Rakim - "The Seventh Seal"; Solid, but Dated, and Not Enough to Get Back into the Mainstream; 3.5/5

Rakim is back in rare form; given, none of his work with Dre is on this album but you don't miss that at all whatsoever when you hear his work with other producers. This is not a commercial release, and not as epic as The 18th Letter, despite the apocalyptic sounding title. The times are a bit different too, back then, in 1997, many were still waiting for that next big Rakim album, and many listeners firmly confirmed that Rakim was the best ever. Quite honestly that was the best record of that year, at least it was for me lyrically.

Fast forward 12 years to 2009; his follow-up to The 18th Letter, The Master, fell flat and Rakim went underground with the promise of a new release with Dr. Dre that should have come out around 2002. Instead, Dre continued to push his own comeback album, Relapse, back, and occasionally produced tracks for different artists, most notably Jay-Z, on Lost Ones. Rakim was releasing bangers on the mixtape circuit, but there was no promise of a mainstream return on the horizon. Imagine my delight when Rakim finally had his album posted on Lala, now I knew that I had to cop that release. However, once I heard it fully a few things come to mind.

The first is that the energy and excitement that overtakes you earlier on in the album falls flat because the beats do not improve, if anything they digress into mid nineties mediocrity. This is cool if you are in the mood for mid nineties hip-hop, but does nothing to bring Rakim into the current state of affairs. Lyrically, the album is still solid, but patchy in places and quite honestly, is not even on the level of The 18th Letter. Rakim works with nothing but solid producers like Nottz, Ty Fyffe, Jake One, and Nick Wiz, and works the beats but without any A level production is not inspired to rise to the level of his previous efforts.

Simply put the lyrical content that Rakim brings perfectly compliments the production, which perfectly compliments his lyrics. If you are hungry for the sugary beats that a lot of East Coast artists are trying to use to get that next banger, you won't find them here. There is nothing conceptual, like on albums from Kid Cudi or Wale. There is definitely noting like Shades from Wale, where he talks about feeling deep down inside that a light-skinned girl could never love him, and then he cheats on her. No, instead Rakim brings the old reliable thorough lyrics, with a hint of spirituality, but in a more mainstream, easier to digest fashion than he came at audiences on his last big release 12 years ago.

Musically, you could ride around in your car playing this record in 2025; this is predictable, solid hip-hop, that does not pull any punches or digress to any tricks. One of the few songs that hints at talk about spirituality, Holy Are You, is done in a way that is smoother than any of Nas' efforts and doesn't bog down the reader with the condition of the African-American community. What is encouraging is that Rakim has not lost anything in the twelve years he has been away from the mainstream scene. What is disappointing is that Rakim still isn't at the level he was at in the eighties when he towered over East Coast hip-hop the way that Jay-Z does today.

I doubt if anyone would give this record 5 stars in today's climate, especially considering that the production is dated, though curiously, still relevant. The bottom line is that Rakim is solid, but given his talent, does not feel the need to rise up to the occassion and for the most part is mediocre in today's climate. I realize that for the most part, all East Coast hip-hop is like that; stuck in their Golden Era and sadly, artists as diverse as Jay-Z, Nas, Busta Rhymes or anyone else post new school cannot put out a compelling record without a lot of sugary beats. Kanye West is the only producer on the East Coast that can even come close to assaulting listeners the way that they have become accustomed to being ear raped from every producer to come out of Atlanta. The Seventh Seal starts out promising with beats from those in Dr. Dre's camp, but half way through the record, looses all of its energy and quite honestly, the listener is in a comfortable place and feels no real need to continue to listen to Rakim's lyrics. I would expect publications like Rolling Stone to crucify this album, as Hip Hop DX already has. Rakim could have easily killed Raekwon's follow up to Cuban Link; a true gem that reminds listeners why Wu Tang is still relevant. His production isn't even as good as that work, and it should have been a lot better considering his stature and the opportunity to work with Dre. Apologists are defending the work, but then again, they also defend Nas; if Rakim wants to reclaim the glory he had back in the eighties he needs to find some way to reconnect with his older audience, that can't stop sweating Jay-Z, and give the kids something to listen to with some top-notch producers. Until then he will remain in the hip-hop museum for a occasional listen, like so many other East Coast artists are now.