Pinnacle Music

Rakim has had some tough breaks over his career in the music business – having dealt with bad record contracts, a DJ of questionable ability and some misguided A&R people on his two previous solo projects, some of which he addresses on ‘Won’t Be Long’ – but this time around he’s taken his destiny into his own hands and released the latest chapter in his legacy on his own label. Finally we get to hear that raw, pure Rakim record we’ve been waiting for…right? Here’s the thing – although Ra is free of the shackles and expectations of a major record label, he also doesn’t seem to have the budget – so instead of beats from Pete Rock, DJ Premier and DJ Clark Kent, The God is unleashing his vocals over tracks from Nick Wiz, Jake One, Nottz and a bunch of no-names. Nothing wrong with the quality of the work those guys usually deliver, but on this project everything sounds hopelessly out-dated. I guess we won’t have to worry about some clueless label jerk forcing The 7th Letter to put Akon or Ne-Yo on his hooks either, huh? Nah, instead we get sub-par hooks provided by people like IQ, Samuel Christian and Tracey Horton…whoever they are. Destiny Griffin is his daughter, obviously, but that doesn’t excuse the rest of those bums. source