Talk:Rakim

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muslim[edit]

how can he be muslim calling himself God and Allah. no muslim on earth has this belief that man can be God. Allah is arabic word Al for The and Lah for God meaning the One God and is unique to the Creator of the universe. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.50.223 (talk) 19:43, 5 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

when he refers to himself as rakim-allah he is referencing his level of skill as a rapper. it is also a double entendre i.e. he is a "godly" rapper. similarly, when referencing himself as the god MC he is referencing the relationship between a mortal man and a god effectively stating that he is so far beyond other rappers in terms of ability that he is effectively a god in comparison to them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.61.249 (talk) 15:42, 15 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

where does it say on the VH1 page that he is muslim? It says "that he puts his Islamic Belief in songs", b.u.t. they probably mixed Islam up with The Nation of Gods and Earths. --72.199.153.17 04:40, 1 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

VH1 never talks about the religion of the artists but in the song "Move the crowd" he says "Allah who I prays to the fullest and thats a blessin". In the album the 18th letter he commonly talks about Allah, Mecca, the Qu'ran ie "It even says we are gods in the holy Qu'ran" or "Bring up praise from Mecca, make a phrase for the better

In new days to remember, always and forever "."From the mind which is one of Allah's best designs" 

 So obviously he is muslim. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.213.30.60 (talk • contribs) 3 August 2006

ALLAH in the 5% Nation stands for ARM LEG LEG ARM HEAD. the human body, when five percenters speak of the almighty allah they are talking about themselves. And 5%ers are also advised to study from the Quran and the Bible. Oh, and Mecca in 5% Slang is Harlem. Just like the Allah School In Mecca. Rakim is a 5%er, not a Muslim --72.199.217.141 01:09, 3 August 2006 (UTC) [Re-instated comment removed without explanation by 69.140.20.120 (talk) 02:26, 25 August 2006 (UTC) — Sasuke Sarutobi (talk) 07:36, 3 November 2013 (UTC)][reply]

did u delete my comment because i was right?? wtf --72.199.153.17 02:28, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I didn't delete anything, and you weren't right, he is muslim, isn't it a little obvious you thick moron. you don't know anything about the

R. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.69.137.36 (talk • contribs) 8 September 2006

And you obviously dont know anything about the Nation of Gods and Earths. Muslims can't have the name "Allah" because it signifies shirk. His name is Rakim Allah. He would of changed it if he was a Muslim. --72.199.134.3 22:27, 14 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do they believe in the quron, no, oh thats what i thought, do they believe mecca as being a very devine place, no, thats what i thought.

but rakim does. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.69.138.6 (talk • contribs) 17 September 2006

You're right, sorry, I just thought it was common knowledge —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sklar OTHP (talk • contribs) 11 April 2007

they study the quran and they call harlem, mecca. now stfu and stop arguing with me because ur obviously wrong and your ignorant edits are just going to mess up the article for everyone. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.199.153.17 (talk • contribs) 27 September 2006

Um...bro...isn't it old news that he is muslim its not an argued point in the hiphop world so you arguing with me is um..well...stupid so stfu. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.69.137.37 (talk • contribs) 28 September 2006

he's not a Muslim numbnuts! 5% Nation isn't Islam homeboy, orthodox Muslims everywhere will agree that 5% Nation aka Nation of Gods and Earths is not Islam! For a Muslim to call themselves, that is outright blasphemy! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.12.116.135 (talk • contribs) 25 October 2006


ok the case is closed. if u watched the hip hop honors, he even gave a big shout out and claimed to be a 5 percenter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.199.153.17 (talk • contribs) 26 October 2006

Um, sure he is a muslim. I don't want to argue about what is orthodox Islam or not, that's just stupid. Sunni islam is just one branch of it. Rakim Allah (raqiim allaah) is Arabic and means "The message of the God". He don't claim to be God himself, no.—Re-added preceding unsigned comment, originally added by 194.136.183.15 (talk) 11:29, 6 July 2007 (UTC), removed without explanation by 194.136.183.15 (talk) 10:20, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In the Master he makes many references to Allah (and his Name Rakim Allah) and in the cover he shouts out "the great nation of Islam"

