How Great Is Rakim Without Eric B? Also, Let's End Party Talk. Good. Real Good.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "party talk"? If you take it literally, you may think it's what you do when you are at a party and talking...that would be too easy. I want to educate the masses, enlighten them to what party talk is and hopefully, eliminate it entirely.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "party talk"? If you take it literally, you may think it's what you do when you are at a party and talking...that would be too easy. I want to educate the masses, enlighten them to what party talk is and hopefully, eliminate it entirely.

So, come to think of it, you wouldn't be that far off if you thought it was done at a party. To me it isn't something anybody should do sober and if you shouldn't do it sober, it's safe to say you should not do it at all right? Sure, you're right. That's common sense but too many people think Common Sense is just a rapper.

Party talk is when somebody tells you something and, for lack of better words, they are full of it when it comes time to deliver. It's a hip-hop term. I mean, well, it may not be an official hip-hop term; technically it's something that me and my boys have used for years, my people from hip-hop. So yeah, it's a hip-hop term to us but if you do it, if you party talk, then you aren't hip-hop at all and that's what you better know (inside joke).

Let's take a certain Fat rapper for instance. Not saying that he would be one to party talk, but it's an easy picture to paint so you can understand what Party Talking would be. Again, I am doing this in hopes of eliminating Party Talk and maybe, a by-product will be that current stars actually do reach out and bless the people who layed the foundation for them. Wouldn't that be great? Making promises, keeping them and building the industry together?

So hypothetically, if you met up with famous "Fat" rapper and you were with Prince Markie Dee from the Fat Boys, and the Fat rapper was like "Damn, Markie Mother F'n Dee, that's my mother f'n man right there. I grew up listening to you; I owe a lot of my success to you man. If you ever need anything, holla at me. You made it cool to be Fat!" So right there, at that point, see that ain't party talk (yet). If Markie Dee's people ever reached out to Fat rapper and was like "Fat rapper, Markie wants to make a new song and he want's you on it!" Then, if the Fat rapper said anything other than yes, then that's when his prior statement would become "party talk" and when I say that, it's real talk, but I'll explain in another article what real talk is. Wait, this article is real talk!

Now that you have an example of Party Talk and how to apply it, let me ask you this; I want to test out your comprehension of this new term. If Eric B. met a certain bearded rapper and the guy with the beard said said "Yo Eric B., you influenced my style so much; all those record album covers, the Rolls Royce, yo, you set it off back in the day. Eric B., you pioneered the high-end look, the gold jewelry, the jackets, the jumpsuits. I owe my success to you so if there is ever anything you need, call me!" Is that Party Talk? If you said "not yet", you're right! Good job. So what if Eric B. decides he wants to make an album or, let's just say Eric B. wants to make one song and he calls the bearded rapper to bless the record with 16 bars. If the guy with the big beard doesn't return the call or if he just plain doesn't do it, does that make it Party Talk? Yes! You catch on fast...

Again, I am not saying any of these scenarios ever played out, I am just saying they are hypothetical examples and I hope sharing these fictitious stories may prevent party talk in the future because I would hate to see a party talk pandemic! Those who know me, whether it's from the media, the internet, or people who really know me; I have a habit of speaking my mind and I will tell you what I am thinking. That's either my greatest trait or my worst, that depends who you ask.

I want to see artists like Nas collaborate with artists like Eric B. and bridge those generational gaps so the legends of yesteryear are remembered and given opportunities like the ones they gave to those shining today. There are some records that need to be made and I need to hear them. Don't you? So say yes to "being hip hop" and say no to party talk! And in closing, let me ask you this since we are talking Eric B., more and more I see mention of only Rakim; I see a soda can campaign with Eric B and Rakim lyrics and mention of only Rakim. When Quest Love aka Questo from the Roots did that, leaving out Eric's important role, I let him know what a foul thing that was. Diary of a Hollywood Street King picked up on my beef with Questo and you can find that using Google...So since everybody thinks that Rakim is so amazing and apparently as a solo artist, (and I think he is an amazing lyricist so don't get that twisted), I want you to tell me how many records has he sold without Eric B and how many of those records, made without Eric B are classics? We saw in the playoffs this year just how far the best player in the world can get without a team and we also know how far the best lyricist in the world can get without Eric B., this is a question that is way over due.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot