ((( Paid in Full > Review )))] . Allmusic. Accessed September 5, 2008.] Pitchfork Media's Jess Harvell described his rapping as "authoritative, burnished, [and] possessing an unflappable sense of rhythm".Harvell, Jess (June 2, 2005). [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17495 Paid in Full / Follow the Leader | Pitchfork] . Pitchfork Media. Accessed September 9, 2008.] "Paid in Full", which contains gritty, heavy, and dark beats, [Rose, Tricia (1994). "Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America", p. 93. ISBN 0819562750.] marked the beginning of heavy sampling in hip hop records. Of the album's ten tracks, three are instrumentals. [Wang, Oliver (2003). "Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide", p. 69. ECW Press. ISBN 1550225618] As a disc jockey, Eric B. had reinstated the art of live turntable mixing. Music critic Robert Christgau wrote that "Eric B.'s grooves approach a classic swing on nothing but scratch and sampled percussion, with touches of horn or whistle deep in the mix." [Christgau, Robert (September 29, 1987). [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv9b-87.php Christgau's Consumer Guide] . RobertChristgau.com. Accessed September 12, 2008.]

Reception and influence

"Paid in Full" was positively received on its release. [Cobb, William Jelani (2006). "To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic", p. 140. NYU Press. ISBN 0814716709.] In his book "The Men Behind Def Jam", author Alex Ogg considered the album the duo's magnum opus. According to "The New York Times" contributor Dimitri Ehrlich, "Rakim led a quiet musical revolution, introducing a soft-spoken rapping style." Rakim's rapping set a blueprint for future rappers and helped ensure East Coast hip hop's reputation as the center of innovative lyrical technique. [Karon, Tony (September 22, 2000). [http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,55635,00.html 'Hip-Hop Nation' Is Exhibit A for America's Latest Cultural Revolution] . "Time" magazine. Accessed September 25, 2008.] Allmusic editor Steve Huey declared "Paid in Full" one hip hop's most influential albums and "essential listening" for those interested in the "basic musical foundations of hip-hop". "Time" magazine listed it as one of the eighteen albums of the 1980s in its "All-TIME 100" albums. "Time" editor Alan Light acknowledged the record for changing the "sound, flow, and potential" of hip hop and that if Rakim is "the greatest MC of all time, as many argue, this album is the evidence." Jess Harvell of Pitchfork Media complimented Rakim for his "endless display of pure skill" and described the album as "laidback and funky", but believed it contained "too much filler to get a free 'classic' pass". On July 11, 1995, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album platinum. As of December 1997, it has sold over a million copies.

Accolades

Reissues

Charts

Later samples

*"I Ain't No Joke"
**"Who Killed It?" by Nas from the album "Hip Hop Is Dead"
*"I Know You Got Soul"
**"Love" by Mos Def from the album "Black on Both Sides"
*"Paid in Full"
**"Girls Around the World" by Lloyd from the album "Lessons in Love"
**"Hit 'Em Up" by 2Pac from the album "Greatest Hits"
**"I'm a DBoy" by Lil' Wayne from the album Tha Carter II"

Personnel

Information taken from Allmusic. [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fpfwxqy5ldfe~T2 allmusic ((( Paid in Full > Credits )))] . Allmusic. September 7, 2008.]
*Art direction – Ruth Kaplan
*Engineer – Patrick Adams
*Executive producer – Robert Hill
*Mastering – Herb Powers
*Photography – Ron Contarsy
*Producer – Eric B. & Rakim
*Remixing – Marley Marl

References



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