He says "Imma Terorist, I never miss" that sounds kind of bad, if he would have said that after 9/11 he would have lost my support! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.153.204.116 (talk) 02:28, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

its obvious he claims to be a muslim. but perhaps he's just not a very good muslim since he calls him a god which is blasphemous. but perhaps he has some different beliefs about islam. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Siwhat (talk • contribs) 04:49, 20 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]


For this article, Rakim is a member of whatever religion a reliable source says he is. Saying it's obvious is not citing a reliable source. Saying a lyric of his says something that makes it clear to you is moot: song lyrics are not automatically autobiographical claims.
Some lyrics are stories (some fact, some fiction, some a mixture of both), some lyrics are used to make a point that we might not get or might misunderstand, some use enough poetic license to obscure any intended meaning (would Kanye West really "do anything for a blond dyke"? Why?).
Find a clear, unambiguous statement of Rakim's self-identification in a reliable source and we'll have something to say. Otherwise, we have nothing to report. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 15:41, 20 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Rakim settles the matter in his interview on VH1 Hip Hop honors when says from his own lips that he is a five percenter, clearly there is no more authoritative source, so why continue to look? The Five percenters use Islamic langauge and imagery but thier world view is seen as heresy by orthodox muslims. You really need to do some research on the Five Percenters before you continue to try to argue this Siwhat.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.246.252.153 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 2 July 2008

Again, you need to cite a reliable source. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 18:12, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

i believe that a video taped interview of Rakim himself speaking, as we have on the Hip Hop Honors Award Show, is as reliable a source as we can get...a confession from the man's own lips, watch the interview. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.246.247.204 (talk) 05:38, 19 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Again, if you want to include it in the article you need to cite a reliable source. If he said in a interview, "I'm a five percenter..." (or similar), I'll take that as a reliable source. However, 1) quote him, don't say he "confessed", give his actual words and 2) cite the source ("his interview on VH1 Hip Hop honors" is a vague description of the source, not a citation). - Mdsummermsw (talk) 13:35, 22 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I hope your going through all of this because your concerned about formality and your not seriously casting doubt on whether or not Rakim is a five percenter. If you are seriously casting doubt on it then quite frankly, you do not even have a knowledge of old school Hip Hop sufficient to justify even commenting on this page. For example, it is clear that if this were the case, (and i am not saying that it is) you would understand very little of his lyrical content since much of it rests upon incorporating a knowledge of five percenter theology...it is why he refers to himself as "the god". You also would be ignorant of the entire influence of the Five Percenter movement in Hip Hop in the late 80's (of which the pioneer Big Daddy Kane was also a part). Assuming that this is not the case, I will satisfy your request for reliable citation. "I still am a member of the five percenter nation of islam and it affected me in a big way. Getting knowledge of self and starting to learn the world, starting to learn others, it helped me to write much easier"- Rakim 2006 Hip Hop Honors interview. Here is the link

http://www.vh1.com/shows/events/hip_hop_honors/2006/honoree_detail.jhtml?honoree=rakim

Just click "read The interview" once you get to the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.246.253.188 (talk) 20:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He may use islamic words and has a muslim name, but that does not make him a muslim. The five percenters are not an islamic organisation they are a racist organisation. Just like when Malcolm X was in the 'Nation of Islam' he was not a muslim even though he may have called himself one. Only when he took the islamic oath and became an orthodox muslim did he become one. The islamic oath is 'to submit to the will of Allah (One God)', to refer to yourself as a God like Rakim or like members of the Wu-Tang Clan do is blastphemous and totally un-islamic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.221.74.7 (talk) 11:11, 2 September 2008 (UTC) [Reinstated unsigned comment removed without explanation by SummerPhD (talk • contribs) 18:08, 2 September 2008 (UTC) — Sasuke Sarutobi (talk) 07:36, 3 November 2013 (UTC) ][reply]

