Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader (July 25, 1988)

Rounding out the month of stunt-blogging is Eric B. and Rakim's Follow The Leader, long considered to be the gold standard of one-two punch combinations (when partnered with their debut, Paid In Full, which is a fucking classic disc). It is generally considered to be one of the best hip hop albums of all time, even though nobody paid attention to it back in 1988 except for the families of the artists involved and a small legion of backpack-wearing fanatics.

Follow The Leader doesn't really expand on the formula created for Paid In Full: master lyricist Rakim Allah spits fire over beats compiled by Eric B., which are comprised of multiple samples mashed together into a cohesive beat (for the most part). This time around, though, Eric B. seems to have made a point of utilizing different types of samples in an effort to create a slightly different sound that what listeners fell in love with during Paid In Full.

I suppose I should be impressed that Rage Against The Machine covered "Microphone Fiend", one of the tracks Rakim is best known for today, for their covers album Renegades, but I just can't drum up the enthusiasm. I mean, fucking Limp Bizkit swiped some parts of Eric B. and Rakim's earlier track "My Melody" for their "My Way", and that doesn't make Fred Durst suddenly cool.

1. FOLLOW THE LEADER
Wow. This song is the fucking balls, based on the beat alone. Don't get me wrong, Rakim sounds as good as ever, but Eric B.'s creation has a dramatic flair that most artists can't be bothered with.

2. MICROPHONE FIEND
Rakim Allah spits a long verse over a relatively pleasant beat, and although "orientated" still isn't a word (see: AZ on Nas's "Life's A Bitch", from Illmatic), the rhymes are good. The beat does some stupid shit toward the end that I didn't care for, though.

3. LYRICS OF FURY
The sense of urgency presented here is courtesy of the awesome drum loop. Also, there's never been a question as to whether Rakim would be capable of rhyming to a track such as this: there's a reason he's who I consider to be the best rapper alive, folks.

4. ERIC B. NEVER SCARED
The deejay cut. However, this one is really fucking boring. And long.

5. JUST A BEAT
This is, literally, "just a beat". It's not a very interesting one, wither, but unlike the previous track, this one is short.

6. PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER
I could have done without the odd interlude that precedes the track. Actually, I could have done without the entire track, now that I think about it.

7. TO THE LISTENER
I fucking hated the beat for this shit.

8. NO COMPETITION
While it's a step in the right direction, and will go a long way toward bringing back listeners, this still isn't a very memorable track. What the fuck happened, guys?

9. THE R
For a Rakim song, this is kind of stupid. The lyrics are mostly good, up until the long-ass hook, and I'm not one hundred percent on what he was trying to accomplish with that.

10. MUSICAL MASSACRE
Finally, a song that is pretty damn good. It's not one of Eric B.'s or Rakim's classic tracks, but it's deserving of your attention, especially after four songs that weren't so hot. Finding unheralded gems such as this is one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog to begin with.

11. BEATS FOR THE LISTENERS
Essentially a tweaked instrumental for "To The Listener", which is fucking fantastic, since, if you'll recall, I fucking hated that song. Honestly, you'll probably take the disc out before you even get to this track, so I suppose it doesn't truly matter.

FINAL THOUGHTS: What the hell? Follow The Leader was actually really really disappointing. While there are a few classic tracks that deserve to be in the hall of fame, the album falters due to Eric B.'s experimentation with the samples used for the beats, which more often than not fail to engage anybody. In contrast, Paid In Full contained instrumentals that grabbed the attention of the listeners, and probably inspired the majority of the rappers that debuted in the mid-1990's to first pick up the microphone. Lyrically, Rakim Allah hasn't lost a step, but the extent to which a rapper can get his message across is directly proportional to the beats the artist is provided. I repeat: what the hell?

BUY OR BURN? Sorry, you two, this is just a burn. (You can curse me out in the comments all you want, but I have a feeling that this post will elicit less of a response that the previous 2Pac write-up.) Paid In Full is simply the better album. Fans of hip hop in general should definitely be sure to pick up the tracks listed below, though.

BEST TRACKS: "Lyrics Of Fury"; "Follow The Leader"; "Musical Massacre"

-Max

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Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full