Английская Википедия:Follow the Leader (Eric B. & Rakim album)
Шаблон:Infobox album Follow the Leader is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on July 26, 1988. Following their debut album Paid in Full (1987), Eric B. & Rakim left 4th & B'way Records and signed with Uni Records, a subsidiary label of major label MCA Records.[1] They recorded Follow the Leader at Power Play Studios in New York City.[2] The duo produced, composed, and arranged the album with additional contributions from Rakim's brother Stevie Blass Griffin, who contributed with various instruments.[2] Eric B. & Rakim worked with audio engineers Carlton Batts and Patrick Adams on the album.[3] In a similar manner to their first album, a "ghost producer" was brought in for two songs. In a 2007 interview with Unkut.com, The 45 King said he produced both "Microphone Fiend" and "The R". "Microphone Fiend" was originally made for Fab 5 Freddy, until 45 King gave it over to Eric B., the group's "DJ".
Reception and legacy
Follow the Leader peaked at number 22 on the U.S. Billboard Top Pop Albums and at number seven on BillboardШаблон:'s Top Black Albums chart.[4] It achieved higher charting than Eric B. & Rakim's debut album and serves as their best-charting album in the United States.[5] The album produced four singles, "Follow the Leader", "Microphone Fiend", "The R", and "Lyrics of Fury". "Follow the Leader" peaked at number 16 on the Hot Black Singles, at number 11 on the Hot Dance/Disco, and at number five on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.[6] "The R" reached number 79 on the Hot Black Singles, number 28 on the Hot Dance/Disco, number 41 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, and number 14 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.[6] On September 27, 1988, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies in the United States.[7]
Follow the Leader was well received by contemporary critics. Los Angeles Times writer Jonathan Gold viewed it as "far more consistent" than the duo's Paid in Full, calling Eric B. "a master of chill, understated beats" and complimenting Rakim for weaving "a laid-back web of words, his whiskey-smooth tenor less noisy but more intense than the machine-gun mutterings you hear booming from beat boxes, his keen rhymes all the more devastating for being near-whispered where lesser rappers would shout".[8] In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau found the duo's sampling as an improvement from their previous work's "Brownian motion" and complimented Rakim's "ever-increasing words-per-minute ratio—the man loves language like a young Bob D".[9] Peter Watrous of The New York Times commended Eric B.'s mixes and described him as "a minimalist virtuoso".[10] Watrous called Rakim "one of the most distinctive rappers in the business" and elaborated on his lyricism: "His voice soars as gracefully as a well-thrown football; it'll change direction on the spot. He will vary rhythms, pushing and pulling against the beat to highlight his lyrics. Insistent, cool and dedicated, his rapping has an urgency that makes the music much more than pop; it sounds like a musical version of a political, social vision.[10]
In the 2006 book To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic, author William Jelani Cobb later wrote of the album's significance:
In a retrospective review, AllMusic editor Steve Huey viewed Follow the Leader as an improvement over Paid in Full, commending Rakim's "agile, up-tempo lyrical showcases".[11] In a dual review of both Paid in Full and Follow the LeaderШаблон:'s reissues, PitchforkШаблон:'s Jess Harvell expressed that the high points of the latter album "are as high as any rap group has gotten" and wrote that both albums' music serve as "a reminder of a brief period where people thought they could become a millionaire on skills alone, where the reality of that was so far away that no one had to think about what being a millionaire would mean to the culture that nurtured those skills".[12] In 1998, Follow the Leader was selected as one of The SourceШаблон:'s 100 Best Rap Albums, and in 2005, it was ranked number 12 on comedian Chris Rock's list of the "Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums".[13] The track "Lyrics of Fury" was ranked number five on About.com's list of "Top 100 Rap Songs".[14]
The album is ranked number 979 in All-Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd. edition, 2000).[15]
Follow the Leader (Reimagined as Jazz)
Follow the Leader, re-imagined as Jazz is an instrumental reworking of the entire album by Jonathan Hay, Mike Smith and Benny Reid.[16] The album spent four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart, dethroning Michael Bublé's Love.[17] Eric B. told Forbes, Шаблон:Blockquote
Rakim was quoted in HipHopDX as saying:
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Eric B. & Rakim (Eric Barrier, William Griffin).[18]
Шаблон:Track listing Шаблон:Track listing
Personnel
Credits for Follow the Leader adapted from AllMusic.[3]
- Patrick Adams – engineer
- Carlton Batts – engineer
- Eric B. & Rakim – vocals, producer
- Eric B. – performer
- Stevie Blass Griffin – composer, performer
- Rakim – arranger, producer
Charts
| Charts (1988) | Peak position[4] |
|---|---|
| U.S. Top Pop Albums[19] | 22 |
| U.S. Top Black Albums | 7 |
Certifications
Шаблон:Certification Table Top Шаблон:Certification Table Entry Шаблон:Certification Table Bottom
References
Bibliography
- Шаблон:Cite book
- Cobb, William Jelani (2006). To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic. New York University Press. Шаблон:ISBN.
- Шаблон:Cite book
External links
Шаблон:Eric B. & Rakim Шаблон:Rakim
- ↑ Huey, Steve. [[[:Шаблон:AllMusic]] Biography: Eric B. & Rakim]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ 2,0 2,1 Product Page: Follow the Leader. Muze. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ 3,0 3,1 Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ 4,0 4,1 [[[:Шаблон:AllMusic]] Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums: Follow the Leader]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ [[[:Шаблон:AllMusic]] Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums: Eric B. & Rakim]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ 6,0 6,1 [[[:Шаблон:AllMusic]] Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles: Follow the Leader]. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ Gold & Platinum - Searchable Database: Eric B. & RakimШаблон:Dead link. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2010-09-06.
- ↑ Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег
<ref>; для сносокGoldне указан текст - ↑ Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег
<ref>; для сносокChristgauне указан текст - ↑ 10,0 10,1 Watrous, Peter (September 9, 1988). Review: Follow the Leader. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-10-19.
- ↑ Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег
<ref>; для сносокHueyне указан текст - ↑ Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег
<ref>; для сносокHarvellне указан текст - ↑ Chris Rock's Top 25 Hip Hop Albums Шаблон:Webarchive. Rate Your Music. Accessed August 9, 2008.
- ↑ Adaso, Henry. Top 100 Rap Songs. About.com. Accessed August 9, 2008.
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite AV media notes
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite magazine