Hi, it's important to keep in mind that Rakim belongs to that whole Five-Percent Nation, Nation of Islam legacy that a lot of rappers belong to. Rappers like Q-Tip, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, the Wu-Tang Clan, and so on and so forth all belong to those ideas. I think Lupe Fiasco is also a Muslim. Basically it's a common theme for black rappers to proclaim adherence to some form of Islam, even if they don't pray 5 times a day and reserve sex for marriage. They might view Islam as some form of inherently black type of thing and see it as a way to "rise against oppression" from white people. Malcolm X is pretty anti-white from what I can gather. The word "Allah" appears in a lot of rap tracks, even if the rapper is not explicitly Muslim (Blu for example, uses the word "Allah" in his raps, even though he's Christian). BboyYen (talk) 06:03, 16 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Musical Tribute[edit]

A while back, I was reading this section and it said Tupac paid homage to Rakim in his song "Old School"--one of my friends was like 'Tupac had no respect for Rakim' and I told him to check Wikipedia but it's not there anymore —Preceding unsigned comment added by Flakitox3 (talk • contribs) 17:05, 9 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Click the "history" tab at the top of the page. There, you can go through the revision history to find whether or not any such claims were added. To be honest, Rakim is a very popular subject for a lot of overzealous fanboys (inflammatory term intended), so such info quite likely was thrown in then taken out due to not being verified.Kuahmel (talk) 16:47, 12 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Re:Objectivity[edit]

'He is the most influential and most skilled MC of all time due to his exceptional flow and complex lyrical craftsmanship'

Maybe we can reword this as 'widely regarded as one of the most influential'.

The current statement is not a fact, and rappers such as Big Daddy Kane, G Rap, Ricky D, KRS-1, Guru etc are also noted as one of the most influential rappers of all time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ditc (talk • contribs) 09:56, 8 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

reword[edit]

Guys this article needs to tone down, Rakim is not the pioneer of the musical genre of hip hop. Some of the pioneers are Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow, Red Alert, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Melle Mel, GrandmasterCaz, marly marl,run dmc, llcoolj, dougefresh, rickyD, chuck chill, bdk, grap, latifa, mclyte, treach, krs1, matronix, stetsasonic, jazzy jeff and fresh prince, heavy D, MC Shan, masta ace, de la soul, afrika, cold crush brothers, jungle brothers, epmd, guru, fat boys, etc...

To say RAKIM is the only one who pioneered hip hop is to disregard the fact that there has been many artists who have influenced and had an impact on the music and listeners of hip hop. Rakim came out in the mid 80s, hip hop was something that started off in the mid to late 70s. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ditc (talk • contribs) 10:05, 8 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Insane[edit]

dude is insane http://www.aimprogram.com/videotestimonialtranscript.php?id=V21807-20090325 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.55.216.58 (talk) 02:03, 9 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How to rap Book[edit]

Who is this idiot filling the whole wikipedia and amazon and every place on net with plugs for his unknown book. Please delete every reference to it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.142.110 (talk) 15:58, 4 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The whole situation is contradictive Reginald Morake (talk) 12:11, 31 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Orphaned references in Rakim[edit]

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Rakim's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "Harvell":

Reference named "amg":

  • From Canibus: allmusic ((( Canibus > Biography ))). Allmusic. Accessed February 22, 2008.
  • From Paid in Full (album): Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2002). All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul. p. 374. Backbeat Books. ISBN 087930653X.
  • From Limp Bizkit: Bush, John (2006). "Limp Bizkit – Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
  • From Tupac Shakur: allmusic ((( 2Pac > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums ))). Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-05-11.

Reference named "Huey":

Reference named "Christgau":

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 22:41, 10 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

appropriately complimentary[edit]

Admittedly im a fan, but I think the statements about Rakims influence and importance on the development of hip hop are well deserved and true.

Good article, btw —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.20.44.50 (talk) 18:46, 27 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Aftermath Entertainment[edit]

Should we mention why Rakim broke up with Aftermath. He says why in this link [1] Rap examiner (talk) 23:59, 17 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

We guess we shouldn't say nothin' Reginald Morake (talk) 12:13, 31 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Re-rated as 'B' class, changed 'priority' to 'importance' to list article[edit]

I've changed 'priority' in the template to 'importance', so it lists the article, and I've re-rated it as B-class as:

  1. There are 54 in-line citations from a number of different sources;
  2. The article covers his entire career, breaking it down into reasoned sections, with further information on specific topics in later sections;
  3. See (2);
  4. The article passes an initial proof-read for spelling and grammatical errors;
  5. The article features supporting pictures, an infobox, and citated quoteblocks;
  6. The article is written in an accessible manner both to those familiar and unfamiliar with the subject.

