"The Seventh Seal" has taken 10 years to finally come into fruition. His previous album "The Master" came out way back in 1999. Needless to say, Rakim has left his fans with very little music throughout the last decade and their anticipation for this new album is at an indescribable high. Personally, my anticipation peeked and then plummeted years ago. At some point you gotta figure the mutha fucka must have retired quietly.
In 2002, Rakim signed with the "mighty" Dr. Dre and his Aftermath imprint. I should've known this move would only delay his album by another 10 years 'cause any artist who signs with Dre is a fucking fool. He is so "busy" (aka smoking chronic) making his detox album that he has no time for any artists he signs. So Rakim got pissed and bounced. He made a few tracks with Dre that Rakim himself shelved because of his disgust with Dr. Dre. Finally, this past Tuesday Rakim has dropped a new album of all new music. This shit must be amazing right? Rakim has so much to prove to his fans, the haters, and for his legacy in hip hop. The stakes are too high for him to bullshit, right?
WRONG.
"The Seventh Seal" is an utter disappointment. The album has 14 tracks and I can honestly say that I can only listen to five of them (and I'm being very generous here). The album starts off with the track "How To Emcee," but this track should really be titled "How To Emcee AND How NOT To Produce." The beat is so generic that... Fuck it. I can't even talk about it. It makes me sick. The next track sounds like a Dr. Dre knock off and features Maino. The only fuckin' rapping feature on the album is Maino? REALLY RAKIM??? Come on son!!! The entire rest of the album is full of generic beats from bullshit producers with R&B singing in all the choruses. R&B = Rap & Bullshit (as the RZA and GZA stated on Wu-Tang Forever). He even let his daughter sing the chorus of one track. No disrespect, but she shouldn't be singing on your shit Ra.
On top of all of this ridiculousness, Rakim has no production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock or DJ Clark Kent. Something seriously fucked up happened with the making of this album. Rakim stated in a recent interview that he and DJ Premier just simply had scheduling conflicts. GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE. This shit was recorded between 2002 and now. You mean to tell me that in seven years they couldn't get in a studio for a few hours? BULLSHIT. This whole album is straight bullshit.
The only positive thing I can say is that Rakim still can flow and spit. Unfortunately, I can't listen to his rhymes when they're laid on top of production that sounds like it came from the bedroom of a suburban white boy who posts them on MySpace with no shirt on. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiitttt.
On a side note, Talib Kweli flipped on one of his Twitter followers this afternoon who said he didn't like Rakim's album. Kweli basically called the guy stupid and suggested that he didn't know shit about hip hop. Well, Talib. I completely disagree with you. Just because Rakim is a "legend" doesn't mean everything he puts out is gold. This album is a clear example of a rapper half-assing a project and trying to sell it on the strength of his name. Honestly, why should anyone listen to Talib Kweli anyway? He's the dumb mutha fucka who had one of the greatest Emcee/Producer groups of all time and threw it all away to "go solo" creatively. Then this dick head puts out bullshit album after bullshit album with absolutely no replay value. Hip Hop enthusiasts should never buy an album on the strength of a rapper's name. More times than not, you'll get burned doing some stupid shit like that when it comes to this game. I even asked Kweli on Twitter if he actually listened to "The Seventh Seal" because I believe he said what he said just because it is Rakim. I don't think anyone who hears this album would actually think it had any value.
Money Miz gives "The Seventh Seal" a 2 / 5.
Check out a like-minded review on HipHopDX.com at: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/reviews/id.1315/rakim-the-seventh-seal
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