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2017 Eric B. & Rakim Tour Confirmed, New ‘Paid In Full,’ ‘I Ain’t No Joke’ Videos Planned

By Scott Hough
Published on: 10:09 PST, Oct 23, 2016

Hip-hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim have confirmed plans for a 2017 tour, as well as remastered album and video releases, as reported by Rolling Stone.

The duo, described by All Music as being the premier 1980s rap team who, alongside other greats like Public Enemy and Run DMC, literally helped define the genre.

Tom Terrell with Sing 365 described Eric B. & Rakim as the “most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period.”

Along with the planned Eric B. & Rakim tour, new videos are expected, including “Paid in Full” and “I Ain’t No Joke.”

A rep for the music legends, Louis “Uncle Louie” Gregory, reportedly stated that it was “too early” to be able to provide a list of venues. Gregory indicated that “select festivals” will likely be among scheduled stops on a “worldwide” tour.

New York, London, Las Vegas, and Australia are said to be potential destinations for the planned 2017 tour.

It has been 24 years since the musicians appeared together. In 2013, Rakim stated that Eric B. was not his “enemy” but that the two didn’t “really speak.”

“They traveled in different circles for a while, but they always had that connection,” Uncle Louie says of the stars today. “It’s like reconnecting with your brother.”

“They just started talking and organically reconnecting over time and realizing that they needed to do this,” the Eric B. & Rakim representative added.

In a Vibe interview, Chuck D said that Eric B., Rakim, and KRS-One “changed the game” in hip hop and rap in 1986; the rapper cited this as a source of inspiration for Public Enemy, which “lead to It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.”

Speaking in the Public Enemy documentary Prophets of Rage, hosted with YouTube, Chris Weingarten described how rap artists in the mid- to late-1980s went from using a few sampled tracks to using scores, often all at once, creating an entirely new sound, almost like a wall of music.

“Rakim redefined what an MC could be: a master swordsman who cuts through his competition with razor-sharp words,” Complex wrote about the musician.

Chuck D speaks in New York City in 2002. [Image by Keith Bedford/Getty Images]

The publication describes Rakim as having the “coolness of a zen master” as he delivers “intricate, multi-syllabic rhymes.”

Rolling Stone reports that the “genesis” of the new Eric B. & Rakim tour may have been a July appearance by Eric B. when Rakim performed in Newark, New Jersey, at the Universal Hip Hop Museum.

“Paid in Full” is among the pair’s most well-known and influential tracks. It is said to feature samples from The Soul Searcher, Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett, and Fab 5 Freddy. “Paid in Full” and “Follow the Leader” each appeared on Billboard charts.

“Paid in Full” placed 10th in Rolling Stone‘s list of top 500 hip hop songs of all time. While Rakim continued to be active in the recording industry in the years following the group’s breakup in 1993, and was said to have been an inspiration for artist like Jay Z and Nas, Eric B. has been less visible publicly.

Eric B. & Rakim’s influence on rap, hip hop, and pop music would seem to still be observable today, 30 years after their songs were first introduced to the world. The announcement of the tour and their reunion has been applauded by social media participants.

“VIBES!” Dee Barnes tweeted to the rappers’ official Twitter account, where the popular musicians accepted and retweeted praise from fans and fellow musicians.

Eric B. was born as Eric Barrier and Rakim as William Michael Griffin, Jr., with both reported to hail from Long Island.

Comedian Chris Rock stated that he would give his first-born son the middle name Rakim and that his performances were “the best rapping anyone’s ever done,” as reported by the High Fidelity blog.

Eric B. & Rakim contemporary Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC performs in Budapest, Hungary in 2001. [Image by David Greedy/Getty Images]

[Featured Image by Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images]

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