Furthermore, I believe that this article should also begin the process of review for 'GA' status and beyond. — Sasuke Sarutobi (talk) 15:18, 2 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Good Article review nomination[edit]

I have now nominated this article for Good Article review as I believe that it meets the criteria for a Good Article. Much of my comments regarding rating as 'B' class above apply still, but I believe it also to be written in a suitably impartial tone, with citations for significant claims. — Sasuke Sarutobi (talk) 08:02, 3 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I have made a quick copyedit of the article, and found a few issues so far:
  1. Allmusic cites Rakim as 16 when he converted and took the name 'Rakim Allah' (1984); the sentence attributed to the Spin source cites 1986 (aged 18). I only have access to the Allmusic source, so would anyone be able to verify if this is in the Spin source, or if there is any clarification on the matter (e.g. did he convert at 16 and change his name, then join the Nation of Islam at 18)?
  2. "At the time Griffin was fresh out of high school and on his way to college, but he decided to forgo higher education and instead chose to record with Eric B." This was originally cited to the 'Allmusic' source, but I can't see any mention of such intentions in this article. I've taken this statement out, but was hoping someone would be able to cite a reference to confirm this intention.
  3. Should the lead identify him as 'Rakim Allah' or 'William Michael Griffin'? Technically speaking, I would take Rakim Allah to be his name, not just a stage name, and William Griffin would be his birth name.
— Sasuke Sarutobi (talk) 22:37, 16 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

GA Review[edit]

GA toolbox
Reviewing
This review is transcluded from Talk:Rakim/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Wizardman (talk · contribs) 16:59, 8 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Just on a skim read, I see some significant problems with the article:

  • The lead doesn't summarize his career; it's just a bunch of sentences noting how influential he is.
  • There are a bunch of citation needed tags that have to be addressed, as well as a few deadlinks to clean up.
  • Most significantly, the prose is very hit and miss. A few spots are in good shape, but others are not. For example, the first part of the Eric B section jumps right into noting their significance, when it should be discussing their meeting and starting their careers off, which ironically comes later.
  • When the prose is a miss, it's because of tone concerns. This was clearly written by a fairly big fan of Rakim, and as a result the prose needs a top-to-bottom scrubbing for me to even consider it worth reviewing further.

Due to those above concerns I'm failing this. Wizardman 16:59, 8 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Linkin Park[edit]

I know it says in the hidden text not to add Linkin Park to the "associated acts" section on the infobox, but I don't see a consensus on that on this talk page. If the associated acts section is really only for lengthy collaborations, then there is a large-scale overhaul that must be done on a lot of pages, because many list one-time collaborations under that section, including every collaborator on Linkin Park's The Hunting Party except Rakim. I think we should at the very least discuss this. Thank you. CuboneKing (talk) 04:44, 18 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to one external link on Rakim. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 11:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 external links on Rakim. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add {{cbignore}} after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add {{nobots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}} to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 10:02, 28 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Not encyclopedic enough?[edit]

Hi, I noticed that this page currently has a "tone not encyclopedic enough" stamp on it but after having scanned it I cannot see what the issue is. Even without citation it's still widely acknowledged (in the de facto sense) that Rakim was (and is) probably one of the most influential rappers of all time, he's generally credited with having revolutionized rap due to his album with Eric B. "Paid in Full". Is there a possible tint of racism to the presence of this stamp? My gut is that since this page is about rap and hip-hop it's viewed as a "ghetto" subject and for that reason some of the Wikipedia editors thought there was too much slang in it. But the page reads fine. BboyYen (talk) 06:09, 16 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 8 external links on Rakim. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 11:06, 4 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Rakim. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 18 January 2022).

  • If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
  • If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 06:16, 11 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Rakim&oldid=1209955509"