Rakim on Hip-Hop's impact: 'It's taking the world by storm'

Back with another installment of Hip-Hop Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop, we linked up with one of the most influential and legendary rappers to touch a mic – Rakim. Sitting down with Hartford's number one for Hip-Hop and R&B, Hot 93.7, he shared that when he was first getting into Hip-Hop, he initially questioned how long the genre would be around. "When I was first getting involved making a conscious, serious decision to make it my livelihood, it was a question you know, like is it going to last? is it a fad?" he admitted, but "to see it come this far... and the way it impact the world, Hip-Hop is not only taking the world by storm, it's the number one genre," he said. Noting that Hip-Hop is practically ingrained in everything, he added "every other genre is influenced by Hip-Hop... even Country music, they're saying slang." When he thinks about his first introductions to Hip-Hop, he explained that he could take it all the way back to nursery rhymes and he was essentially "involved with Hip-Hop before the first rap record came out." For more from the legendary Rakim, listen to the full interview above. Words by Yasmeen Akbar Interview by DJ Buck